Royal Jewels

This locket ring was removed from Elizabeth I’s finger after her death on March 24th 1603. The Elizabethan ring is mother-of-pearl, the band is set with rubies and the ‘E’ contains six diamonds set over a blue enamel ‘R’. A pearl is also clearly visible. The head of the ring is hinged and within it lie two miniature enamel portraits, one of Elizabeth c. 1575 and one of an unnamed woman. The woman wears a French hood and costume of Henry VIII’s reign - maybe it is her mother Anne Boleyn.