Royal jewellery collection to go on display in major Buckingham Palace exhibition
Royal jewellery collection to go on display in major Buckingham Palace exhibition
Dorothy Reddin Thu, October 22, 2026 at 9:26 AM UTC
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| Source: ROYAL COLLECTION ENTERPRISES LIMITED 2026 | ROYAL COLLECTION TRUST
The Royal Collection Trust is launching the first-ever exhibition dedicated entirely to the British royal jewellery collection.
Opening at The King's Gallery at Buckingham Palace in June 2027, "Royal Jewellery: From Coronations to Keepsakes" will bring together over 300 pieces spanning five centuries.
Around two-thirds of the items will be on public display for the first time.
Senior Curator of Decorative Arts at the Royal Collection Trust, Kathryn Jones, spoke exclusively to GB News about the landmark exhibition, emphasising the unique historical weight carried by the collection.
"The jewellery collection has always inspired great interest, and while some items of jewellery have been on display in exhibitions and during the Summer Opening of Buckingham Palace before, this is the first exhibition dedicated solely to exploring the breadth and depth of royal jewellery in the Royal Collection," Ms Jones said.
"The works selected show the magnificence of the collection as well as offering a chronological survey of significant pieces associated with the monarchy for the past 500 years."
The exhibition will not feature the Crown Jewels, which remain permanently housed at the Tower of London. However, visitors will see major pieces used in state occasions, including the Diamond Diadem made for George IV, and Queen Victoria's Small Diamond Crown.
Ms Jones explained that the layout is designed to show the practical and political function of these items throughout history, rather than just acting as a static display of wealth.
"The exhibition will give context to the jewels, presenting them thematically to understand how and why Kings and Queens have worn and collected objects of jewellery and the messages those works convey about their wearers," she told Britain's News Channel.
"As items worn close to the body, works of jewellery offer an intensely personal way of signalling political allegiance, faith or grief, acting as small but constant reminders of another individual."
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The display covers turbulent dynastic eras, tracking how pieces were utilised during political shifts.
"The exhibition will explore how jewellery was used in the particularly turbulent times of the Tudor and Stuart periods to convey sometimes complex messages of political support or dynastic hopes for the monarchy," Ms Jones noted.
| Source: ROYAL COLLECTION ENTERPRISES LIMITED 2026 | ROYAL COLLECTION TRUST
Items on display will include cufflinks said to have been worn by Charles I on the scaffold, alongside rare Tudor hat badges worn during the reign of Henry VIII.
The collection also places heavy focus on personal bereavement and sentimentality, particularly tracking the influence of Queen Victoria.
"The tradition of memorialising loved ones through mourning jewellery was a widespread tradition throughout this period but reached a high point in the Victorian era," Ms Jones said.
"Queen Victoria led the nineteenth-century fashion for mourning dress and jewellery, spending 40 years as a widow and surrounding herself with daily reminders of her beloved husband."
| Source: ROYAL COLLECTION ENTERPRISES LIMITED 2026 | ROYAL COLLECTION TRUST
Visitors will also see how regalia evolved through different reigns, including the specific personal habits of the late Queen Elizabeth II.
"Queen Elizabeth II’s personal style of wearing jewellery was established early in her adult life and shows the influence of her mother, Queen Elizabeth, and grandmother, Queen Mary, with particular distinctions between day and evening," Ms Jones stated.
"For daytime, a two or three-strand pearl necklace with pearl and diamond earrings and almost invariably a brooch from her large collection, many of which were gifts. For the evening, particularly for formal occasions such as state dinners, a tiara from the heirloom collection with coordinating earrings, necklace and bracelet together with the appropriate order of insignia."
Tickets will be available to Royal Collection Trust e-newsletter subscribers starting Wednesday, October 28, and will open to the general public on Tuesday, November 3.
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