Description
The Duchess of Cambridge wore the Ruby and Diamond Floral Bandeau Necklace at the Spanish State Banquet in July 2017. It was a lovely surprise and a beautiful touch to her Marchesa Dusty Pink Gown.
The bandeau necklace is a deep v-shape, culminating in a diamond pendant set in silver and gold and features single rubies between diamond flowers. The original necklace had two more smaller floral pieces that were later on removed by Queen Elizabeth II as she mostly did with many of her necklaces.
The necklace was part of the Greville set, that was first purchased by the Hon. Mrs Ronald Greville from Boucheron in 1907. Mrs Greville was a good friend of Queen Elizabeth (The Queen Mother). In 1942 when Mrs Greville died she left her jewel collection to Queen Elizabeth and among them was this beautiful necklace. Here in the above picture, Queen Elizabeth II wore the necklace during her Canada State visit in 1951.
The necklace was gifted to Princess Elizabeth at her wedding in 1947 by her parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth I. The Queen wore the necklace regularly up to the early 1960s but then the necklace went back to the Royal Vault in the 1980s and made its appearance decades later in 2017 when Princess Kate chose received it as a loan from The Queen for the Spanish Banquet. The then Duchess of Cambridge teamed up the necklace with Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot Tiara and Princess Diana’s Collingwood Pearl and Diamond Earrings
In 2018, The Queen wore the necklace again at the Commonwealth Dinner at Buckingham Palace. We have not seen the necklace again since then but I do hope Catherine will wear this one soon at some dazzling royal event.
