The Hanoverian claim was an important court case that lasted from 1837 – 1857. Featuring two royal families, the outcome of this case prompted Queen Victoria to establish one of the first jewel foundations, ‘The Heirlooms of the British Crown‘.
In 1714, George I, Elector of Hanover became King George I of Great Britain after the death of his childless cousin Queen Anne. For the next 123 years, Hanover and Great Britain were ruled in a personal union by George’s descendants. In 1837, this connection was broken when Queen Victoria ascended to the British throne. Salic law (the law where women cannot inherit) still existed in Hanover so her uncle, Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland became King of Hanover.
Ernest began to lay claim to the numerous important jewels in the British collection, claiming that the jewellery worn by the Hanoverian kings of England and their queens derived largely from German sources and that the existence of the Hanoverian Crown Jewels had been recognised since the reign of George II. He also claimed that his mother Queen Charlotte had left her own jewels to the House of Hanover in her will and were thus part of the claim.
During the reign of George II, jewels from the British collection were sent to Hanover, apparently for safe keeping during the Jacobite Rebellion. In 1752, while visiting his German kingdom, George had the collection inventoried. It contained ‘the jewelled Garter Star provided by Queen Anne for her husband Prince George of Denmark, two Georges (Badges of the Order of the Garter, one of which was set with brilliants costing £4,500), a diamond agraffe or clasp for the hat, buttons, rings, a pair of diamond shoe buckles, a jewelled sword and a large spinel presented to William III in 1698 by Peter the Great’.
Also included in this inventory were his wife, Queen Caroline’s jewels – three pearl necklaces (including one that had belonged to Queen Anne) ten dress of sleeve clasp, at least six being set with brilliants, a brilliant girdle, a diamond-set fan, stay buckle and three pairs of earrings, the most important of which cost £7,00 and £5,000, a pair of pearl and diamond earrings with drops, rings, a drop shaped stone and a stomacher or bodice ornament set with several large diamonds, the most expensive costing £18,000 and the next £5,800. A third large stone in the stomacher was taken from the Queen’s wedding ring, two more were purchased by her and two were gifts of George I. Pearl drops adorning the stomacher had been presented by George I’s Queen.
When he succeeded his grandfather in 1760, George III called for the jewels to be sent back to London. He then consulted with three lawyers to establish ownership. Some pieces were deemed to be of property of Hanover (having been bought with German funds) but George III bought them back from his relatives using £54,000 paid from the British Civil List.
These pieces were then remade into Bridal jewellery and given to his new wife Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz in 1761. Queen Caroline’s stomacher was dismantled a remade into a bodice for Queen Charlotte, described as ‘the Ground net of small brilliants on that a large pattern of natural flowers, the large diamond which cost £18,000 had lustre equal to its price’.
During her time as Queen, Charlotte added further to her collection, most notably a selection of large diamonds known as the Arcot diamonds, a ‘gift’ from the Nawab of Arcot. But she made sure to keep these jewels separate from the ones she had been given on her wedding day.
In 1804, she as asked Rundell, Bridge & Rundell to make an inventory of her jewels. In her
words the jewellery ‘found at my arrival in the year 1761’ comprised a ‘great brilliant necklace, consisting
of twenty-six large stones’ , ‘a large cross’ (of six brilliants), a pair of three-drop brilliant earrings’ ‘two large single drops, one small rosette of brilliants, with a clasp in the middle smaller, without a drop; and two brilliant bows’, ‘the great nosegay (aigrette) of diamonds’, ‘the great diamond stomacher’ and ‘the great pearls which the King calls family pearls’ among which were a pair of diamond and pearl earrings and a set of diamond and pearl bows,
By trying to keep her personal and royal jewels separate, Charlotte inadvertently caused the basis for the ‘Hanoverian Claim’. In her will, she left her wedding jewellery to ‘the House of Hanover, to be settled upon it and considered as an heirloom in the direct line of succession to that House’
Regardless of this, when she died in 1818, her son George IV ignored her will, seizing his mother’s jewels that she had bequeathed to her daughters saying ‘‘the Queen had not the power of disposing of the jewels, as they were the property of the Crown of England”. He then proceeded to dismantle many jewels in order to make new pieces for his mistress, Lady Conyngham. Thankfully, Rundell’s kept immaculate records and they were able to keep track of the major stones that were being remounted.
George IV was succeeded by his brother William IV in 1830. His wife, Queen Adelaide continued to modify the jewels by removing diamonds from Queen Charlotte’s stomacher and having them set in her coronation crown, also possibly using four Arcot diamonds in the main fleur-de-lis motifs. Afterwards, she had the stomacher diamonds set into a Regal circlet, which was inherited by Queen Victoria on her uncle’s death in 1837.
Despite what she referred to as ‘our tiresome dispute with the King of Hanover’, Victoria continued to wear and modify the jewels. The Regal Circlet was altered in 1852-3 to incorporate the legendary Koh-i-Nur diamond. Further stones were taken from Queen Charlotte’s stomacher and incorporated into the Oriental Tiara
Ernst Augustus died in 1851 and Victoria had a much better relationship with son and successor stating ‘‘George of Hanover is behaving in a very amiable, friendly way, proposing a compromise, which must be met in an equally friendly spirit . .” but by 1857, the commissioners had finally reached their judgement. They decided that the claim was substantiated to some, but not all, the jewels that belonged to Queen Charlotte.
The difficult task of finding said jewels then began. Rundell, Bridge & Rundell’s had gone out of business and only some of their records were passed along tot the new Crown Jeweller, Garrard. The family pearls had been re-strung so many times it was impossible to trace their origins and no one could locate precisely where the jewels that had once belonged to Queen Caroline had gone.
Some diamonds from George II’s shoe buckles were traced to a necklace of Charlotte’s but the jewels that eventually passed to Hanover were a set of diamond bow brooches, three-drop and single-drop earrings, a small pearl necklace, a necklace pendent cross, nuptial crown and nosegay (aigrette), in addition to the stones from the stomacher.
Losing these jewels prompted Queen Victoria to safeguard her own collection. In her will, she designated certain pieces as ‘The Heirlooms of the British Crown’ and since her death in 1901 they have remained within the British Royal Family, continuing to be worn by its Queens.