British Royal Jewels: King Fahd Diamond Necklace and Earrings

With the third necklace in our list, we are entering into the murky waters of guesswork. The provenance of the first two - King Faisal Necklace and King Khalid Necklace - is well known and established. Unfortunately, there is no definite (or any, for that matter) information on this one.

King Fahd of Saudi Arabia Necklace

Why have I named it King Fahd Necklace then? The Queen almost always wears jewellery gifted to her on official visits for the first time when hosting return banquets. That’s how we have learnt about the origin of quite a few of her jewels. Now, she wore this necklace for the first time when hosting a banquet in honour of King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, who paid an official visit to London in 1987.

To me, that is proof enough that this necklace has a Saudi Arabic provenance. And indeed, since then Her Majesty has worn this piece for a lot of events connected with the Arab country. She has worn it for other events too, mind you, including at Windsor Castle's Green Room (for official photographs) in 1987, for Royal Variety in 2001, and during official visit to Slovakia in 2008.

The Queen wearing King Fahd Necklace with Kokoshnik Tiara (left), with Girls of Great Britain Tiara (middle), and without a tiara

The necklace doesn’t come alone either; the earrings Queen Elizabeth always wears with this necklace are such a perfect match in style that it is virtually certain they form or are part of a demi-parure. 

King Fahd Necklace consists of a base of diamonds with ornate diamond clusters hanging from it, the largest being in the middle. Each cluster ends with a pear-shaped diamond. The chandelier earrings are almost a perfect copy of the centrepiece.

The Queen wearing the necklace for a banquet in King Fahd's honour in 1987 (left), posing for official photographs in Windsor Castle in 1987 (middle), and during official visit to Slovakia in 2008 (right)

I really like this demi-parure; it is versatile enough to be worn with pretty much any jewellery. And it’s also very delicate-looking – something that personally I think a lot of Middle Easter/Arabic jewels lack.

Again, the provenance of this necklace is not known with absolute certainty so I may well be wrong and it comes from a different source altogether.

Have a look at the other four necklaces in this series:

King Faisal Diamond Necklace

Even Fringe Diamond Necklace

King Khalid Diamond Necklace
The Countess of Wessex's Mystery Necklace

Special thanks to the incredibly knowledgeable guys at the Royal Jewels of the World. Amazing detective work!