Happy Birthday to Lady Sarah Chatto, who turns 61 today! The only daughter of Princess Margaret and Anthony Armstrong Jones, Lord Snowdon, she was born during the Royal Baby Boom of 1964, and was the only niece of Queen Elizabeth II. Having inherited the bulk of her mother’s jewellery collection, today, we are featuring Princess Margaret’s Diamond Rivière!
Snowdon Floral Tiara | Greville Pearl Earrings | Diamond Star Earrings | Sapphire Earrings | Emerald Earrings | Princess Margaret’s Diamond Rivière | Queen Mary’s Diamond and Pearl Rivière | Ear-of-Wheat Brooch | Star Brooch | Floral Spray Brooch | The Jewels of Lady Sarah Chatto
When Princess Margaret celebrated her 21st Birthday in August 1951, she received this spectacular Diamond Rivière as a gift from her parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, which was an antique piece of unknown exact provenance.
Princess Margaret frequently wore the Diamond Rivière through the 1950s, for all sorts of gala events as well as for banquets, paired with the Cartier Halo Tiara or Lotus Flower Tiara.
From the mid-1950s, Princess Margaret frequently wore the Diamond Rivière with Queen Mary’s Diamond and Pearl Rivière and Greville Pearl Earrings, as well as the Lotus Flower Tiara, which made countless appearances.
By the 1960s, Princess Margaret had begun wearing her Diamond Rivière paired with the iconic Lady Mount Stephen Diamond Rivière she had inherited from Queen Mary, which were often paired with the Poltimore Tiara and Lotus Flower Tiara.
However, Princess Margaret continued to wear the smaller Diamond Rivière on its own, though appearances are sometimes hard to distinguish with the slightly larger Diamond Rivière from Queen Mary.
In 1985, 40 years ago, Princess Margaret gifted the smaller Diamond Rivière to her only daughter, Lady Sarah, on her 21st Birthday, which was debuted at the 21st Birthday Gala hosted by the Queen at Windsor Castle in 1985.
Lady Sarah next wore the Diamond Rivière for the Queen’s 60th Birthday Concert at Covent Garden in 1986.
The following year, Lady Sarah wore the Diamond Rivière for an Official Dinner when she joined Princess Margaret on a visit to China in 1987.
A decade later, Lady Sarah wore the Diamond Rivière with her Diamond Flower Brooches for the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh’s Golden Wedding Anniversary Gala at the Royal Festival Hall in London in 1997.
Most recently, Lady Sarah wore the Diamond Rivière for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Service at St Paul’s Cathedral in 2012, with Queen Mary’s Diamond and Pearl Rivière and the Greville Pearl Earrings. Let’s hope we see this striking heirloom worn again soon!
Snowdon Floral Tiara | Greville Pearl Earrings | Diamond Star Earrings | Sapphire Earrings | Emerald Earrings | Princess Margaret’s Diamond Rivière | Queen Mary’s Diamond and Pearl Rivière | Ear-of-Wheat Brooch | Star Brooch | Floral Spray Brooch | The Jewels of Lady Sarah Chatto
