A Maple Leaf Brooch for Queen Mary: The Queen Mother's Sentimental Jewelry Tribute

During the royal tour of Canada in 1939, Queen Elizabeth made her debut in a special Canadian maple leaf brooch that had been entrusted to her by her mother-in-law, Queen Mary

Eighty-six years ago today, Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother) stepped off the royal train in Winnipeg wearing a spectacular diamond and enamel maple leaf spray brooch loaned to her by her mother-in-law, Queen Mary. The choice of brooch was a subtle tribute to Mary, who had undergone a serious ordeal the day before while returning to London from a royal engagement.

The caterpillar, presumably, had hitched a ride in the royal car from its previous home inside the Royal Horticultural Society’s Garden in Wisley, where Queen Mary and her companions had spent the afternoon of Tuesday, May 23, 1939. As the 71-year-old Dowager Queen rode home to Marlborough House in her Daimler limousine with her woman of the bedchamber, Lady Constance Milnes Gaskell, and her comptroller, Lord Claud Hamilton, Mary leaned down and pointed out the tiny insect, which had attached itself to Lord Claud’s trouser leg. Before Lord Claud could flick the bug away, however, there was a sudden crash, and a sway, and the horrific sound of screeching metal and shattering glass.

The royal car came to rest on its side on the road. When the royal chauffeur, Oscar Humphrey—a long-serving employee who had also been a driver for the late King George V—was finally able to climb out of the car, he was too much in shock to fully appreciate the scene around him. The car had been struck by a two-ton truck at the junction of Wimbledon Park Road and West Hill Road in Putney. After careening and wobbling, the car had landed on the passenger side. In the back of the vehicle, Queen Mary had been thrown out of her seat and landed at Lord Claud’s feet. Beside her, Lady Constance was pinned beneath a seat cushion. The footman who had been riding in the passenger seat, Mr. Southgate, emerged from the car without injuries, but the trio in the backseat were trapped in the vehicle.

The lorry that had collided with the royal car was hauling a load of long steel tubes, which, in a sign of the times, were to be used as poles for Air Raid Precaution sirens. The 25-year-old driver, Albert Cooper, stumbled out of the truck, physically unharmed but deeply upset about the accident. He stayed on the scene to ensure that no one had been seriously injured, but his guilt and anguish deepened when he realized that Queen Mary was inside the car. Soon, local residents were rushing toward the scene of the accident to help, worried that the overturned car might catch on fire. Few were immediately aware of the identity of the passengers trapped in the backseat. But that didn’t matter as they feverishly tried to free them.