The present jewel has remained in the Saxe-Coburg and Gotha family through the Royal couple’s son, and third child Alfred of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1844-1900) and thence by descent.Ī Comparison between four known turreted ladies Plaid Brooches Queen Victoria’s purchase of Balmoral in 1848, and the subsequent wearing of Highland dress by the Royal family in Scotland, instigated a widespread fashion for plaid brooches of which the Albert is the finest, earliest, and best documented surviving 19 th century example. The three jewels were exhibited together in the British Museum’s exhibition ‘Shakespeare Staging the World’ in 2012. Only the Maclaine Brooch of Lochbuie brooch is ten-turreted, the other two examples bearing eight turrets. All three have a reliquary beneath their centre charmstone and were originally worn by women. It is possibly contemporary with two further West Highland examples of similar composition, one known as the Ugadale brooch, and a third the inspiration for this brooch, the Lochbuie brooch now in the British Museum. The Brooch of Lorne, originally serving to secure a cloak or plaid of a lady, was at this date considered as part of a complete set of male ‘Highland Garb’. They sang 2 Gaelic songs, so wild & singular, the language, so guttural, - sometimes a little resembling German. This jewel was shown to Queen Victoria by the head of the MacDougall clan on 10 th September 1842 during a visit to Perthshire.ĭuring her stay at Drummond Castle, the Queen wrote in her journal:Ĭapt: M cDougal, who steered, & is the head of the M cDougal’s showed us the real brooch of Lorne, which was taken by his ancestor from Robert Bruce, in a battle. The form was inspired by the celebrated Brooch of Lorne, a silver turreted disc brooch allegedly taken in battle from Robert the Bruce (Robert I of Scotland) at the battle of Dalrigh in 1307. My beloved Albert gave me a lovely brooch, which is so original in design, & which I am delighted with. The entry in the Queen’s journal of that day reads:
Second canto The Lord of Isles, a poem by Sir Walter Scott (1815)Ī circular gold plaid broach presented by Prince Albert Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to Queen Victoria, engraved on the reverse ‘From Albert/Nov 21 1842’, the date of the second birthday of their first-born child, ‘Victoria’ the ‘Princess Royal’.Ĭentred with a garnet, it is surrounded by ten ‘turrets’ each set with a Scottish freshwater pearl. The brooch was given by the Prince to the Queen on 10 th February 1843, exactly two years after their daughter had been christened.
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