Why Elizabeth Taylor Owned The Prince Of Wales Brooch Instead of Kate Middleton

Throughout its lifetime, the Prince of Wales brooch has been on a long and strange journey. Its story includes one member of the royal family who turned his back on destiny to marry the woman he loved, an innocent — or maybe not-so-innocent — mistake that saw it fail to be returned to its rightful owner, and coming into the possession of a famous actress with a passion for expensive jewels. Elizabeth Taylor may have been Hollywood royalty, and she may have famously portrayed a queen as Cleopatra, but how did she end up with this iconic piece of royal history instead of the Princess of Wales herself?

The meet cute

Naturally, given its name, this royal brooch was commissioned by a Prince of Wales. The man in question was Edward VIII, who was the Prince of Wales until 1936 when he briefly became King Edward VIII before abdicating and being known as the Duke of Windsor. He had this special piece of jewelry made for a very special woman: Wallis Simpson. And their extraordinary and rather heartbreaking love story makes the meaning behind this brooch all the more poignant.

Love at first sight

Edward first met Wallis in 1931 at a party thrown by his mistress at the time, Lady Thelma Furness. The then-Prince of Wales was young, charming, and stylish. Men's Wear magazine stated during Edward’s visit to the United States in 1924 that “the average young man in America is more interested in the clothes of the Prince of Wales than in any other individual on earth.” Wallis, a twice-divorced American socialite, was attractive, witty, and confident. The charismatic prince became enchanted by her. An extract of a letter he wrote to her in 1935 reads, “My own beloved Wallis. I love you more and more and more and more… I haven’t seen you once today and I can’t take it. I love you.”

A forbidden love

Edward and Wallis fell head over heels for each other, but not everyone was happy about this potential royal union. By the time Edward became King in January 1936, the British police and press knew about the relationship, but the public was still being kept in the dark. Wallis presented a problem, you see: as King, Edward would be the head of the Church of England, yet this institution deemed marrying a divorcée to be morally abhorrent. Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin also believed that the public wouldn’t accept a divorced American as their Queen.

Proposing a solution

A “morganatic marriage” was proposed by Edward: it would see Wallis not be granted the title of Queen, nor any rank or properties. Instead, she would become known as the Duchess of Cornwall; it was the very same move used almost seven decades years later by King Charles III — then the Prince of Wales — when he married Camilla Parker-Bowles in 2005. But these were different times. Baldwin turned the idea down flat, which left the situation very uncertain.

The cat’s out of the bag

However, as of December 3, 1936, the situation could no longer be kept secret: the story of the King’s relationship had finally hit the headlines. Britain was utterly stunned. Though not everyone was entirely opposed to seeing Edward and Wallis as their King and Queen, rumors soon began circulating that Wallis was a dangerous woman who was scheming her way to the British throne. Then there was the even more outlandish suggestion that she was actually a spy selling information to the Germans. Wallis couldn’t endure these accusations.

A historic decision is made

The day after they became headline news, Wallis flew to France to get away from an atmosphere that she felt was becoming scary. On December 11, history was made: despite Wallis showing willingness to cut off the relationship so that her lover could remain King, Edward decided to abdicate the throne. By doing so, he became the very first British monarch to voluntarily walk away from the Crown.

A coronation, a wedding, and a new title

On May 12, 1937, Edward’s younger brother Bertie took the throne and became known as King George VI. Less than a month later, Edward and Wallis finally married in France, but the new King banned any of the royal family from attending. He then informed Edward that Wallis would not be given the title “Her Royal Highness.” Instead, the couple would simply be known as the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

A huge sacrifice for love

In the end, Edward and Wallis were effectively exiled to France. During this period, a worried Wallis wrote to her husband, “I hope you will never regret this sacrifice and that your brother will prove to the world that we still have a position and that you will be given some jobs to do.” Sadly, even though the couple made repeated overtures to be given royal duties, they were all ignored.

Victims of gossip and scandal

Edward and Wallis’ reputation never truly recovered, though they did have some supporters. Prime Minister Winston Churchill once said of their relationship, “Although branded with the stigma of a guilty love, no companionship could have appeared more natural, more free from impropriety or grossness.” He also felt sorry for how Wallis was treated; he once claimed that “no one has been more victimized by gossip and scandal” than her. Edward and Wallis also found confidants in another famous couple, one who knew all about public condemnation.

Enter Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton

Many people had turned their back on the famous Hollywood couple for living an apparently sinful life, but Wallis and Edward understood what they were going through. Kate Andersen Brower’s biography, The Grit and Glamor of an Icon, reveals that Taylor first encountered Wallis and Edward when she was just 18. At the time, she had been married to hotel heir Nicky Hilton. It wasn’t until many years later that Taylor actually struck up a friendship with the Windsors, though, when she was with actor Richard Burton.

Another taboo romance

At the time, Taylor and Burton’s relationship was controversial, to say the least. It began as an affair during the filming of Cleopatra in Italy. It was a notoriously disastrous and expensive shoot, one that nearly put an end to the 20th Century Fox studio, and the affair was the scandalous icing on the cake. Taylor was 29 years old and married to her fourth husband, Eddie Fisher, while Burton was seven years her senior and with his wife Sybil. By the time the shoot had finished, both marriages were irretrievably broken, and Taylor and Burton’s reputations were changed forever.

Hollywood controversy

The affair made front pages all over the world. As Chris Nashawaty wrote in Entertainment Weekly, “Soon, word of the taboo romance spread like wildfire. The Italian press, with the paparazzi in its infancy, bribing its way onto the set as extras, took the adulterous story and ran with it. When Fisher packed his bags and left Rome, it was as much confirmation as anyone could want.”

The original Hollywood scandal

“The fact that the two stars would hole up in their trailer all afternoon when they were due on the set didn't help quiet speculation,” continued Nashawaty. “Neither did the alternating sounds of clinking highballs, screaming fights, and giggling frolics.” He added, “Long-lens telephoto shots of the couple cavorting on holiday were splashed everywhere.” The affair had become a true scandal, and reactions were extreme.

Two couples in the same situation

Amazingly, a Georgian politician actually pleaded with the Attorney General to stop Taylor and Burton from being allowed to re-enter America, citing their “undesirability.” Even more shockingly, the Vatican’s newspaper published an open letter to the couple, slamming Taylor in particular for her “erotic vagrancy.” The couple were shunned by polite society, but this was when they met the Windsors, who knew exactly what they were going through. A bond quickly formed.

“The duchess”

Apparently, Taylor was truly moved by Wallis and Edward’s relationship and the struggles they had endured for love. According to The Grit and Glamor of an Icon, Taylor had once said, “They really did love each other, and his respect for her was so beautiful. He called her ‘duchess’, and if you didn’t call her duchess I think you would have been on your way out. I never called her Wallis; I always called her duchess.”

A mutual love of jewels

One thing Taylor and Wallis had in common was their mutual obsession with jewelry. In 2009 Taylor told More magazine, “My love affair with jewelry began when I was a girl. The first beautiful piece of jewelry I ever purchased was for my mother. It was costume, but so finely made and so gorgeous that we still have it in the family treasures.” Biographer William Mann told The Los Angeles Times, “Her mother loved jewelry too. She was always living so larger-than-life: she would throw on a mink stole, an emerald necklace and a slip and she looked like a movie star. She loved it.”

Diamonds are a girl’s best friend

Over the course of her life, Taylor amassed one of the most extravagant collections of jewelry the world has ever seen. Burton would constantly buy her glitzy jewels, including the Krupp Diamond, a 33.19-carat beauty which she wore as a ring. He also spent more than $1 million on a 69.42-carat Cartier gem; this pear-shaped prize became known as the Taylor-Burton Diamond.

Any excuse to buy diamonds

In her book A Life in Jewelry, Taylor admitted that buying her beautiful trinkets was her husband’s love language. She wrote, “Richard was so romantic that he'd use any excuse to give me a piece of jewelry. He'd give me ‘It's a beautiful day’ presents or ‘Let's go for a walk’ presents. Over the years I’ve come to think of these as my ‘It’s Tuesday, I love you’ jewelry.” A passion for beautiful and expensive jewelry was something that Taylor and Wallis Simpson shared.

Magnificent royal jewels

Over the course of their loving relationship, Edward would buy Wallis several meaningful pieces of jewelry to add to her collection. For instance, on their first wedding anniversary, she received a diamond-and-ruby Cartier bracelet. Managing director of 77 Diamonds, Tobias Kormind, recently told the Daily Express newspaper, “The rubies on this cuff bracelet are said to mark the passion, love, and courage shared between these disgraced royals.”

“We are ours now”

Likewise, Wallis’ 19.77-carat emerald engagement ring was engraved with the words “We are ours now” on the inside of the band. Kormind believed that this heartfelt message referenced “the couple’s decision to separate from the royal family to be married. Representing hope, the stone was a symbol of protection for their marriage.” It can’t be denied that Edward was an expert at “linking romantic and personal stories with the individual pieces.” Of course, one such piece of jewelry was the famous Prince of Wales brooch.

Taylor and the Prince of Wales brooch

Wallis and Taylor, two women who knew what it felt like to be victimized for standing by the men they loved, also bonded over their love of beautiful jewelry. They would show off their finest jewels and covet each other’s collections. Apparently, Wallis Simpson was so envious of Elizabeth Taylor’s jewelry collection that she would only wear her biggest sapphire — not her diamonds — when in her company. Taylor, meanwhile, also admired her friend’s jewels. One day, she spotted her wearing a particularly beautiful brooch, and she had to know more.

The Prince of Wales brooch

“Elizabeth noticed a magnificent pin Simpson was wearing that was the insignia of the Prince of Wales, with three feathers and a gold crown made of diamonds set in platinum,” writes Brower. “When Elizabeth asked if it was the royal insignia, Simpson said, ‘Yes, and when Monty [Edward] came over, he took all royal pieces back, but he missed this one.’” The romance of this spoke to Taylor, who ignored the slightly questionable claim that he simply forgot to return it!

“It was so romantic”

Elizabeth wrote in her autobiographical book My Love Affair with Jewelry, “On one of our visits she [Wallis] came down wearing a pin that was the insignia of Wales, which I loved especially because Richard was so Welsh all the way through, and I was becoming Welsh myself by osmosis.” She added, “It was so romantic that the Duke had the brooch made up for the Duchess. She even offered to let me copy it, ‘Oh my God,’ I said, ‘I simply couldn’t do that! What you have is a unique piece.’ ‘Very well,’ she agreed, ‘but every time I see you I’ll wear it in your honor.’” ⁣But the brooch would eventually fall into Taylor’s hands.

“I was going to get it”

In 1987, after Wallis had died, Taylor finally got her chance to own the gorgeous and sentimental brooch. At an auction of Wallis’ estate, the actress decided that her friend would have wanted her to buy it. Taylor wrote, “I had an immediate sense that she [Wallis] wanted me to have it. And it was important because the money was going to AIDS research. I told myself that I was going to bid on that pin and that I was going to get it.”⁣ As fate would have it, this meant outbidding actual royalty!

A bidding war between Hollywood and British royalty

In 2010 former Daily Mail features editor Roderick Gilchrist wrote about the auction for The Guardian. He had suggested to his boss that the newspaper should try to buy some of the pieces of royal history to then offer up to their — mostly female — readership. Little did he know, though, that he would soon bear witness to a bidding war between Elizabeth Taylor and none other than the future King Charles III.

Diana loses out to Liz

Then the Prince of Wales, Charles reportedly wanted the brooch to give to his wife at the time, Princess Diana. But A-lister Elizabeth Taylor had other ideas. “I bought five of Wallis Simpson’s diamond, pearl, and gold love gifts from Edward VIII when they came up at Sotheby’s in Geneva in a sale that saw Elizabeth Taylor outbid Prince Charles for a Prince of Wales feathers-shaped diamond clip he was desperate to present to [Princess] Diana,” wrote Gilchrist. “With wonderful insouciance, Liz [Taylor] raised the bidding to £400,000 while reclining by her Beverly Hills pool and following the auction on a satellite link.” 

Sentimental value

In dollar terms, this meant that Taylor had paid around an eye-watering $565,000 for her friend’s brooch. She was extremely happy with her purchase, once saying, “It’s a royal piece that I save for special occasions because it means so much to me.” But you think the price Taylor paid was enormous, it’s actually nothing compared to what the brooch fetched when it was auctioned again many years later!

Breaking records

The sell-off in 1987, which dubbed “The Duchess of Windsor’s Collection,” set a world record for jewelry auctions — to the tune of $50,281,887. Yet after Taylor herself died in 2011 and her own collection — including the Prince of Wales brooch — was auctioned, it obliterated that previous world record. In only one evening, Taylor’s pieces fetched a truly incredible $115,932,000.

A mystery owner

Amazingly, the Prince of Wales brooch sold for more than $1 million: $1,314,500 to be exact. The identity of the winning bidder has never been announced, so to this day we don’t who currently owns this piece of royal history. Diana and Catherine, Princess of Wales — a.k.a. Kate — took to wearing the Princess of Wales Feathers pin instead, which had originally been gifted to Denmark’s Princess Alexandra when she wed the Prince of Wales in 1863.

A fitting outcome for two jewelry-lovers

Wallis and Taylor truly cherished their collections of beautiful jewels, so their auctions both setting world records was fitting. After all, in her book My Love Affair with Jewelry, Taylor wrote, “I never, never thought of my jewelry as trophies. I’m here to take care of them and to love them. When I die and they go off to auction I hope whoever buys them gives them a really good home.”