Britain vs. Hanover Over Royal Diamonds — The Crown Queen Victoria Had to Give Away

Britain vs. Hanover Over Royal Diamonds — The Crown Queen Victoria Had to Give Away

For nearly twenty years, Britain and Hanover fought over a collection of royal diamonds — and at the centre of the dispute was a delicate bridal crown worn by Queen Charlotte on her wedding day in 1761.

When Queen Victoria inherited the British throne in 1837, the jewels were still in England. But Hanover had a new king, Ernest Augustus, and he wanted them back.

What followed was an extraordinary legal battle involving royal wills, disputed ownership, three commissions, two kings, and a fortune in diamonds and pearls. In 1857, the final ruling went against Victoria. The jewels were ordered to leave Britain.

But that was not the end of the story.

Just one year later, Victoria began replacing what she had lost. From that effort came the famous 1858 coronation necklace featuring the Lahore Diamond — a piece that would later be worn at the coronations of Queen Alexandra, Queen Mary, the Queen Mother and Queen Elizabeth II.

And then there is the bridal crown itself.

After leaving Britain, it disappeared into the complicated history of the House of Hanover. One account describes the crown being hidden in the lining of a woman's dress during the Franco-Prussian War and eventually deposited in the Bank of England. According to the later paper trail, it ultimately found its way back to Windsor.

So what exactly happened to Queen Charlotte's jewels?

Who legally owned them? Why did Queen Victoria have to surrender them? And how did a lawsuit she lost help create one of the most famous necklaces in British royal history?

This is the story of The Hanoverian Jewels Dispute — a royal inheritance battle that lasted almost twenty years.