For a woman with perhaps the greatest personal collection of jewels in the world, none were so valuable to Queen Elizabeth II as those that were designed and given to her by her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh. Her Majesty’s historic collection included dozens of tiaras, hundreds of brooches, and almost every type of precious stone. Following the loss of Prince Philip, who died peacefully in his sleep at Windsor Castle on April 9, 2021, at the age of 99, the keepsakes he gave her—and the memories they hold—were undoubtedly more precious than ever.
Over the course of their 73-year marriage, Philip designed and purchased numerous gifts of jewelry for the queen, and his unique designs often reflected deeply personal references to their relationship. One of the happiest periods of their life together was their brief stint in Malta from 1949 to 1951, when the duke was serving in the Royal Navy, and the future queen’s father, George VI, was still on the throne. Philip included the naval badge in a number of the pieces he had made for his wife.
Prince Philip shared his interest in jewelry design with his great-great-grandfather Prince Albert, who was consort to Queen Victoria. Much to Victoria’s delight, Albert was also gifted when it came to art and design. He presented her with many pieces that still survive in the royal collection, symbols of the enduring legacy of their love.
At the coronation in 1953, Philip knelt before the queen and swore an oath to be her “liege man of life and limb.” In 1997, on the occasion of their golden wedding anniversary, Elizabeth said Philip had “quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years, and I, and his whole family, and this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim, or we shall ever know.”
Below, take a closer look at five of the treasured gifts of jewelry the Duke of Edinburgh gave to the queen during their marriage.
Joe Kendrick is the royal jewelry enthusiast behind the @Britishroyaljewels Instagram account. This post was originally published on British
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STF1/5A brooch symbolizing the earliest days of their relationship
Although they had met briefly at family events in the 1930s, the first significant meeting between Prince Philip and Princess Elizabeth took place in the summer of 1939, when a 13-year-old Elizabeth joined her parents on a visit to Britannia Royal Naval College, where 18-year-old Philip was a cadet. At the time Philip only saw her as a young girl, but for Elizabeth it was love at first sight. Elizabeth’s nanny, Marion Crawford, wrote at the time that Elizabeth “never took her eyes off him”; while her cousin Margaret Rhodes later wrote that the future queen “was truly in love from the very beginning.” Romance would eventually blossom later in the war, during Philip’s periods of leave back in London. One of his first gifts to her was this diamond brooch in the shape of his naval badge, made by Garrard. Philip maintained his career in the Navy until Elizabeth became queen, and in those early years, she proudly wore the brooch as a Navy wife.
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Bettmann2/5A diamond engagement ring featuring a nod to the prince’s mother
The romance between Elizabeth and Philip became serious after the end of the Second World War. They were often spotted dancing in London nightclubs, and it’s said one of their favorite songs was “People Will Say We’re in Love,” from the musical Oklahoma! In the summer of 1946, Philip asked King George VI for his daughter’s hand in marriage. The king agreed but asked that they wait until the following year, after her 21st birthday, to make a public announcement. Philip turned to London jeweler Philip Antrobus, who had previously done work for his mother, Princess Alice, and his uncle Lord Mountbatten, to create the engagement ring. Princess Alice gave Philip an antique diamond tiara, which was dismantled to supply the diamonds. The ring features a three-carat brilliant diamond, set in platinum and flanked by smaller pavé set diamonds. The queen wore the ring for the first time on July 10, 1947, the day the couple’s engagement was officially announced.
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Ed Clark3/5A precious wedding gift from her groom
The date of the wedding was set for November 20, 1947. Elizabeth was showered with presents from the royal family and the public, but one of her most treasured gifts was the bracelet she’s seen wearing here in Canada in 1957, which was given to her by Philip. Philip had used the remaining diamonds from his mother’s dismantled tiara to design the diamond bracelet for his new wife. Shortly after the wedding Prince Philip wrote to the Queen Mother: “Lilibet is the only ‘thing’ in the world which is absolutely real to me, and my ambition is to weld the two of us into a new combined existence that will not only be able to withstand the shocks directed at us, but will also have a positive existence for the good.” The queen wore the bracelet frequently throughout her reign. In recent years it has been borrowed by the Duchess of Cambridge.
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Pool/Tim Graham Royal Photos4/5A bracelet fashioned from their initials to mark five years of marriage
By Elizabeth and Philip’s fifth wedding anniversary, in 1952, their lives had dramatically changed. They were now parents to Charles (born in 1948), and Anne (born in 1950). King George VI had died in February of that year, and Elizabeth was now queen. Philip gave up his career in the Royal Navy in order to support the queen full-time. They struggled to find a balance in their roles of husband and wife versus queen and consort, but Philip would later say: “I think the main lesson that we have learnt is that tolerance is the one essential ingredient of any happy marriage…and you can take it from me that the queen has the quality of tolerance in abundance.”
To mark their anniversary, Philip designed this gold bracelet which he commissioned Boucheron to create. The bracelet features Philip’s naval badge in diamonds surrounded by two sapphire crosses, perhaps representing the Greek flag. A ruby cross, perhaps representing the flag of England, is flanked by two roses of York symbolizing the queen’s first title as Princess Elizabeth of York. All of these symbols are connected by gold links in the shape of interlocking e’s and p‘s. The queen is pictured here wearing the bracelet attending the Order of St. Michael and St. George service at St. Paul’s Cathedral in 2008.
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WPA Pool5/5The “Venus” ruby brooch by Andrew Grima
In 1959, Philip founded the Duke of Edinburgh’s Prize for Elegant Design, and chaired the judging panel. The award aimed to celebrate an object’s quality and originality, as well as the designer’s contribution to design and design education. Andrew Grima was the only jeweler to win the prize. Grima’s jewelry was unique and bold, and helped change the way people perceived jewelry in the postwar years. In 1966 Prince Philip recognized Grima for raising the international reputation of modern British jewelry. Philip purchased the “Venus” brooch as a gift for the queen from Grima’s collection that year. The brooch is made of gold, carved rubies, and diamonds, and was worn by the queen for formal portraits commemorating her and Philip’s 70th wedding anniversary, in 2017. She is pictured here wearing it on a visit to Innsworth, Gloucestershire, in 2015.
