I’ve always wondered how very powerful and famous persons posessions disappear. I was thinking about Elizabeth I specifically, as was known to have lots of fancy items but only one ring survives that I know of (but any royalty begs the same question). What happened to all the other things like her necklaces and and rings? It seems like those things would be handed down... where does the jewelry end up when royalty passes on and how does it go “missing”?
At her death, Elizabeth I had thousands of garments in her wardrobe, so it was assumed for some time that she never gave anything away. But, in fact, it was quite common for her to offer courtiers pieces of her own clothing (or new clothing made for them) in order to express her continued favor in a cycle of gift-giving that reinforced personal bonds between the monarch and her subjects. Receiving a gown that had been worn by the queen was significant because it was worth a very large amount of money, and also because of its having been personally owned and used by her. The enormous wardrobe she left behind reflects not just royal excess in personal adornment, but also the many gifts she received and her need to give gifts to others.
The wardrobe was inherited by her successors, James (I) Stuart and Anne of Denmark, and Anne had many of the gowns updated and altered to fit her. This has been interpreted by some as parsimoniousness, perhaps in part due to an anti-Scot prejudice - but it was very, very normal, even for the elite, to make over older clothes. Fabric was incredibly expensive and was understood as a sort of investment for just this purpose. Anne is supposed to have said at first that she would not wear "cast clothes" (that is, someone else's cast-offs), but they were simply too good to waste. Other pieces were held onto longer and given out to be turned into costumes for court masques.
There isn't much more to say about this, unfortunately! The English monarchy didn't hang onto garments as museum pieces the way those of some other countries did. Elizabeth herself had a good number of untouched garments of her siblings even as late as 1600 - seven gowns and twelve kirtles of Mary's, and formal robes, riding coats, doublets with matching hose, a dagger, and more that were Edward VI's. I don't believe Elizabeth deliberately retained any of her father's things, but through taking the old London home of the former Duke of Somerset, Anne of Denmark did end up with a number of Henry VIII's garments (formal robes, cloaks, coats, shirts, etc.) which she never did anything with, and after the execution of Charles I they were sold and subsequently lost.