In 1911, The Kings of Great Britain were also the Emperors of India. King George V travelled to India to become the first to be crowned there. However, he needed a new set of crown jewels to take with him because by law the British Crown Jewels cannot leave the UK.
While the Crown Jeweller Garrad made George the 1911 Delhi Dhurbar crown, Queen Mary commissioned an entirely new suite for the occasion for herself. She used her own collection of emeralds to make what is now known as the Delhi Dhurbar parure.
It had always been assumed that this choker was made from these gems but this choker was actually a gift from the Ladies of India and presented to Queen Mary at the Delhi Dhurbar in 1911.
The original necklace was slightly longer and could laid flat on the neck. It featured cabochon cut emeralds interspersed with diamond bars and links.
In 1921, Queen Mary had the Crown Jeweller Garrard remodel the necklace into an Art Deco Choker.
Like most of her other jewels, she left it to her granddaughter Queen Elizabeth II but she was sadly never photographed wearing it.
Thought to have been given as a wedding present from the Queen, Princess Diana wore the choker very conventionally at first.
Then on a tour of Australia 1985, she made one of her most memorable fashion statements and wore the choker as a Bandeau headband (although apparently this was due more to a sunburnt neck)
Diana continued to wear the Emerald Choker after her separation from Prince Charles.
Like the Lover’s Knot Tiara and the Prince of Wales Brooch, the choker returned to the Royal Family after Diana’s death
When she became the Duchess of Cambridge in 2011, Kate Middleton faced many comparisons with her deceased mother in law. Given that she would one day become the Princess of Wales it was assumed that she would wear elements of Diana’s Royal jewellery collection. To everyone’s delight, Catherine, Princess of Wales wore the Emerald Choker to the Earthshot Awards 2022.
