King George II & Queen Elizabeth (nee Romania)

[KarlandZita]

Queen Elizabeth visiting a refugee camp in 1923 :

[Eric_Lowe]

Was she in mourning ? I notice the veil...

[miki_nastya]

well I think she was..1923 was the year her father-in-law died..so maybe she was in  mourning for him

[Eric_Lowe]

Yes that might be it. Thanks.

[KarlandZita]

George and Elizabeth in automobile :

[Eric_Lowe]

A very striking pair. George was very handsome, while Elisabetta looked very dramatic in her attire.

[Clemence]

I don't think the story between them was really told. When they were married. George was in love with Elisabetha, but she was not but she tried to make a good effort of it. The Greek Royal family (except Helen) did not warm towards the new comer. Queen Sophie did not give Elisbetha a single jewel, in fact she did not even let her see them according to Elisabetta.

I' m so glad she didn't!

[grandduchessella]

Given their former state of exile and how quickly it would all go to **** again, Sophie was wise to hang onto as many jewels as she could.

Elizabeth did have the large diamond & emerald paraure--composed of fabulous Romanov emeralds.

Ashdean, our resident expert, wrote:

"he emeralds were always classed as heirlooms and seem to have been handed over by one living Queen to the next.Olga circa 1914 to Sophie, Sophie after her husbands death to Elizabeth....As  the emeralds were not seen from the late 1930s to 1947 ( more because of WW2 than the divorce) it is difficult to ascertain exactly when they were returned to George or if he handed them over to Paul/Fredrica or they had to wait till his death to inherit them. What we do know is that the settings they were in from Elizabeths time...principally the diadem,earrings and large pendant stomacher (there is also at least a eighth emerald drop)have remained."

So, for the brief time she was actually Queen, Elizabeth had quite a nice set of jewelry.

[Eric_Lowe]

Elisabetta did have the emerald parure after Queen Olga died and left the jewels to George. So George have them to his wife Elisabetta and that was the "only" jewels she got from the Greek Family. If Sophie had her way, Elisabetta might not even have that. Missy was pretty miffed by Sophie's stinginess. She said "At least I gave her daughter a tiara" (that was the Greek Key tiara she bought from her sister Ducky). Elisabetta also also received the diamond chain with a large sapphire as part of her dowry. 

[grandduchessella]

Queen Olga died in 1926--did George give them to her then? We've all heard the story of Sophie's 'stinginess' and Marie's reaction. However, I always feel a bit that Marie can go scratch over that issue. Marie was in a much stronger (and wealthier) position to greet Helen than Sophie was for Elizabeth. Sophie would barely have a year as a mother-in-law and reinstated Queen before she was driven into exile once again--and that time was spent with the country in a state of war. (As opposed to Romania which was basking in the limelight in post-WW1 Europe). Those emeralds were certainly as nice as anything Sophie herself had--the Romanovs didn't scrimp on their diamonds & emeralds. Plus, Elizabeth was able to alter it to put the E emblem into it and make it her own. That sapphire was also nothing to sneeze at.

[Eric_Lowe]

Yes. Elisabetta got that pretty late in her marriage as she did not wore a lot of jewels before that. She had to borrow her mother's tiara for the Romanian Coronation. But as Queen of Greece, she was entitle to the jewels and Sophie cannot stop Elisabetta receiving them. I agree with Missy on this one, she was stingy. Not even a brooch and a necklace for your new daughter-in-law ? Come on ! Vicky gave Sophie quite a few pieces. Sophie had the big tiara from Vicky (later passed to Frederica), the small circular tiara (now owned by Princess Irene of Greece), the diamond fringe tiara (passed to Princess Irene, Duchess of Aosta) and plenty of choker and necklaces. When Elisabetta wrote about the jewels to her mother "she would not even let me see them". No wonder Missy was enraged.

[Kalafrana]

Wait a minute. George and Elizabeth married in Bucharest while most of the Greek royal family were in exile. Did Sophie even have access to the jewels at this point?

Maybe a misunderstanding when Elizabeth wrote to her mother saying that Sophie would not let her see the jewels.

Ann

[Kalafrana]

Having had a quick look at wikipedia (not the best source, I know, but the writer is drawing van der Kiste's book: Kings of the Hellenes, which is reliable as far as I know), I think it quite possible that Sophie simply didn't have much jewellery in her possession at the time of the wedding.

According to wiki,  the day after Alexander's coronation in June 1917, the rest of the Greek royal family fled from Athens to the small part of Otropos. Since on the evening before the crowds in Athens had refused to allow them to go even as far as Tatoi, I rather think that they could not have managed to carry much with them. The earliest time Sophie could possibly have returned to Greece was when Constantine was restored as king on 19 December 1920 (none of the family, apart from Queen Olga, were allowed back before that, not even to visit Alexander on his deathbed - and even Olga got there too late). I haven't managed to establish whether Sophie went to the wedding in Bucharest from Athens or from exile - if the latter, it's hardly surprising that she didn't give her daughter-in-law very much.

The fortunes of the Greek royal family remained chaotic for the rest of Sophie's life. She and Constantine were exiled again in September 1923. Constantine died four months later and Sophie remained in exile until her death.

If Marie of Romania and her daughter were complaining about the size of wedding presents against all this background, it strikes me as pretty small-minded.

Ann

[Eric_Lowe]

Sorry I don't buy that. I think Elisabetta was truthful in sating that "she did not allow me even to look at it". That proves that the jewels were in tact and Sophie did not gave her anything. If she did, Elisabetta would have included them in her letters to Missy. Years you see Elisabetta without any jewels and had to borrow from her mother. It was just a stroke of luck that Sophie cannot stop George from giving his wife (the Queen of Greece) her rightful jewels. Elisabetta never wore any piece of jewels that belonged to Sophie (only her daughters did).

[seriya]

At that time, Marie of Romania was not good financial condition too. During WWI, Bucharest was captured by German. Bolsheviks deprived of Romanians gold and all crown jewels and never return it. Marie had lost almost all her jewelry.(including her dowry and her father's wedding presents! Marie was so devastated)
Marie said that "Not the smallest tiniest little atom of anything. Sophy has all her jewels, I lost all mine, yet we have made tremendous efforts to send her daughter a beautiful diadem." I don't think Marie was small-minded.