Queen Victoria’s Fringe Brooche

In October 1856, Queen Victoria commissioned the royal jeweller, Garrard, to remodel an existing diamond ornament as a new and elaborate fringe-pattern chaîne de corsage, which was to be worn along the top of the fashionably low-cut bodices that Queen Victoria favoured until her widowhood. The Queen had been presented the “2 very large diamond ornaments” six months earlier by the Sultan of Turkey, Abdul Mejíd I as a show of gratitude for Britain’s support during the Crimean War. She described them as “very magnificent”, noting that she could wear one “as a very large brooch, & the other will have to be reset”. In 1859, Victoria wore the incredible piece for her official portrait by Franz Xaver Winterhalter.

After the death of Prince Albert, the chaîne de corsage was considered too elaborate for the grieving Queen. In 1870, Victoria wanted a new, small diamond crown that could be placed on top of her widow caps. The chaîne de corsage was partially dismantled, with the fringes from either side of the central diamond removed, leaving it as the smaller brooch it is today. It is believed that the removed diamonds were used to create Victoria’s small crown.

As a personal jewel, the brooch was left to King Edward VII rather than as an heirloom of the Crown. Queen Alexandra wore the brooch almost immediately and wore it on many occasions up until her death in 1925. Queen Mary inherited the brooch from Alexandra, and in 1936, it was one of the jewels that she handed over to her daughter-in-law, Queen Elizabeth, later the Queen Mother. She wore it often, including to her daughters coronation in 1953. After her death in 2002, Queen Elizabeth II inherited the piece, which she wore to a state banquet in honor of the President of Turkey in 2011. Three years later, Queen Elizabeth wore the brooch in France to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings.

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