Lady Mayoress’ Treloar Brooch | The Royal Watcher

Happy Birthday to Florence King , the Lady Mayoress of the City of London! Last month, we had the delight of being invited to Mansion House by the Lady Mayoress to view her magnificent Pearl and Diamond Tiara, and we also saw the magnificent Lady Mayoress’ Treloar Brooch!

Florence King is the consort of the 696th Lord Mayor of the City of London, Alastair King, who is the ambassador UK’s financial and professional services and championing the theme of ‘Growth Unleashed’ – a scheme to strengthen financial and technological growth and investment within the UK, during his one-year tenure.

Herself a Lance Bombardier in the Royal Artillery, the Lady Mayoress aims to use her platform to get the Livery Companies and businesses in the City of London to sign the Armed Forces Covenant and is on manoeuvres to find new recruits from the Square Mile for the military reserves. Having worked as a journalist, researcher, and Ambassador for the British Liver Trust, in addition to her PhD studies in epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh, the Lady Mayoress is now undertaking a series of ceremonial duties that have the ability to create great impact.

This replica of the Lord Mayor’s Badge is set with diamonds and a shell cameo replica of the City arms. The garter with the City motto is in plain gold and enamel, rather than bordered in diamonds as it is in the original.

The Treloar Brooch was commissioned for Lady Treloar as a replica of the Lord Mayor’s Badge worn on almost all formal cccasions suspended from a gold chain or a silk ribbon.

Made for Lady Treloar, it was given by Sir William Treloar, after the death of his wife in 1909, to Sir William Dunn, who returned it in 1918 to it in 1918 to Treloar’s adopted daughter Florence, who at some point gave it ti the 4th Lord Burnham, Director of the Treloar Trust, set up by Sir William Treloar for the education of disabled children. It was inherited by William Lawson, 5th Baron Burnham, from whom it was bought by Mr Dennis Nicholson for the Merchant Taylors’ Company in 1984, so that it might de presented to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Billesdon Award.

The Treloar Brooch was passed along to the City of London for the use of the Mayoresses at Mansion House, being passed along with the office though the purchase did not prove popular for the proceeding office holders, not reappearing until the late 2000s. Dennis Nicholson wrote:

I thought I should write just to say how delighted I have been to hear that The Treloar brooch is worn regularly by Tessa when out on official duties. The brooch was given to the Mansion House with just that in mind but I suspect for many years it was not so.

Lord ‘Bill’ Burnham was a Client of mine and as a friend he came to the Rising Sun Dinner as my guest. Somewhere along the line he told me in the safe at his house in Beaconsfield he had the Treloar Brooch ( a minature replica of the brooch worn by the Lord Mayor ) and which he would like to sell. During my Mastership we agreed a price and I bought it from him.

Eventually the Brooch was given by the Merchant Taylors’ Company in the 500 year of Billesdon to the Mansion House for the use of the Mayoress I thought that was a splendid idea but it did not go down too well and as I understood it it was put in the safe there to be used by the Mayor locum tenens when out at functions.

There I dropped the matter but did mention what I have written here to Brian Jenkins and Martin Clarke over the years and obviously someone has realised that the Brooch had a better part to play. Hence my delight in hearing the good news from you.

I thought you would like to have this note. What I cannot recall is why Bill Burnham had the brooch for sale in the first place.I can only assume that Lord Treloar was a member of the Family and it was him who had the brooch made for his wife privately and it did not become part of the Mansion House Regalia.I do not know.

Lady Mayoress Luder made good use of the Treloar Brooch during the tenure of Ian Luder in 2009, wearing it for the Lord Mayor’s Banquet and a Mexican State Visit.

In 2013, the Treloar Brooch was worn by Dame Fiona Woolf, herself the 686th Lord Mayor of London, on a velvet choker during her tenure.

Over the past decade and a bit, almost every one of the previous Lady Mayoresses have used the Treloar Brooch  on numerous official and other occasions during their tenure, most notably the annual Lord Mayor’s Banquets and the Mansion House Banquets.

Lady Mayoress Felicity Lyons notably wore the Treloar Brooch as they held a Reception and Dinner at Mansion House in London in 2023, held by the City of London in honour of their Coronation.

The Treloar Brooch was worn by Elisabeth Mainelli, the wife of Lord Mayor Michael Mainelli for the Lord Mayor’s Banquet and also the Banquet at the Guildhall during the Japanese State Visit to Britain.

The current Lady Mayoress wore the Treloar Brooch with the Pearl and Diamond Tiara from her godmother, Lady Rumbold, at the annual Lord Mayor’s Banquet with the Prime Minister at Mansion House a few days into their term, as well as for the Banquet during the Qatar State Visit to the United Kingdom.

The Lady Mayoress also wore Lady Rumbold’s Tiara with the Treloar Brooch for the Lord and Lady Mayoress’s Children Party at Mansion House and for the Banquet hosted by the Lord Mayor and City of London for the French President at the Guildhall in London.

Last month, the Lady Mayoress graciously invited us to Mansion House to view Lady Rumbold’s Pearl and Diamond Tiara and the Treloar Brooch, which was a most fascinating experience, especially meeting the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress and learning about the role of a Lord Mayor, in addition to meeting the delightful Lady Mayoress.

A great Thank You to the Lady Mayoress for welcoming us to Mansion House and allowing us to share the story of this heirloom,

Pearl and Diamond Tiara

Glenconner Tiara