Prince Ricardo De La Cerda
Queen Alexandra is the focus of a new exhibition at The King’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace, and one of her most impressive pieces of jewellery will be on display.
The Edwardians: Age of Elegance is a new exhibition opening at The King’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace on Friday, 11 April. The exhibition explores the glamour and elegance of the Edwardian age, focusing on Queen Alexandra and King Edward VII, as well as Queen Mary and King George V.
The exhibition includes the Dagmar Necklace, one of Alexandra’s 1863 wedding gifts. Her father, King Frederik VII of Denmark, gave his daughter the necklace when she married the Prince of Wales.
The elaborate pearl and diamond necklace is set in gold and enamel, and features a large round pearl, two suspended pear-shaped pearls, and an enameled diamond and pearl cross.
The cross is a replica of a twelfth century cross that was buried in 1212 with Queen Dagmar, and reportedly the cross on the necklace has a fragment of wood from the True Cross, as well as a scrape of silk from King Canute’s grave.
Queen Alexandra wore the necklace during her husband’s coronation, and the necklace can be seen in Sir Samuel Luke Fildes’s coronation portrait of the consort.
The exhibition also features Queen Alexandra’s coronation gown and King Edward’s coronation mantle.