A double agate cameo of St.George slaying the dragon and, verso, St.Andrew with saltire, the whole in a swivel gold frame inset with tiny diamonds surrounded by twenty-four large diamonds interspersed with smaller gems, surmounted by diamond bow and suspension loop.

Queen Victoria presented Prince Albert with a spectacular set of Garter insignia on 8 February, two days before their wedding. At a meeting that day with the Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, ‘Lord M. admired the diamond Garter which Albert had on, and said “Very handsome.” I told him it was my gift; I also gave him (all before dinner) a diamond star, I had worn, and badge’.

Of the three pieces, the joint Garter and Thistle Badge is the most unusual, having being initially mounted for George IV in 1829, broken up on the dispersal of his insignia in 1830, and subsequently remounted in 1840, using 123 brilliants and 1 rose diamond taken from a brilliant shoulder loop that had belonged to George III. The most remarkable feature of the badge is the cameo, with St George and the dragon carved on one side and St Andrew holding his cross on the other. The stone, set at the top and at the base with gold pins, can swivel in the diamond frame to allow the gem to be worn as the insignia of either order; it is held in place by gold clips.

Prince Albert was appointed to the Order of the Thistle in 1842. His double badge was worn by Queen Victoria throughout her widowhood, for the first time at the wedding of the Prince of Wales and Princess Alexandra in 1863. In her Journal she wrote: ‘… for the 1st time since Dec ’61 [wore] the ribbon, star & badge of the Order of the Garter, the latter being one my beloved one had worn …’.

Cameo signed below the dragon's head: BURCH R.A. for Edmund Burch (1730-1814)

Text adapted from Victoria & Albert: Art & Love, London, 2010