Queen Elizabeth II passed away on September 8, 2022, making her the UK’s longest-serving monarch. Ahead of her funeral which was held on September 19, 2022, some speculated what exactly she would be buried in. Despite all of the beautiful, precious jewelry the Queen was known to wear, one expert believed she would be buried in two simple pieces of jewelry.
Her Majesty’s jewelry collection
The Queen’s private jewelry collection has over 300 pieces, including 15 rings, 14 watches, 46 necklaces, 34 pairs of earrings, and 98 brooches. She also had about 50 tiaras that formed both the British Crown Jewels and her own personal tiara collection.
Any jewelry she wasn’t wearing was kept in the Queen’s Gallery in Buckingham Palace, and the official Crown Jewels are held in the Tower of London.
Just two pieces of jewelry
Lisa Levinson, head of communications at the Natural Diamond Council, believed that Queen Elizabeth II would likely be buried in only two pieces of jewelry. “Her Majesty is an incredibly humble woman at heart who is unlikely to be dressed in anything but her simple Welsh gold wedding band to rest and a pair of pearl earrings,” she said.
Her wedding band was passed to her after it had been given to her parents for their wedding in 1923. It is made from Welsh gold pulled from the Clogau St. David gold mine. It’s a royal tradition to wear wedding rings made from Welsh gold.
“Her Majesty’s life has always been about the legacy of the royal family, in the UK and Commonwealth; her jewels form very much part of that legacy,” Levinson said, leading her to believe that her jewels would not be buried away at the funeral.
Where will her vast collection end up?
“The young Prince Philip was closely involved in the design of Elizabeth’s engagement ring, which is set in platinum and has eleven natural diamonds – a three-carat round solitaire diamond, and five smaller stones set on each side,” Levinson explained. The diamonds were taken from a tiara owned by Philip’s mother, Alice of Battenberg. The engagement ring was likely given to her daughter, Princess Anne.
More from us: Queen Elizabeth II: Her Historic Life in Photos
It is believed that the majority of the Queen’s tiara collection will be passed on to King Charles III for use by Camila, Queen Consort. In addition, some believe that some of the collection will also be passed on to Kate, Princess of Wales, as well. The rest of her jewels are likely to remain in the royal collection.