The contents of Princess Margaret’s legendary jewelry box were meant to be a legacy of royal splendor, but for her only daughter, Lady Sarah Chatto, they became a bittersweet inheritance defined by sacrifice. In 2006, four years after the Princess’s death, the heavy burden of inheritance taxes forced Lady Sarah and her brother, David Armstrong-Jones, to consign a significant portion of their mother’s collection to the auction block at Christie’s. The sale, which saw iconic pieces like the Poltimore Tiara and the Lady Mount Stephen diamond necklace sold to the highest bidder, was seen by historians as a devastating loss to the royal patrimony.
However, as new photographs from recent royal events reveal, a distinct cache of the most personal and historically significant jewels survived the purge.
These surviving gems, often worn by Lady Sarah at state funerals, weddings, and coronations, represent a quiet rebellion against the relentless pressures of the state. While the grand tiaras were sold to settle debts, the most intimate and sentimentally charged items were kept. Among them is the Greville Pearl Earrings, a pair of drop pearls set with diamonds that have become Lady Sarah’s signature.
They are more than just decoration; they are a symbol of maternal love, having been gifted by Princess Margaret to her daughter on her wedding day in 1994, just days before the ceremony.
The story of the Greville Pearls is a history lesson in acquiring royal wealth. They originated from the collection of Margaret Greville, a famed society hostess who bequeathed her jewels to Queen Elizabeth in 1942. The Queen Mother subsequently gifted the pair to her younger daughter, Princess Margaret, in the 1950s.
For decades, Princess Margaret wore them on grand tours and state visits, but their most profound moment came in July 1994. As Lady Sarah prepared to marry the artist Daniel Chatto, her mother handed over the earrings, turning a royal heirloom into a personal object of trust. Sarah has worn them almost constantly since, from the wedding of the Duke of Cambridge in 2011 to the funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh in 2021.
Perhaps the most inventive piece in Lady Sarah’s arsenal is the ‘Snowdon Floral Tiara’. Unlike the grand State Tiaras of the crown, this headpiece is a versatile work of art, constructed from three antique diamond floral brooches. These pieces were gifts from Lord Snowdon to Princess Margaret on their wedding day in 1960.
The origins of the brooches themselves are clouded in mystery, but they were likely purchased new for the wedding to start a new family heirloom lineage, distinct from the Crown’s collection. After her divorce, Princess Margaret kept them and often used them to adorn her neckline or hair. The transformation into a tiara was not planned; it was born out of necessity.
When Lady Sarah’s wedding dress designer, Jasper Conran, saw the brooches sitting in Princess Margaret’s jewelry box, he immediately envisioned them as a crown. The manufacturing jewelers Wartski crafted a delicate frame so that the three heavy brooches could be worn as a semi-circle diadem. The result was the Ship model elegant floral tiara that Lady Sarah wore on her wedding day, stunning onlookers who had never seen a royal bride wear something so uniquely modern yet historic.
Since that day, the tiara remains unworn in its frame; however, its brooches have lived many lives. Lady Sarah wore them at her mother’s funeral in 2002 and re-armed them on the heartbreaking occasion of Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in 2022, showing their emotional flexibility.
The jewels also tell the story of isolation and incredible historic lineage. Among the leftovers is a diamond necklace that is easy to mistake for the one sold. The auction went to the infamous Lady Mount Stephen Necklace, a magnificent collet necklace of 34 stones that fetched over 993,000 pounds.
But Lady Sarah kept the sister piece: a shorter riviera necklace that was a 21st birthday gift from King George VI to Princess Margaret in 1951. Delve into the history and you find that this gift was retained because it was a direct paternal affection from a father who died young. Sarah debuted the necklace at her own 21st birthday party; she links her youth directly to her mother’s.
The collection also speaks of style and modernity. The Greville earrings are accompanied by just a handful of pieces of immense beauty. A pair of diamond star earrings, often paired with that small star-shaped brooch, are a revelation in design.
These are matched by the princess’s buying power; they were thought to be purchased by Margaret herself, not inherited from coronation heritage. They allowed the princess to project a more modern, theatrical image. Lady Sarah seems to share this spirit of modernizing tradition.
She was seen wearing the star earrings at the Coronation of King Charles III, proving these jewels are not static symbols of historical but personal talismans.
Another great survivor is a pair of emerald earrings. These feature heavy, pear-shaped emeralds suspended from antique 18th-century diamond settings. The origins are unclear, but it is believed they were a gift from Lord Snowden to Margaret, which makes their retention particularly poignant.
In the 1970s, Princess Margaret had them immortalized in a portrait by her husband. Now, they have been seen on Lady Sarah at royal weddings and gala dinners, but they hold a fragile quality. They were worn at the wedding of Lady Sarah’s half-sister on husband’s side, showing how they bridge familial gaps.
But perhaps the most Eucharistic of all the pieces are the Graham pearls, and the multi-strand pearl choker. We often wear four strands and a diamond clasp. This continental style of jewelry, often worn with casual clothes, is a throwback to the glamour of the mid-century Soviet period.
Yet it retained its glow in the modern era, especially at the coronation of King Charles III. Lady Sarah wore it with a floral diamond clasp—but she is also known to wear it without the clasp, making it a mutable piece of jewelry that can adapt to the occasion.
The divergence is stark: While the auction made headlines for sold pieces like the famed Tiara and ‘the Mount Steven necklace’, the jeweller’s raised totals essentially paid the taxes. The pieces that remain in the Chatto private collection may not have the highest market value, but they carry an emotional weight that cannot be quantified. Those who viewed them at royal ceremonies see them as parts of a cultural fabric that was almost lost.
The presence of Lady Sarah, often in subtle colors and understated elegance, highlights that the true worth of a royal jewel is not its price but the stories it carries.
In a fascinating twist, the survival of these pieces can be attributed to a quirk of British law and private intent. The 2006 sale at Christie’s included hundreds of objects, from jewels to furniture, necessary to mitigate the death duties. But at the time, the family retained the right to buy back certain lots?
Or they quietly apportioned them before the sale, keeping the fire burning on the personal items while sacrificing the massive showpieces. The Poltimore tiara, famously worn at Margaret’s wedding in 1960 to Antony Armstrong Jones, was sold for $1. 7 million, a footnote in history compared to its emotional attachment.
Yet, the loss of these high-profile pieces has created a space for Lady Sarah’s taste to be solidified. She is not a ‘working royal’ in the sense of having duties, but she is a cultural figure, a veneer and an artist. The way she wears the remnants, oftentimes with simple linen or shift dresses, makes royal jewelry look almost attainable.
There is a rare authenticity to her approach that shines through in the glittering light of state banquets. She will pair the heavy diamond rivier with a plain silk blouse, or those emerald earrings with a contemporary coat, showing that style is less about status and more is about personal expression.
Moreover, each piece carries its own story of ownership—and often, the stories are of female lineage. The sapphire earrings, which feature pearls and ruby accents, are of antique style and were part of Margaret’s collection from the 1950s. While the origins are unclear, they evoke the fashions of another time.
When Lady Sarah wears them, she is preserving them from the death of anonymity that the auction would have brought. It is a somber reality that had these pieces gone to auction, they would likely have been broken up, or reset; but, because Sarah has wearing them, they are kept alive.
Looking at the complete collection—the wheat brooch, the sapphire brooch, the diamond star—one see a portrait of a woman who was severely understated. While the Crown Jewels and the Tiaras were symbols of state power, Sarah’s jewels are relics of personal taste. The Wheat Diamond brooch, possibly a 21st birthday gift or given at a ship christening, first appeared in public in 1951.
It is not a ceremonial badge, but a piece that says ‘family first’. Sarah wore it to the Duke of Edinburgh’s memorial service in 2022, pointing to the era of her parents’ generation.
The family’s resolve to retain these jewels despite financial strain has become a story of the resilience of memory. At the time of Princess Margaret’s death, the tax bill was £2. 5 million, forcing the highest bergain of the auction.
However, this was the catalyst for Sarah and Daniel Chatto’s long-term mission to keep the core collection safe. In interviews with royal biographers, it has been revealed the sale was what gave her freedom: paying the state to keep the rest. It was calculated that the crown jewels and a few select pieces had to go to satisfy the treasury, but those that remained were protected via a valuation that allowed family money to be placed.
Now, Infographics taken from recent events shows that Lady Sarah’s style is to layer tradition with grief. She has a knack for minimalism that makes a piece pop. The ‘Star Earrings’ might be frequently worn but they never misshare.
At Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral, the star earrings gleamed through the humility of the black mourning clothes, evoking a silent loyalty to her mother’s family. On a more personal note, at the wedding of her brother, David Linley in 2017, she wore the sapphire earrings, making a political statement exactly who she belongs to—the artist in the royal family, not the state.
As we look forward to the future, there is a question of inheritance. Will Lady Sarah pass these on to her sons, Samuel and Arthur? She is married to a man who values the arts, And the couple has intentionally kept their boys out of the limelight.
It is likely the jewels will eventually be divided between the two, ensuring that they stay private but intact. Royal expert observers note that the decision to retain them will ensure that the public will continue to see glimpses of history, not locked in a museum vault or in the display case of a financier in asian.
The tragedy of the 2006 auction remains a moment of decay, but the current images serve as a corrective. Every appearance of Lady Sarah in the Greville earrings or the Snowdon brooches writes a new chapter in the history of the remnants. While the Poltimore Tiara is now the property of an anonymous collector—likely hidden in a bank vault where the public will never see it—having the untrammeled pieces in private royal hands, worn to remembrance, is a silent display is public museums.
The jewels have survived the tax man, the depression, and the relentless march of time—because they are always near skin.
The world is moving forever towards denser, more immersive engagement with the royal family. So, the fact that Lady Sarah Chatto remains semi-attached to public benefits means that the public will get a chance to enjoy these genric jewels for years to come. She attended the wedding with jeweler Cartier that her mother loved, but she managed to sell that collection to avoid bankruptcy—but she kept the brand of dignity.
When the public asks “what remained?” , the answer is the soul of the Princess. The guts are in the Pearls, the satin, and the sturdy invisible arms of Emma Chatto.
