Mastery of Design: Badge of the Order of the Golden Fleece, c. 1810

Badge of the Order of the Golden Fleece
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Created around 1810, this garter badge of gold, silver, opals and yellow and white diamonds was acquired by our ol' pal Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom (1819-61).  Queen Victoria had the badge made for Albert as a gift for his birthday in 1841.

I've written about many orders and badges and garters and garter stars over the years, but this one, which I just happened to stumble upon this past weekend, is particularly smashing and sumptuous.

I'm sure Prince Albert wore it with great pride.

Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Image Courtesy of
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Our friends at the Royal Collection were especially kind in providing some backstory for this lovely badge.  I'm told that this was the first foreign order received by Prince Albert following his marriage to Queen Victoria.  While Albert had received foreign orders before, they were awarded by his German relatives, and Queen Victoria knew that such gifts could not continue since they would be construed by the public as political gestures.  Knowing that the population was already a little distrustful of her German prince bridegroom, Victoria concocted other ways of keeping her young hubby happy, bestowing orders upon him which she had prearranged.  Honors that typically would have been bestowed upon the Sovereign, Victoria arranged to be given to her consort.  First of all, she was a Queen, and female monarchs often weren't given such honors, so Albert could accept them on her behalf.  It was a good idea, both politically and socially...and personally.

Sometimes, however, an honor was offered which was somewhat problematic.  When a particular state offered an order to the Queen, and, thereafter Prince Albert, it was typically assumed that this would be rewarded with some offer on the part of the Crown to that state.  So, when the offer of the Golden Fleece to the Prince in 1841 by the Regency government of Spain, on behalf of the 11-year-old Queen Isabella II, the Queen approached the acceptance of the honor with much cautious negotiation.  

Finally, it was agreed that the Prince would accept the Order and would be invested by the Duke of Wellington, who acted as young Isabella’s proxy in his position as a Grandee of Spain and a Knight of the Golden Fleece. 

The Queen wrote to (Uncle) King Leopold, describing the ceremony which took place on April 27, 1841:

Albert has rec’d the Golden Fleece; … he was invested by the Duke of Wellington, whom the Regency had charged as Grandee of Spain and having the Order, to present it to him. The old Duke and Alva [the Spanish Ambassador] … were delighted at this, & the old Duke … appeared in a new Spanish Uniform made for the occasion.

This badge of the Order of the Golden Fleece was quite a visual departure from previous badges associated with the honor.  Those were originally adorned with the Order's symbol,
a ram’s fleece - an allusion to the Burgundian wool trade as well as to the Golden Fleece of Greek mythology - hanging from a shower of sparks from a flint being struck by a briquette.

The Prince's Spanish Honors
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection

In Prince Albert's badge, opals take the form of the briquette and flint.  It's possible that the badge was adapted from an earlier piece.  The sparks are set with brilliant-cut diamonds.  And, it's possible that this was a badge which had been sold to Rundell, Bridge & Co. in 1830, described in their accounts as a "Golden Fleece in brilliants."

Opals were the Prince's favorite gemstone, and, so, this badge was the one which he wore most often (of the foreign honors he received).  The opal badge can be seen in his portrait by Winterhalter of 1842 and in photographs by Fenton.  I would like to note, however, that Winterhalter seems to have confused the opal badge and another of the Spanish Honors, using the ruby sparks from another honor in place of the brilliant-cut diamonds which flank the opal badge.

The badge is displayed with Prince Albert's other Spanish honors in the Royal Collection.

Winterhalter's portrait of the Prince, 1842, showing the "mashup" of two badges at Albert's throat.
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II