How Queen Mary Distributed Queen Alexandra's Royal Jewels

Queen Alexandra died without a will—but she left behind clear instructions to help Queen Mary properly allocate her royal jewelry

A century ago this week, Queen Alexandra died at Sandringham House in Norfolk. The task of carrying out her final wishes regarding the distribution of her royal jewelry fell to her daughter-in-law, Queen Mary, with the help of King George, Princess Victoria, and Queen Maud.

Queen Alexandra, ca. 1923 (Royal Collection Trust)

On a mild Saturday morning in Norfolk in January 1926, King George V and Queen Mary walked from York Cottage over to Sandringham House to handle a task that must have felt both monumental and personal. Seven weeks after the death of “Motherdear”—the royal family’s domineering matriarch, Queen Alexandra—it was time to divide up her vast collection of royal jewelry. They were joined in the effort by two of Alexandra’s three daughters, Princess Victoria and Queen Maud of Norway. The third of the trio, the increasingly reclusive Princess Royal, was not present, having opted to stay in London for the holidays instead of joining her brother and sisters in Norfolk. The Duchess of York, who was expecting the future Queen Elizabeth II, and Princess Mary were also not part of the royal group that day.

Queen Alexandra died intestate—that is, she did not draft a traditional will before her passing. But that does not mean that she did not express specific wishes regarding the inheritance of her personal property, especially her jewelry. Alexandra’s jewels were carefully documented in a photographic inventory, on which she had noted instructions for the distribution of the collection after her death. Mary, George, Toria, and Maud used the inventory that Saturday to sort out the bequests, a task that Mary described in her diary as “interesting but sad.”

The jewelry essentially went into five different categories. One important piece was designated as an Heirloom of the Crown, a collection created by Queen Victoria after her passing in 1901. Those jewels passed directly from monarch to monarch, generally to be used by the Queen. The rest of the jewels were divided among Queen Mary, the Princess Royal, Princess Victoria, and Queen Maud.

Today, I’m highlighting some of the most prominent pieces from Alexandra’s collection, tracing their paths from her jewelry box at Sandringham in 1926 to their present-day locales, including jewelry still worn by her royal descendants in London and Oslo today.