Diana's Jewels: Potential Division Between William and Harry

[angieuk]

Diana's Jewels for Catherine

What has happened to Diana's wish that her jewellery be passed on for her sons' wives?

Has the Queen been given all the jewellery instead?

I gather Catherine has not worn a tiara yet?

 

[Lumutqueen]

What has happened to Diana's wish that her jewellery be passed on for her sons' wives? Has the Queen been given all the jewellery instead? I gather Catherine has not worn a tiara yet?

Frank answer is we don't know. Catherine has not worn a tiara, she has not attended an event that required it. Whether she's been Diana's jewels and chose not to wear them, seems like the most likely option.

 

[Skippyboo]

I believe that Kate has wore some sapphire earrings of Diana's. They were redone as drop earrings. Kate is usually very minimalist with the jewelry. It usually just earrings, bracelet and some times a necklace.

There is a state visit in Nov for the South Korean President so maybe the Cambridges will attend now that William is out of the RAF. That would be where the bling would come out.

 

[angieuk]

Someone in another post has said :-

The jewels are in a safe; and now belong to the Duchess of Cambridge.

A different scenario is Princess Grace of Monaco. I believe her jewels went to her two daughters, and not to the future Princess Charlene of Monaco!

 

[MARG]

Um, that would be "The jewels are in a safe; and now belong to the Duke of Cambridge and his brother, Prince Harry".

How the brothers divide the jewels is anyone's guess and we'll only know when we see their respective wives wearing them.

 

[angieuk]

Yes, that does make more sense.

 

[julliette]

I believe that Kate has wore some sapphire earrings of Diana's. They were redone as drop earrings.

You're right. Here is a pic of both of them with the earrings:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Qf52L1bBm...ZkUg8/s1600/sapphire+and+diamond+earrings.jpg

I think they are very beautiful earrings and it makes sense that they went to Kate instead of Harry's future wife because they match her engagement ring.
And I like what Kate did with them, ie, redoing them as drop earrings.

 

[mslewis]

Um, that would be "The jewels are in a safe; and now belong to the Duke of Cambridge and his brother, Prince Harry".

How the brothers divide the jewels is anyone's guess and we'll only know when we see their respective wives wearing them.

Maybe they won't actually "divide" the jewels; perhaps they will just leave them in the safe and each wife can use whatever they want when needed. That would make sense to me but then, I'm not royal.

 

[julliette]

^^ That could be a solution during some time but eventually they'll have to divide it so that the jewels can pass to the next generation.

 

[TLLK]

^^ That could be a solution during some time but eventually they'll have to divide it so that the jewels can pass to the next generation.

Or when the Queen's reign ends the Windors could choose to pool some of the jewelry into a foundation much like the Dutch royals have done with their pieces. More members of the family would have access to them and there is less likelihood of the treasures being sold off.

 

[julliette]

^^ Keep in mind we're talking about a different thing: Diana's personal jewels, the ones she really owned and left in her will to her sons. So, totally independent from the Windsors. But the foundation idea could work, I think. I must admit I don't know much about the Dutch foundation, though

 

[cdm]

Do you think that when Harry get's engaged he will choose a ring of Diana as engagement ring for his future wife. And if so which ring he will choose.

 

[maria-olivia]

Could Kate wear the Spencer tiara or is it for the Heir of the Spencers ?

 

[Stefan]

Could Kate wear the Spencer tiara or is it for the Heir of the Spencers ?

It belongs to the Earl Spencer so it is very unlikely that she will wear it because she would need to borrow it from him.

 

[ldmemail]

Do you think that when Harry get's engaged he will choose a ring of Diana as engagement ring for his future wife. And if so which ring he will choose.

I think once again as with Prince William, it would be a charming tribute to his Mother - there is the beautiful diamond and emerald ring he could use!

 

[julliette]

^^Could you post a pic of it, Idmemail? I don't think I remember that ring...

 

[ldmemail]

^^Could you post a pic of it, Idmemail? I don't think I remember that ring...

Here is a picture from the internet - cropped version.

 

[HRHAmy]

I don't think Kate's sapphire earrings are diana's, for one there are more smaller diamonds on diana's earrings than on kate's that surround the sapphire. Second, the sapphire is different, on diana's the sapphire is smooth like a cabochon and on Kate's you can tell it's faceted. It may be a sapphire from Diana's collection, because she has so many, but I don't believe they are from this particular set of sapphire earrings.

 

[Skippyboo]

Or when the Queen's reign ends the Windors could choose to pool some of the jewelry into a foundation much like the Dutch royals have done with their pieces. More members of the family would have access to them and there is less likelihood of the treasures being sold off.

When the queen dies her jewels go to Charles. The sovereign to sovereign transfer is not taxed so for this reason the queen lends jewelry to other royals such as the maple leaf brooch Kate wore in Canada instead of giving them to relatives.

How William and Harry split Diana's personal jewelry is between them. William's share will become part of the royal collection when he becomes King and will eventually pass to George.

 

[julliette]

How William and Harry split Diana's personal jewelry is between them. William's share will become part of the royal collection when he becomes King and will eventually pass to George.

Will it? There is no other option? One that allows, for example, the jewels to pass to a daughter (if he has one) or to other son (if he has more) of William?

 

[Skippyboo]

The jewelry could go to other future kid but it would be taxed with each generation. That's what happened to Margaret's jewelry when she died David and Sarah had to pay taxes on the estate so the sold most of jewels to pay the tax bill since they didn't really need tiaras.

The sovereign to sovereign transfer is tax free so it makes sense to keep the bulk of family jewels as property of sovereign and then pass to the next sovereign. Of course, jewels can be loaned out where need sort like a jewelry library.

 

[MARG]

I think Diana would have left them to the Queen if that was her desire. Obviously it was not and she left them to her two sons to divide as they saw fit.

These are personal items and will become the property of William and Harry's wives unless their husbands retain ownership and allow their wives the use of them as is the case with Princess Mary of Denmark and the famous Ruby Parure.

Either way it seems that the collection will be halved and, looking to the future, William's wife will have access or a vast amount of jewellery that will not be available to Harry's wife. How that impacts on the division of the collection is anyone's guess.

 

[muriel]

I don't think Kate's sapphire earrings are diana's, for one there are more smaller diamonds on diana's earrings than on kate's that surround the sapphire. Second, the sapphire is different, on diana's the sapphire is smooth like a cabochon and on Kate's you can tell it's faceted. It may be a sapphire from Diana's collection, because she has so many, but I don't believe they are from this particular set of sapphire earrings.

I agree with you, I do not believe they are the same earrings. I suspect there will be other similar earrings in the royal vaults that Catherine was probably given. Alternatively, they could have been acquired around the time of the wedding either by William or Charles for Catherine's use.

 

[LauraS3514]

I don't think Kate's sapphire earrings are diana's, for one there are more smaller diamonds on diana's earrings than on kate's that surround the sapphire. Second, the sapphire is different, on diana's the sapphire is smooth like a cabochon and on Kate's you can tell it's faceted. It may be a sapphire from Diana's collection, because she has so many, but I don't believe they are from this particular set of sapphire earrings.

Diana had several different sapphire/diamond sets of earrings which differed both in circumference and cut of the sapphire and number of diamonds in the surround. I can think of at least four pairs, including one that had a sapphire surrounded by diamonds on the lobe with a nearly identical dangle below. It's hard to tell just which ones, if any, are now worn by Catherine.

 

[HRHAmy]

^ Right. That's why I said I don't think they were from that specific pair of earrings that someone had suggested. Theres a lot of speculation that they came from "Diana's favorite pair" of sapphire earrings (there's a picture to go with that claim) and it was from that specific pair that I didn't think they came from. Diana had a lot of sapphire jewelry that she received as weddings gifts and some of those she re-set or never wore at all. We can only assume maybe Kate's sapphires came from some of those pieces...but as for "Diana's favorite pair" of earrings I don't believe there is any way they came from there, the sapphire stones are not even the same size or shape.

 

[EmmaNL]

I hope we see Catherine with a tiara very soon, I'm really waiting for it.. (and hopefully it will not be that scroll tiara, I don't like it very much).

I think that Harry's wife, who ever it will be, gets a ring of Diana too. I don't know if she had any important rings?

 

[branchg]

What has happened to Diana's wish that her jewellery be passed on for her sons' wives?

Has the Queen been given all the jewellery instead?

I gather Catherine has not worn a tiara yet?

Diana had a small collection of personal jewels, consisting of her wedding gifts and pieces bought by Charles, that passed to William and Harry. The rest of her jewels belonged to The Queen and returned to her.

Catherine was reportedly offered the Lover's Knot Tiara for her wedding day and declined it. I doubt we'll see her wearing the royal pieces Diana used anytime soon.

 

[branchg]

I hope we see Catherine with a tiara very soon, I'm really waiting for it.. (and hopefully it will not be that scroll tiara, I don't like it very much).

I think that Harry's wife, who ever it will be, gets a ring of Diana too. I don't know if she had any important rings?

I would think Catherine will stick with the Scroll Tiara for now. She is not the wife of the heir yet and probably will not be attending state dinners often at this point.

I don't know how many rings Diana really had that were worthy engagement pieces, other than her own. Probably none as she wasn't a big jewelry person in the first place.

 

[MARG]

I am looking forward to the first Gala event Catherine attends. The Halo Scroll will look fabulous against her dark hair, an effect we were denied at the wedding because of the heavy white of the veil seemed to blur the detail of the tiara.

Here's hoping for a brilliant gown and a fabulous up do that perfectly showcases a very beautiful tiara and her wedding earrings just as the icing on the cake.

 

[julliette]

I am looking forward to the first Gala event Catherine attends. The Halo Scroll will look fabulous against her dark hair, an effect we were denied at the wedding because of the heavy white of the veil seemed to blur the detail of the tiara.
Here's hoping for a brilliant gown and a fabulous up do that perfectly showcases a very beautiful tiara and her wedding earrings just as the icing on the cake.

I agree. The Halo Scroll is a small but very beautiful tiara. It didn't shine at the wedding because it looked too small for the veil. But with no veil, it will look great contrasting with her dark hair.

I wouldn't go for a very elaborate updo though. Hair tied, obviously, but something simple, to make the tiara stand out, otherwise, the wedding problem happens again.