An Outpour of Wedding Presents for Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh

Royal wedding gifts included the Girls of Great Britain Tiara. Images from Wikimedia Commons and Flickr

Despite the austerity measures in post-war Britain, the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Lt. Philip Mountbatten was a welcome respite and it was marked by enormous outpour of public affection, both at home and abroad. About 2,500 gifts were showered to the young couple. When news came out that the princess would be using coupons to buy her wedding dress, gifts of coupons were sent but they had to be returned.

Presents arrived weeks before the wedding, but it was only on the 17th and 18th of November that those who had given presents were invited to St. James’ Palace to see them. Gifts from members of the British Royal Family found a prominent place in the Throne Room. From the bride’s parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, a necklace of diamond and rubies and two strings of pearls were given to the princess. Queen Mary, meanwhile, presented her granddaughter with the famous Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara, a pair of diamond earrings and diamond brooch. A more practical Princess Margaret gave her sister a cream plastic picnic set and some-table glassware.

The variety of the presents from around the world ranged from from the Aga Khan’s gift of a chestnut filly and set of Dresden porcelain from the Vactican, to hand- knitted jumpers, embroidered samplers and home-made tea cosies. Perhaps two of the most priceless gifts the future queen had received were the tiara from the Nizzam of Hyderabad and 96 rubies from people of Burma, both were later used to create the Burmese ruby tiara.

Gifts from the Commonwealth were countless. The people of Kenya gave her a hunting lodge, while the Canadian sent her a mink coat and fur wrap from Newfoundland. A gold salver came from Australia while the Kiwis thoughtfully gave her a writing desk. Mahatma Gandhi presented the Princess with a hand-woven tray cloth; Queen Mary, under the mistaken impression that it was a loincloth, commented’ “Such an indelicate gift… what a horrible thing.”

Since the new couple would definitely begin a family soon, they received many practical items  that were useful for homemaking, including a vacuum cleaner, a fridge, a sewing machine and even wallpaper. One lady from Brooklyn worried about food shortage in Britain that she sent them  a turkey! At the Princess’s request some of the wedding presents took the form of hospital endowments and subscriptions to charity.

The couple’s wedding cake, nine feet high and constructed of four tiers, was created with the intention of reaching out to the common wealth, and as such used ingredients from around the world, including some given by the Australian Girl Guides. After the wedding, slices of cake were distributed all over the country.