Tea at Trianon: Royal Jewellery: From Coronations to Keepsakes

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Sunday, October 25, 2026

Royal Jewellery: From Coronations to Keepsakes

From Write Royalty:

Royal Jewellery: From Coronations to Keepsakes will feature “more than 300 pieces of jewellery from the 16th century to the present day, around two thirds on display for the first time,” the press release stated. “This unprecedented exhibition will bring together some of the most important and spectacular royal jewels in British history, many never exhibited publicly before,” explained Caroline de Guitaut and Kathryn Jones, co-curators of the exhibition, in the press release. “Each jewel carries with it a human story: of love and loss, power and politics, family and faith. Together, they have borne witness to the defining moments of royal lives and offer a deeply personal insight into the individuals and relationships that have shaped the monarchy across generations.”
As if to prove the exhibition’s bona fides, the Royal Collection accompanied that announcement with photos of 12 items that will be in the exhibition, which opens in June 2027. Some of the items are famous and have been publicly exhibited, such as the tiny diamond crown that Queen Victoria frequently wore perched on top of her head. (Read more.)

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