A prominent Bahraini academic researcher has taken to social media to answer the age old question of why Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain prefers Bahraini pearls.
Columnist and author Dr Abdulla Almadani came across an article in which Queen Elizabeth stated the reason why she prefers to wear a particular pearl necklace.
He highlighted the feature on social media about the British monarch’s delight that her Bahraini pearls still held their colour and lustre more than half a century on.
Dr Almadani considered it ‘high praise’ and something the kingdom could be proud of and his Tweet created much debate and continues to be shared to this day.
Bahraini pearls have brought much delight to the British royal family
Origin
“I was reading a magazine and that is when I spotted the royal’s comment about why she enjoys wearing this piece of jewellery,” said Dr Almadani, who is interested in history and specialises in international relations.
“Apparently she is often asked this question. It really caught my eye and I wanted to share it as a Tweet because she talked about Bahrain … my country.”
The origin of the necklace has caused much debate over time. “Many people argue about it, saying that it’s not really Bahraini and that it came from other countries such as Kuwait,” he added.
“This argument occurred because Her Majesty The Queen has received many gifts from ruling families in the region to mark special occasions over the years. Whoever presented the necklace gift may be a matter of debate but at the end of the day it contains Bahraini pearls because Bahraini pearls are known for being the best.”
It’s not the first time Bahrain jewellery has caused a global stir as it caught the attention of many when a pair of the Queen’s pearl earrings were worn by the Duchess of Cambridge at Prince Philip’s funeral.
The Duchess of Cambridge wearing the British monarch’s Bahraini pearl earrings
In 1947, Hakim of Bahrain Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa presented the young Princess Elizabeth seven Bahraini pearls as a wedding gift following her nuptials to the man who stood by her side for 73 years, the late Duke of Edinburgh.
She turned two of the pearls into drop earrings. Each earring featured a large diamond stud, suspended with four smaller diamonds and three baguette diamonds, with the pearl at the bottom.
While they were not prominently worn for a few decades, she notably wore her Bahraini pearl earrings again at the Festival of Remembrance in 2015.
Throughout the years, Her Majesty has frequently loaned the earrings to family members, first to the late Princess of Wales for a Dutch state visit in 1982.
Nowadays, they are frequently being worn by the Duchess of Cambridge, who was photographed with them on at the Remembrance Sunday Service in 2016 and 2019, at Royal Ascot in 2017, attending church at Balmoral in 2018, and at the Trooping the Colour in 2019.
They came under the spotlight once again at the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral service last April with Hello magazine describing them as having a ‘touching significance’.
mai.alkhatib@gulfweekly.com
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