Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1901-05-06
VIC I ORIA'S JEWELS
MAGNIFICENT COLLECTION OF
BEAUTIFUL GEMS.
THE CROWN MADE IN 1893
Finest Ruby Known-A Ring Given
Her When Girl by Prince Albert
Royal Collection of Canoes.
Cameo Portraits of a Very Curious
Character.

-ROyal OOllSCCiOH VI NdHlCOSs
Cameo Portraits of Very Curious
Character.
Few sovereigns, says the London
! Gentlewoman, have ever possessed
such a shining store" of gems as
Queen Victoria, for though the crown
| Jewels have been shorn of their splen-
dor by the quantity coded to Hanover,
and now in the possession of the duke
of Cumberland, vast number OF
precious stones remain, and have been
added to at different periods of her
majesty's long reign by magnificent
presents, which may rather be called
! tribute, from the east, and by such
quantities of personal souvenirs that
probably even their royal owner had
lost count of them. A great many
! have been transferred by the queen to
her own children and grandchildren,
but such gifts are entirely private,
and the world seldom hears anything
about them. There is, it is said, among
the private apartments at Windsor a
strong room, or rather department,
called ''the Wardrobe" in which
quantities of keepsakes and souvenirs
are stored, but though catalogued and
duly docketed only those who are in
charge really know anything about
them. The accumulations of over
sixty years must be stupendous!
Queen CharIotte's Treasures.
Queen Charlotte, the consort of
George III, Queen Victoria's grand
mother. had magnificent jewels, many
of which remain in the royal family,
or have reverted to it, though others
are scattered. She, poor lady, did not
get a great deal Of satisfaction out OF
them, though they were, SO to speak,
dangled before her when she was
chosen to be the bride of the young
king Of England, to whom she proved
such a faithful wife. She herself said
they were the pleasure of a week, a
fortnight at most, and to return no
more" Queen Charlotte's pearls alone
were valued at &150,000, and part of
them went to Hanover, left to her
son, the duke of Cumberland, in her
will The king spent 100000 on jew
els for her, and she bequeathed them
back to him or, failing him, as heir
looms to the house of Hanover. Then
in 1859 the nabob of Arcot sent over
a box or ''bulse" of diamonds of fabul7
hn
handed most of them to his queen,
who at her death left them to her four
daughters, making the queen-dowager
OF Wurtemberg an exception, though
she directed that a very fine set of
garnets and diamonds should be
Charlotte's diamonds on state occa-
sions was almost barbaric, and it is
on record that in addition to those
disposed about her small person she
sometimes carried a nosegay of jewels
with one huge diamond resplendent on
the top.
Crown Of England.
The crown of England, specially
made for her majesty in 1888 by
Messrs. Rundell & Bridge, the then
famous court jewelers., has a large
sapphire in the center, originally
bought for the crown of George w. In
front, set in the center of diamond
Maltese cross, is the finest ruby
known. 1t is believed to have belonged
to potentate of central Asia cen
turtles ago in the dim past, and some
how it got into the hands of an Abys-
sinian prince. 1t was next heard of
Granada, where it excited the envy of
Pedro the cruel of CASTLE. who asked
the great Moor to visit him, visit
from which he never returned to the
halls of Granada, for Pedro seized him
and comprised his murder, tearing the
great ruby from his turban. Tradi-
ton asserts that Pedro gave it to the
black prince, who was in Spain a good
deal, and, in the internecine skirm-
ishes of the time, laid the foundation
of the malady that shortened his life.
He is said to have worn the ruby at
the battle of MALARIA in 1867, and it
was worn by Henry V. in his helmet
at Agincourt. The cross on the sum-
nit contains the rose-cut "inesti-
mable" sapphire that was once set in
the famous ring of Edward the Con.
fessor, SO long treasured at his shrine
and the heritage of which gave his
successors the power of blessing
cramp rings.
Perfect Blaze of Diamonds.
At the first drawing room Princess
Victoria attended, in February, 1881.
she wore beautiful pearl necklet and
diamond clasp in her hair, and at
fher marriage she wore splendid dia-
mond earrings and a necklace to
match, and the diamond brooch that
Prince Albert had brought her as a
wedding present. On several occa-
sions in this early part of her reign
she wore a perfect blaze of diamonds