Today marks the Anniversary of the Birth of Queen Mary, who was born on this day in 1867! The Teck Princess who lived through the reigns of six monarchs and was the Queen Consort for twenty-five years, as well as a Queen Mother to two Kings and the Queen Grandmother to Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Mary assembled much of the British Royal Family’s spectacular Jewellery Collection, which includes her Lover’s Knot Brooch!
In 1932, Queen Mary acquired this striking Diamond Lover’s Knot Brooch from Garrard in London, composed of brilliant cut diamonds set in silver and gold tied in a “lover’s knot”. The scalloped ribbon has joints on each of the “tails” to allow the ends to move.
Queen Mary most notably wore the Diamond Lover’s Knot Brooch with her Diamond Sautoir and Diamond Choker for a painting by Sir Oswald Birley in 1934.
The Lover’s Knot Brooch was among the jewels inherited by the Queen in 1953, being worn with the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara, Vladimir Tiara, or Queen Alexandra’s Kokoshnik Tiara or Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot Tiara, on numerous occasions like the State Visit to the Netherlands in 1958, the French State Visit in 1960, and the State Visit to Germany in 1965 among other occasions.
In 1960, the Queen notably wore the Lover’s Knot Brooch for the Wedding of her only sister, Princess Margaret, and also for the Christmas Broadcasts in 1960 and 1962.
The Queen continued to wear the Lover’s Knot Brooch for some of the more important occasions, like the Dutch State Visit to Britain in 1972, in Mauritius in 1972, the Luxembourg State Visit to Britain in 1972, the State Visit to Japan in 1975, the Dutch State Visit to Britain in 1982, the State Visit to Sweden in 1983, the Spanish State Visit to Britain in 1986, the State Visit to Jordan in 1986, and the Ghillies Ball at Balmoral in 1991 among others, including her last State Visit to the United States in 2007.
In 2011, the Queen wore the Lover’s Knot Brooch for the Remembrance Day Ceremony before it made an iconic appearance at the Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton in 2011.There is no doubt we will see Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot Brooch worn again soon!
