Queen Camilla, as well as King Charles III, were on hand to welcome French president, Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, to the British Museum for an exclusive viewing of the Bayeux Tapestry.
In a historical first, the tapestry, which depicts the Norman invasion of England in 1066, has been loaned to the UK, returning to its country of origin for the first time in a thousand years.
The exhibition opens this week but the Royals, as well as the French head of state, visited the iconic work before it’s official opening to the public with tickets already sold out until the end of 2026.
For the event, Queen Camilla’s outfit was a metaphor for cross channel collaboration. She paired her British Anna Valentine dress with a Dior handbag and shoes from Chanel.
She was also wearing star-shaped sapphire and diamond earrings, though it is not yet known who made the piece or if they are out of the vast Royal collection. Camilla paired the earrings with a bracelet from Van Cleef & Arpels made out of 18 karat gold and features a blue agate inlay to match the sapphire of the earrings. It does not appear the earrings are from Van Cleef & Arpels (even though the Queen is a huge fan of the jewellery maker) as they make a set that pairs with the bracelet but Camilla opted for something different.
Camilla recently stepped out in a century old brooch when attending a Sunday Service at Crathie Kirk near Balmoral in Scotland.
Suitably wearing a coat with tartan accents, Camilla pinned to it a brooch made in 1902 for the coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra and is in the Art Nouveau style.
The brooch is made of gold and fitted with pearls and is simply the year 1902 written out in script. While it is not known how many were made for the historic coronation, it is a matter of record that they were given out to various family members in various styles.
How Queen Camilla came to possess her piece is also unknown. One theory has it that the brooch originally belonged to Camilla’s great-grandmother, Alice Keppel, who was the mistress of King Edward VII for over a decade until his death in 1910. It could also be the case that a brooch simply passed through the Royal Family and came to Camilla following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
The Sunday service also saw an appearance by Catherine, Princess of Wales, who wore far less opulent jewellery. The future Queen was seen wearing a pair of Ralph Lauren earrings, continuing the Princess’ trend of mixing affordable jewellery with historic pieces from the Royal collection. She has also been a longtime fan of Ralph Lauren, wearing both their clothes and jewellery, including during a recent high profile appearance at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
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