Secrets of a Royal jeweller: For five decades GEOFFREY MUNN was the Windsors’ go-to man at the jeweller behind Kate’s wedding band and jewels worn by The Queen, Princess Margaret and many more

This is one of Queen Camilla’s favorite brooches: the glittering platinum and diamond replica of a stick insect, which she wears when attending commemorative events such as Remembrance Day and the service at Westminster Hall to mark the statehood of Queen Elizabeth II. It was given to him by his father.

Jeweler Geoffrey Munn, a member of the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow expert panel, designed the brooch – one of a collection of gem-set insects – while he was chief executive of the specialist eggs Fabergé Wartski, who holds two royal mandates. Camilla’s bug was a replica of her sons Alexander and Edward’s pet insect, named Sticky.

“Mrs. Parker Bowles had admired the glittering brooch of the stick insect,” he wrote in his autobiography A Touch of Gold. “A few days later her father, Major Bruce Shand, called to see if he could donate anything to mark his engagement to the Prince of Wales. He agreed that the stick insect was a perfect choice and asked how it could be presented. I proposed, in the tradition of Fabergé, to conceal it in an Easter egg from Charbonnel and Walker.

“Once that was agreed I took the spit to the famous Bond Street chocolatier and just in confidence handed it over to the counter to be collected in an egg the following week. It was then that a terrible apprehension came to me: how on earth could I be sure that the finished egg would contain the jewel rather than a handful of champagne truffles? The growing anxiety cost me a lot of sleep over the weekend, but it came to a head the following Monday when, to my horror, I discovered that the Charbonnel and Walker shop on Bond Street was crammed with hundreds of identical primrose yellow eggs, each tied with a matching silk bow. “Had I left the diamond brooch there in confidence, I was bound to get it back in good faith. To my great relief that Easter morning, Mrs. Parker Bowles was surprised and delighted with the brooch .

In 21st century Britain, which is all about celebrities, it’s hard to imagine how Munn went from living on the benefits to mingling in royal circles. But in 1972, at age 19, he landed a job with Wartski and specialized in the work of renowned jewelers such as Fortunato Pio Castellani, Carlo Giuliano and Peter Carl Fabergé. He then provided jewelry to Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret; Hollywood stars such as Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby, as well as British actor Sir Alec Guinness, fashion designer Vivienne Westwood and Sir Elton John, who lent her a tiara for a charity event, bought in the shop of “a few crap brides’ in Los Angeles’. Wartski created Charles, Camilla and Kate’s wedding bands.

But Munn’s first brush with royalty was ominous: “One day I was so beside myself that I nearly drowned in my own embarrassment,” he wrote. “Three men had entered the store to see the Fabergé collection. Dark and handsome, they wore cashmere coats and expensive shoes. The four of us went down to the showroom below and along the way I started the model I had recently learned.

“Do you collect Fabergé? I asked. “Not really,” was the reply. “I inherited several pieces from my grandfather, and these are the cigarette cases that I love the most.”

“Do you have any animal carvings or flowers? ” I asked.

“No, but my father had a collection of them that was sold at Sotheby’s in the 1950s.

“With that, I thought it was time to identify the elegant and mysterious visitor: ‘May I ask your name, sir?’

“Why yes, I am the King of Greece.”

“His response struck me for six years and my dismay was complete.”

Munn, 70, who lives in Southwold, Suffolk, with his wife Caroline, first met Princess Margaret in 1980 while writing a book about Castellani and Giuliano, which was published in 1984. She owned a Giuliano’s jewelry collection, a favorite of his great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria.

“I left on the bus to Kensington Palace in a suit with flared trousers, my hair fashionable long and sporting an equally fashionable mustache,” he adds. “The trip gave me time to imagine what might happen next.

I had never visited the historic Christopher Wren Palace before and this, along with the jewelry that would be laid out for me, was likely to be exciting.

“The Princess was a truly artistic person with a great sense of curiosity about all aspects of life, especially music and art. Luckily for me, she wanted to know more about my request. Anxious not to prolong my welcome, I felt it was time for me to leave but obviously that was not the case, not quite: a small brown and white jack russell terrier had burst into the room . The princess threw a rubber ball at the polished floor and I was invited to join in the fun of the chase. I think all of this could leave even the most optimistic observer in a rare state of excitement and I was certainly thrilled with the adventure of my morning. I left Kensington Palace as I had arrived – on foot the long way – and caught a passing bus. As Number Nine headed for the West End, I could hardly suppress the urge to yell at my traveling companions, “I bet you can’t guess where I was?” But even in their wildest imaginations, I knew they never could.

More than a decade later, in 1992, Munn was invited to Monaco to meet Prince Rainier III. He was hosting a charity exhibition for the Samaritans and the prince had agreed to lend him the Fabergé snake egg clock which Wartski had sold to Greek shipping tycoon Stavros Niarchos for £64,103 in 1972, and which was later donated to Prince Rainier to mark his money. jubilee.

“The prince showed me around the palace accompanied by his favorite dog, a long-haired dog called Odin,” writes Munn. “Being the owner of a black snuff pug, I asked, ‘Does he snore, Your Highness? ‘Yes,’ was the answer, ‘and there’s hell to pay if he falls asleep before me.’

“The prince showed me a collection of watches and snuffboxes in silver and gold decorated with eroticism, which were hidden in an antechamber. Some of them were automatons and with the flick of a switch they creaked in jerky coitus, interrupted only when the clockwork mechanisms came to a satisfying halt and stopped.

Geoffrey Munn’s autobiography A Touch of Gold is published by ACC Art Books, £25*

*TO ORDER A COPY FOR £21.25 UNTIL 3 SEPTEMBER VISIT MAILSHOP.CO.UK/BOOKS OR CALL 020 3176 2937. FREE DELIVERY ON ORDERS OVER £25.