Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark (13 December 1906 – 27 August 1968) married Prince George, Duke of Kent, in November 1934, and was thereafter known as the Duchess of Kent. The Cartier London connection began with the engagement ring that Prince George selected: a square emerald-cut Kashmir sapphire of more than 10 carats set in platinum with a baton diamond on either side.
The choice was made after extensive discussions at Cartier London, and the house commented publicly when the engagement was announced: "Prince George has displayed the most modern taste in his choice both of the ring and of the setting. His selection will undoubtedly make sapphires the most popular ring for engagements this year." Whether that prediction proved accurate is difficult to measure, but the engagement attracted widespread attention, and Princess Marina's style was closely watched from the moment she arrived in England.
Prince George had approached Cartier while planning to propose during a holiday in Yugoslavia, and the eventual selection reflected a current preference for the clean geometry of the platinum and baton-diamond setting against the deep colour of the Kashmir stone. Jacques Cartier was at the time working to deepen the house's relationship with the royal family, following Queen Mary's visit to 175 New Bond Street the previous year, which had led to a period of particularly active commissions.
Princess Marina's arrival in England was, by contemporary accounts, received enthusiastically. Prince George wrote to his future brother-in-law that crowds had greeted her at Victoria Station and called out: "Don't change, don't let them change you." She would go on to be regarded as one of the most elegant women of her generation. The future Queen Elizabeth II was one of the bridesmaids at the November 1934 wedding.
Princess Marina appears again later in the Cartier story, listed among the clients who continued to frequent Cartier stores on both sides of the Channel through the 1950s and into the period of Jean-Jacques Cartier's stewardship of the London branch.
Sources
- Francesca Cartier Brickell, The Cartiers (Ballantine Books, 2019), ch. 9 ("A New King and a New War: 1936–1944") and ch. 10 ("Cousins in Austerity, 1945–1956")
- Wikipedia: Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent
