Gifts from the Middle East; The Arab Jewels of Queen Elizabeth II

When we think of Queen Elizabeth II's jewels, we usually remember the great inherited tiaras, historic British diamonds, and the pieces associated with Queen Victoria, Queen Mary, or the Queen Mother. But there was another remarkable chapter in her jewelry collection. Queen Elizabeth II has been given an untold number of jewelry gifts during her 70 years on the throne, but if we look closely at the jewels she wore during state banquets and diplomatic occasions, a striking pattern emerges. Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, and other Middle Eastern states gave the Queen some of the most important jewels, which now fill the British royal vault. But how many exactly? That's what I was looking into all these days. For her 1947 wedding to Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, Princess Elizabeth received many gifts, and that's when her Arabian jewelry box started to take shape. The Hakim of Bahrain, Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, gave a bride seven large, natural pearls inside a shell. Shortly after the wedding, two of the large pearls were used to design the drop earrings, each earring made of a round diamond stud, three slender baguette-cut diamonds, and a small cluster of round diamonds holding a luminous, dangling pearl drop. Hence came the name Bahrain Pearl Drop Earrings. Queen Elizabeth II, who then was still a princess, first wore them during her 1951 Canadian tour and in iconic portrait sittings by Dorothy Wilding that appeared on stamps and banknotes. Later, Queen lent them to Princess Diana, and in the 21st century, they became one of Catherine, Princess of Wales's most recognizable inherited earrings. Seven pearls arrived in a shell, two became earrings, and those earrings eventually became part of the visual language of another future queen. But what happened to the rest of pearls, up to now, stays an unsolved question. One year after her coronation, already a queen, Elizabeth received one of her most treasured three-strand pearl necklaces, with one featuring a diamond clasp. That was a gift from the Emir of Qatar she would wear all her life. It was one of three nearly identical triple-row pearl necklaces the queen rotated in her daily wear to protect the older family pieces from wear. So even royal watchers sometimes couldn't identify which necklace she was wearing on some of occasions, as they did look almost identical. The only difference among the three was that the Qatari version sported a diamond clasp, and one strand seems to be longer than in other versions. But the next jewel may be even more famous, as it was one of Queen's earlier most worn gifts. In May 1967, King Faisal of Saudi Arabia made a state visit to Britain. Among his gifts to Queen Elizabeth was an extraordinary diamond necklace created by the American jeweler Harry Winston in the 1950s, which you may heard about as King Faisal's Diamond Necklace. More than 300 diamonds are incorporated into the necklace, including brilliant and baguette-cut stones, while 11 pear-shaped diamonds form the dramatic pendant drops. The diamonds are mounted in platinum, and together weigh more than 80 carats. And Elizabeth did something very important with it. She didn't simply put it into a vault. Before King Faisal left Britain, she wore the necklace to a banquet at the Dorchester Hotel. From then on, it became part of her regular evening jewelry rotation. But this necklace would eventually become famous for another wearer. In 1983, Elizabeth lent it to Diana, Princess of Wales, who wore it during the Royal Tour of Australia. Decades later, the Queen also lent it to Sophie, then Countess of Wessex, for a gala in Luxembourg in 2012. So one Saudi gift traveled through three generations of royal fashion. In 1979, the Queen returned to the Gulf, and the scale of the jewelry gifts became extraordinary. In February and early March 1979, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip undertook one of their most remarkable journeys through the region. The tour lasted 18 days, and included Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman. It was not simply a glamorous royal tour. The visits took place against an important geopolitical background, and the Queen's presence was part of Britain's continuing diplomatic relationships with the Gulf states. And there was another feature of the tour that would survive long after the official ceremonies were over—the jewels. Ahead of the state banquet in Dubai, Queen got multiple Arabian gifts with the beautiful jewel she rarely donned from that same moment. And I am not afraid to describe the gifts as Arabian, as they totally fit into the culture. Sheikh Rashid of Dubai prepared several gifts, including the so-called all-in-gold Aladdin's cave. But it was the looped sapphire and diamond suite that, according to the records, almost made Queen exclaim in the amusement. The set consisted of the necklace, earrings, and a ring made by Asprey of London. After the landmark visit, it took her many years to don it for the second time, but already with alternations. Two loops from the necklace were taken down to wear as earrings, and original earrings and a ring were made into a bracelet. But the story didn't end there. In 2021, Catherine, Princess of Wales, wore the earrings created from the altered Dubai suite at a film screening in Edinburgh. A gift presented in Dubai in 1979 had therefore become a jewel worn by the next generation of the royal family more than 40 years later. The next station in the Queen's schedule was a visit to Saudi Arabia, where she was greeted by King Khalid, and a new present was handed to the royal guest. This necklace, which we know as King Khalid Diamond Necklace, may be one of few most worn by British royal family. Consisting of 20 pear-shaped diamond pendants radiating from the central band of diamonds, the necklace was made by Harry Winston around 1977 year, so it was relatively new in design. The necklace has a radiant sun-ray structure, with round diamonds forming the central framework and 20 pear-shaped diamonds hanging dramatically below it. And there was something almost immediately symbolic about the jewel. When King Khalid later made a state visit to Britain in June 1981, the Queen wore the This is perhaps the clearest example of what could happen with diplomatic jewelry. A jewel given during one royal visit could reappear years later when the relationship between the two countries was being publicly celebrated again. And once again, the Queen shared the necklace with Diana, who wore it on multiple occasions. The next stop on the route was Qatar, when for the gala banquet Queen Elizabeth received Qatari multi-row pearl necklace from the then Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani, the grandfather of current Emir. The necklace is described as enormous six-strand pearls, with diamond accents, and a large diamond clasp. She would choose this necklace for some of the Qatar-related events. More prominently we could see it matched with a light and gold embroidered with pearl drops during the reception of Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, who arrived with the diplomatic visit to Windsor Castle in 2010. However, as I researched into her tour to South Africa in 1999, I saw she also brought this necklace and Vladimir tiara, of course, with pearls, to wear at the state reception. Qatar would later give the Queen another remarkable jewel, but this one came several years after the iconic tour. In the mid-1980s, the Emir of Qatar presented Elizabeth with a ruby and diamond swag necklace centered by two large rubies accompanied by matching earrings. The design combines cabochon rubies with diamond floral and festoon motifs. Unlike the icy brilliance of the Saudi Winston necklaces, the Qatari ruby suite introduced deep red color into the Queen's evening jewelry collection. But this one had quite a good deal in her collection, as she would eventually wear it for her visit to the United States, and even chose it for the opening of Parliament. The set became another example of a diplomatic gift that was not simply displayed, but actually integrated into the Queen's working jewelry wardrobe. Now we come to one of the most intriguing jewels associated with Saudi Arabia. In March 1987, King Fahd of Saudi Arabia made a state visit to Britain. During a dinner he hosted for the British royal family at cleriges, Queen Elizabeth appeared wearing a nude diamond necklace and matching earrings featuring pear-shaped diamonds. The timing was striking. The jewels appeared during the Saudi visit, and the obvious assumption was that they were a gift from King Fahd. The pieces became known as the Queen's pear-shaped diamond drop demi-perure, and sometimes called the chandelier suite. Maybe Queen's one of favorites, as she wore it quite often, including for her official portraits with Prince Philip. They were later lent to Sophie, Countess of Wessex, and Catherine also wore the So the association with King Fahd is extremely strong, but it remains an association, not a confirmed fact. And this is precisely why royal jewelry research can be so fascinating. When the jewel isn't perfectly documented, we are looking into events to find the clue. Yet one unique feature of Middle Eastern gifts was the style of necklace arrangements. And if you ever see images of Queen wearing a tassel necklace, you may be sure it came from Saudi Arabia leader. In total, Elizabeth received three different tassel suites. One is widely known, yet two are much more mysterious. The first one, and most shown by media is her diamond and emerald tassel suite presented by Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nayan of Abu Dhabi during the United Arab Emirates state visit to Britain in 1989. And according to the Queen's diplomacy rules, she wore it for the return state banquet as a sign of appreciation. The suite consisted of a necklace, earrings, bracelet and ring. And what is certain is that Elizabeth wore the suite multiple times. Moreover, she indeed loved emeralds. So this one was a good choice. And decades later, its story continued. In 2022, Catherine wore the emerald earrings and matching bracelet during the Royal Tour of Jamaica, shining against her green evening gown. The second one, sapphire tassel suite, is a modern contemporary jewelry set featuring a central diamond and sapphire knot design with dangling gemstone strands with matching cluster earrings in a complementary tree foil style with diamonds and sapphires. While not part of her heavily rotated collection, the Queen selectively chose the suite for high profile white tie events, including state banquets hosting Saudi royalty. The third tassel necklace made of gold is more mysterious and stayed out of the line, but was worn with the same earrings she used to pair some of her Arabian jewels, including with a demi perure of a matching choker and bracelet composed of vertical bars of diamonds, creating a continuous sparkling cuff of diamonds in a yellow gold setting, which is considered a gift from Middle East representatives. While never officially confirmed, the style matches jewels designed in Dubai. Worn for a handful of times with her favorite tiara, the Queen wore this gold and diamond choker and a bangle bracelet for her golden wedding anniversary gala at Windsor Castle with a rainbow-like harlequin gown. This same choker was loaned to Duchess of Wessex in 2016, making me believe we still have a chance to see these jewels in future. But above it all, jewel of the greatest mystery is her all-in-diamond modern fringe necklace worn multiple times, but up to now no one has ever confirmed the origins. But the unique style of diamond placement gives a hint it was the fourth diamond necklace received from Saudi Arabia and loaned to Duchess of Wessex for several times, just like she did with the rest of her Arabian diamond necklaces. But not every Middle Eastern gift was made entirely of diamonds. In 1966, Queen Elizabeth for the first time was welcoming King Hussein and his wife, Princess Muna of Jordan on their 10-day state visit to Britain, who brought a turquoise and sapphire gift. The demi-perure consists of a cluster and drop necklace with matching earrings. The Queen was first photographed wearing her Jordanian suite with the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara at a return banquet in 1984 in Jordan, where they were greeted by King Hussein, but already with his third wife, Queen Noor. That is almost 20 years after the gift was presented. To my greatest surprise, as Queen Elizabeth wasn't an apparent fan of turquoise, she frequently donned the Jordanian gift to multiple occasions, including her state visit to Germany. But what about brooches, you will ask? In 2012, Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman gave Queen Elizabeth a famous set of four diamond and precious gem brooches to mark her Diamond Jubilee, each representing the four national floral emblems of the United Kingdom. The Thistle Brooch, a white and yellow gold pave-set diamond spray depicting three Scottish thistles, famously worn by the Queen at Royal Ascot in 2014. The Shamrock Brooch, a delicate three-leaf clover diamond emblem representing Northern Ireland. Rose of England Brooch, designed as a pair of wild roses rendered of white and yellow gold and white and red diamonds. And the last one, Welsh Daffodil Brooch, a spray of three yellow daffodils, the national flower of Wales, set in yellow gold, white and yellow fancy diamonds. And here is what I love about Queen's diplomatic gifts. During her reign, gifts from foreign rulers became part of a visual diplomatic language. A necklace might first appear when a visiting ruler arrived in Britain. Years later, the Queen wears it when visiting that ruler's country. And sometimes the cycle repeated again when the foreign leader returned to Britain. And there is an important modern detail that helps explain why we cannot always know exactly where every royal gift ended up. The royal household's current gift policy distinguishes between official, unofficial, and personal gifts. Official gifts from heads of state or received during official engagements are catalogued to the royal collection or otherwise held in trust for the nation, while personal gifts are handled according to the sovereign's wishes. And we wonder exactly how many of jewels we may see again, or how many were hidden away. If you like our videos, take a second to subscribe, like, and leave your impressions about Queen's Arabian Jewelry Box and which jewel deserves a royal comeback. For now, have a nice day.