Jewellery, politics and national identity: Princess Alexandra and her wedding gifts

Judy Rudoe, Curator, British Museum

Princess Alexandra of Denmark married the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) in March 1863. The gifts of jewellery that flooded in from across the UK and Denmark were widely publicised, displayed to huge crowds at the South Kensington Museum (later the V&A), and recorded in a lavish illustrated volume of 1864. This talk examines the role of some of these jewels as national symbols, linked to the immense political changes across Europe in the second half of the nineteenth century. Among them are the 'Old Norse' recreations of spectacular archaeological discoveries given to her from Denmark, the ‘Etruscan lady’s’ jewel casket by Castellani from British noblemen in Rome, and the Egyptian-style ‘Thebes’jewels from the Prince of Wales incorporating ancient trophies brought back from his 1862 visit.