Happy Birthday to the Duchess of Edinburgh, who celebrates her 61st Birthday today! The PR Agent who became the late Queen’s favourite daughter-in-law and one of the most hard working members of the Royal Family, the Duchess has worn quite a few royal heirlooms, which includes these Art Deco Diamond Clips!
A pair of striking Art Deco Diamond Clips, which can be worn as one or two separate pieces, they were probably bought by the then Duke of York (later King George VI) possibly at Cartier in the early 1930s.
The Duchess of York wore the Art Deco Diamond Clips frequently on her hats in the 1930s, as well as for King George V’s Silver Jubilee Celebrations in 1935, though they appear to have been left in the jewellery box after then.
Decades later, in 1999, the Queen Mother gave her Art Deco Diamond Clip Brooches to Sophie Rhys-Jones when she married her youngest grandson, the Earl of Wessex, and the new Countess first wore the Diamond Clips at the Queen Mother’s 99th Birthday two months later.
The Countess notably wore the Queen Mother’s Art Deco Diamond Clip Brooches for Crown Prince Haakon’s Wedding Gala in 2001 and the Funeral of the Queen Mother in 2002, in addition to several daytime events.
The Queen Mother’s Art Deco Diamond Clips were worn by the Countess of Wessex for several gala events, among them the Wedding of Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark in Copenhagen in 2004 as well as the Enthronement Dinner of Prince Albert II of Monaco in 2005, in addition to Royal Ascot.
In recent years, the now Duchess of Edinburgh has rarely worn the Queen Mother’s Art Deco Diamond Clip Brooches, which were last worn for Royal Ascot on a couple of occasions over a decade ago. Let’s hope the Art Deco Diamond Clips reappear again soon!
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