RoyaltyplayedapartinthemakingofPragnell.Nowthey
arecustomersofthisBritishinstitution,saysTo r y Ki n gd o nJeweller in the crown
C
harlie Pragnell is everything one
mightexpectofathirdgeneration
British jeweller: clean shaven, smartly
tailoredandaffable;forbreakfastheorders
kedgeree and talks about the monarchy.
At A l f red ’s mem ber s’ clu b i n May fa i r, he’s
discussing Pragnell ’s new London boutique,
at 14 Mount Street, as well as the illustrious
historyofthecompanyfoundedbyand
namedafterhisgrandfather,George.
“Mygrandfathertrainedasa
gemologist at Biggs of Maidenhead,
a favourite jeweller of
QueenMary[theQueen’s
grandmother].Asan
apprentice,hewouldoften
beaskedtolookafterPrincess Elizabeth and Margaret when their
mother visited,” Charlie says.
Afterlearninghistrade,Georgewenton
to buy a small jeweller’s shop in Stratford-
upon-Avon,andin1954establishedacompany
underhisownname,livingwithhiswifeand
threechildrenabovethestore.Itremains
today,albeitwithamuchlargerfootprint
(the family home having long since been
convertedintoofficespace).
Reassuringlyit’sstillverymuchafamily
affair. George’s son, Jeremy, acts as
company chairman; Jeremy’s son,
Charlie, is managing director;
and Tom Crookenden, son of
George’s daughter, is the firm’s
principal stone buyer.Charlie Pragnell, managing
director of the family-run
jeweller and grandson of the
founder, George PragnellThis picture of King Edward VIII and
MrsWallisSimpsonwastakeninAugust
1936andcanbeseenasthecalmbefore
thestorm.TheKinghadonlyascended
tothethroneon20Januaryandhad
charteredNahlinforanextendedholiday
cruisingtheAdriaticcoast–muchto
the chagrin of his government. At the
time Wallis was married to her second
husband, Ernest Simpson, a successful
shipbroker,andherillicitaffairwith
theKingwasnotinthepublicdomain.
This,however,wasabouttochange
as photos from this infamous cruise
were published in the American and
Continental press.
In fact, Wallis had been Edward’s
mistresssince1934.Shehadmethimin
1931ataweekendhousepartythrown
by Edward ’s then mistress, the married
socialite Thelma Furness. When Thelma
setsailforacruisetotheUS,Wallis
wrotetoheraunt,“Itriedmybestto
cheer him up”. Edward fell for Wallis
and was so bedazzled that he presented
hertohisparentsinatiaraborrowed
from Cartier. King George V and Queen
Mary were outraged and banned her
from the forthcoming Silver Jubilee
celebrations in 1935.
King George V prophetically said,
“AfterIamdeadtheboywillruin
himselfin12months”. TheSimpsons’
divorce case was heard on 27 October
andadecreenisiwasgranted.TheKing
informed Stanley Baldwin, the British
Prime Minister, that he wanted to marry
MrsSimpsonandBaldwinwarnedhim
that the British public would not accept
herastheirqueen.On11DecemberKing
EdwardVIIIabdicatedtoparliament
andbroadcasthisdecisionontheBBC,
referring to Wallis as “the woman I love”.
The story behind the picture