Something About Rocks looks at ten of the best jewellery moments from Queen Camilla‘s royal wardrobe. From Queen Mary’s Crown worn at her coronation to sentimental jewels from the collection of the late Queen Elizabeth, feast your eyes on these mesmerising royal treasures.
Van Cleef & Arpels Dog Brooch
Queen Camilla sported one of her favourite Van Cleef & Arpels pieces to watch the action unfold at this year’s Wimbledon.
Read More : The Princess of Wales Best Jewellery Moments
The Queen adorned her cream outfit with a sweet black-and-white dog pin by Van Cleef & Arpels – one of the maison’s Lucky Animals clips, which the Queen has been collecting for several years (she is also known to have worn the brand’s hummingbird, owl, squirrel, rabbit and hedgehog pins in the past).
Crafted from 18k yellow gold, with white mother-of-pearl fur contrasted with patches of black onyx, the piece is outlined in the Parisian maison’s perlée, a gold beadwork technique developed around a century ago.
Delhi Carved Emerald Brooch
At this year’s Ascot, Queen Camilla chose to wear the Delhi Carved Emerald from the Royal Collection. The extremely rare carved emerald was originally given to Queen Mary, wife of George V to commemorate her visit to India in 1911. The exquisite one-off piece features a rose carved onto a hexagonal emerald, surrounded by beautifully cut round diamonds and set in yellow gold and platinum.
The Coronation Necklace
Queen Camilla opted to wear a stunning diamond necklace for her coronation with King Charles III.
The necklace was made by Garrard in 1858 for Queen Victoria. It has since been worn by several Queens for their coronations, including Queen Elizabeth II, as well as the Queen Mother, and features 25 diamonds, taken from unused garter badges and a garter sword, as well as the Lahore diamond, a 22.48-carat stone that features as a pendant.
Queen Victoria’s Diamond Brooch
The Queen paid a poignant tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II at the monarch’s state funeral wearing Queen Victoria’s Hesse Diamond Jubilee brooch.
The heart-shaped pin features the number 60 in Slavonic lettering, frosted in diamonds, with a blue sapphire at the top and two sapphire pendants. The piece is particularly symbolic as it was a gift to Queen Victoria by her Hessian grandchildren on the occasion of her Diamond Jubilee, which was officially celebrated on June 22, 1897, to mark the 60th year of her reign.
Courtauld Thomson Scallop Shell Brooch
At Royal Ascot 2023, Camilla tapped into the mermaidcore jewellery trend with the Courtauld Thomson Scallop-Shell Brooch. Originally designed for Lord Courtauld Thomson (son of Robert William Thomson, the Scottish inventor of the pneumatic tyre) by the Goldsmiths and Silversmiths Company in 1919, the glittering piece features a shell motif in pavé-set diamonds, with a single pearl at its centre, with a fringe of five uneven diamond pendants ending in pear-cut stones.
Queen Elizabeth’s Sapphire Necklace
At a state banquet in France, hosted in the Hall of Mirrors of the Château de Versailles, Queen Camilla paid a touching tribute to her mother-in-law, the late Queen Elizabeth II, in £5 million-worth of the late Queen’s jewels, including the George VI Sapphire diamond necklace and earrings which were gifted by her late father on her wedding day to Prince Phillip in 1947.
Queen Elizabeth’s George VI Sapphire Tiara
For her first state banquet as reigning monarch for President Cyril Ramaphosa of the Republic of South Africa, Camilla, Queen Consort, wore the late Queen Elizabeth II’s George VI Sapphire tiara.
Made from an antique sapphire and diamond necklace that belonged to Princess Louise of Belgium, the tiara features as part of an existing suite, including a necklace and a matching pair of earrings which were wedding gifts to Queen Elizabeth from her father, King George VI, in 1947.
Queen Mary’s Diamond Thistle Brooch
For King Charles’ recent royal garden party at Holyroodhouse Palace in celebration of Scottish literature, Queen Camilla wore Queen Mary’s Diamond Thistle Brooch, which originally belonged to King Charles’ great-grandmother, Queen Mary.
Upon Queen Mary’s death in 1953, Princess Elizabeth – who would be crowned Queen just months later – inherited her vast collection of jewellery, including the Diamond Thistle Brooch. For reasons unknown, the Queen would not publicly wear the brooch for over half a century, debuting the piece in 2010 for an official portrait at Holyroodhouse Palace.
Queen Mary’s Crown
At her coronation, Queen Camilla also wore Queen Mary’s crown, notably without the the controversial Koh-i-Noor diamond, which has come to be associated with the queen consort role.
The crown was originally made by Garrard for the 1911 coronation of King Charles III’s great-grandmother, Mary of Teck as Queen Consort, wife of King George V.
Camilla chose to wear a modified version of Queen Mary’s crown for her coronation, rather than commission a new one as is customary, to be more sustainable, Buckingham Palace said in a statement at the time.
Russian Sapphire Cluster Brooch
Attending the 2023 Commonwealth Day service, Camilla chose the jaw-dropping Russian Sapphire Cluster Brooch, that was once owned by the late Queen Elizabeth II.
Dating back to Empress Marie Feodorovna of Russia in the late 1800s, the pin features 18 large diamonds around a smaller, detailed gold setting, with a large eight to 10 sapphire stones in the centre. The sparkler, which was paired with a set of milky pearl drop earrings, has an estimated worth of $680,000.
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