An incredibly rare mourning ring made for Princess Amelia, the daughter of King George Ill and Queen Charlotte, who died from tuberculosis and erysipelas. This ring was made for someone close to her or a member of the royal court. This ring is part of a set of 50 or 52 (accounts vary) which were commissioned by her brother and executor of her will, the Prince Regent, later George IV, to mark her life. It is inscribed “REMEMBER ME”and with her initial A. The rings were made by the Royal goldsmiths, Rundell, Bridge & Rundell and distributed to family and members of the court.
Amelia’s death and the downfall of George III
Princess Amelia was George III’s youngest daughter and was particularly beloved by him. By 1810, the King was already elderly, nearly blind and had suffered previous episodes of severe mental illness. As Amelia’s condition deteriorated, contemporary accounts describe him repeatedly summoning her doctors—reportedly beginning around 7 a.m. and several more times throughout the day to question them about her condition.
Then came the episode that makes Amelia’s mourning jewelry unusually poignant.
As she was dying, Amelia said to her father, “Remember me.”
The words subsequently became the defining inscription on the mourning rings created in her memory.
Amelia died on 2 November 1810, aged only 27.
This time he never recovered sufficiently to rule again. His incapacity led to the establishment of the Regency in 1811, with his son governing as Prince Regent. George III lived another decade, increasingly isolated by illness, blindness and deafness, until his death in 1820.
So Amelia’s death occupies an extraordinary place in British royal history: the death of a 27-year-old princess became intertwined with the final collapse of the monarch who had reigned through the American Revolution and much of the Napoleonic era.
Georgian 1810
Materials: 18k gold, white, red, gold, and black enamel
Size US 6.25/UK M
1.8×2×2 cm
An incredibly rare mourning ring made for Princess Amelia, the daughter of King George Ill and Queen Charlotte, who died from tuberculosis and erysipelas. This ring was made for someone close to her or a member of the royal court. This ring is part of a set of 50 or 52 (accounts vary) which were commissioned by her brother and executor of her will, the Prince Regent, later George IV, to mark her life. It is inscribed “REMEMBER ME”and with her initial A. The rings were made by the Royal goldsmiths, Rundell, Bridge & Rundell and distributed to family and members of the court.
Amelia’s death and the downfall of George III
Princess Amelia was George III’s youngest daughter and was particularly beloved by him. By 1810, the King was already elderly, nearly blind and had suffered previous episodes of severe mental illness. As Amelia’s condition deteriorated, contemporary accounts describe him repeatedly summoning her doctors—reportedly beginning around 7 a.m. and several more times throughout the day to question them about her condition.
Then came the episode that makes Amelia’s mourning jewelry unusually poignant.
As she was dying, Amelia said to her father, “Remember me.”
The words subsequently became the defining inscription on the mourning rings created in her memory.
Amelia died on 2 November 1810, aged only 27.
This time he never recovered sufficiently to rule again. His incapacity led to the establishment of the Regency in 1811, with his son governing as Prince Regent. George III lived another decade, increasingly isolated by illness, blindness and deafness, until his death in 1820.
So Amelia’s death occupies an extraordinary place in British royal history: the death of a 27-year-old princess became intertwined with the final collapse of the monarch who had reigned through the American Revolution and much of the Napoleonic era.
Georgian 1810
Materials: 18k gold, white, red, gold, and black enamel
Size US 6.25/UK M
1.8×2×2 cm
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