Royal Splendor Recap

It’s another wonderful week of stories about our favorite royals, their fabulous royal jewels and enormous royal fortunes. In case you missed our daily posts, here’s a recap… Enjoy the weekend binge reading with Royal Splendor.

The Duchess of Windsor’s Jewels

When the Duke of Windsor died in 1972, his wife benefitted greatly from his fortune. With her liquid assets roughly worth £3 million and millions more kept in her fabulous jewelry collection, artworks, furniture and objects, the Duchess of Windsor was a wealthy lady. In fact, when Sotheby’s auctioned her jewelry in 1987, the sale realized over £30 million ($50 million), a shocking figure that shattered expectations.  Continue reading here.

Queen Mary’s “Modest” Estate

Queen Mary died in 1953 and when the amount of her estate was made known, everyone was shocked to find out that she left a modest  £406,407. People thought she was worth millions, however, it was already known that she had given away many of her valuable pieces to members of the royal family during her lifetime. Continue reading here.

Princess Diana’s Millions

When the divorce proceedings of Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales, were finalized in 1996, the former Lady Diana Spencer went home with a cash settlement of £17 million, plus an annual income of £400,000 a year. When she died a year, she was worth an estimated £21.5 million. Aside from leaving the bulk of her fortune to her two sons, Princes William and Harry, she also left money to several people who were close to her heart, including her butler, her sisters and mother, and her godchildren. Continue reading here.

The Duchess of Teck's Crescent Tiara

The tiara’s history could be traced back to Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, Queen Victoria’s first cousin and the mother of the future Queen Mary. When her aunt, Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester, died in  1855, the princess inherited a portion of her jewelry, which she combined into this rose and crescent tiara. Hugh Roberts believed that the Duchess of Gloucester willed, among others, "the diamond bandeau for the head and three diamond roses"  Continue reading here.

The Belgian Sapphire Tiara: A Priceless Gem with a Scandalous History

Princess Louise of Belgium, the daughter of notorious King Leopold II, was married to Prince Ferdinand Philipp of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. However, it was an unhappy marriage, so she left her husband for Count Geza Mattachich, a lieutenant in a Croatian regiment of the Austrian army. The two lived in Paris but Louise’s extravagance cost her her fortune. But what scandalized the Belgian royal court was when it was learned that Mattachich forged the signature of Princess Stephanie (Louise’s sister) on promissory notes for jewelry worth $2.5 million at that time. This episode left Louise in an asylum, while Mattachich was imprisoned. In order to pay off her debts, King Leopold II auctioned off all of the jewels that she inherited from her mother, the late Queen Henriette. One of the pieces sold was a sapphire necklace, which was sold again in 1963 and was snapped by Queen Elizabeth II.  This would be the latest addition in the queen’s extensive tiara collection. Continue reading here.

Princess Marina’s Financial Woes

 The Duke of Kent’s passing meant the end of Civil List payments. Whatever money he left was set in trust for his children.  Aside from the few priceless jewels she inherited from her mother, Princess Nicholas of Greece, the Duchess of Kent had very little money. With a disposable income of less than £1,000 a year, the amount was hardly enough to pay for the upkeep of her country home in Buckinghamshire. Princess Marina faced financial problems for the years that followed. Continue reading here.