#thejewelcatalogue

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Queen Camilla is wearing the the late Queen’s Five Aquamarine Tiara for the Diplomatic Reception at Buckingham Palace tonight

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Some speculation the Queen's engagement ring is bigger after today's engagemet?

To me, it looks to be now sideways ?

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Queen Victoria’s Small Diamond Crown 

Following the death of her husband Albert in 1861, Queen Victoria went into mourning. In 1870, she commissioned Garrard to create a miniature Imperial State Crown that was small enough to be worn above her widow’s cap. Visitors to the Tower of London can see it on display in the Jewel House. 

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Over the past few months, we’ve spotted Kate wearing a new eternity-style ring, featuring alternating diamonds and colored gemstones, in place of her engagement ring. A close-up of her hands from Thursday’s engagement showed her wearing four rings: two diamond eternity bands, the new eternity ring with colored gems, and her Welsh gold wedding ring.

~ The Court Jeweller

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The Chequers Ring is one of the few surviving pieces of jewellery worn by Queen Elizabeth I of England.

The mother-of-pearl ring, set with gold and rubies, includes a locket with two portraits, one depicting Elizabeth and the other traditionally identified as Elizabeth's mother Anne Boleyn, but possibly her step-mother Catherine Parr. 

The ring is presently housed at Chequers, the country house of the prime minister of the United Kingdom.

According to legend, Robert Carey, Elizabeth I's maternal relative, took the ring from her finger when she died at Richmond Palace in 1603, and took it to James I in Scotland as a token of her death. Her jewellery collection was soon dispersed by the new king and queen, James I and Anne of Denmark.

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The Duchess of Teck's Pearl and Diamond Brooch

When Queen Mary’s brother Prince Frank died in 1910, they had just repaired a decade long rift, during which he altered his will to reflect his feelings towards his sister.

James Pope-Hennessy said around this time (when his sister has just recently become Princess of Wales) Prince Frank was alienated from her due to her disapproval of his mistress Nellie, Countess of Kilmorey as well as her attempts to help him “with money and good advice.” He says Frank found, “the burden of gratitude too heavy to bear.”

Frank’s will states, “The jewel given me by my godfather Francis Joseph Emperor of Austria I leave to Eleanor Constance, Countess of Kilmorey with the caveat that she will leave it to H.R.H. The Princess Victoria of Great Britain and Ireland daughter of His Majesty King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra.”

Queen Mary was horrified by the contents of the will and in 1910 paid the Countess £10,000 for the Cambridge emeralds to be returned to her. But this jewel was not included in that purchase. The Countess died in 1920 and the brooch presumably went to Princess Victoria. The brooch was later either given to or left to Queen Mary by Princess Victoria (who died in 1935) and was later photographed in her photographic jewel inventory. She left it to Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. The brooch has now presumably been left to King Charles.

~ British Royal Jewels IG

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The Duchess of Edinburgh wears the Lotus Flower Tiara with the earrings and necklace from the late Queen's Pear-Shaped Diamond Drop Suite.

Edit: HRH is wearing the King Fahd Diamond Necklace, which was a gift to Queen Elizabeth in 1979 (?)

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This gold ring is the engagement ring given by Prince Francis of Teck to Princess Mary Adelaide, parents of Queen Mary. The ring is set with five Burmese rubies and twelve diamonds. The inside is inscribed with “Franz, April 6, 1866.”

The ring is now part of The Royal Collection.

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The Sovereign's Ring

The ring is composed of a mixed-cut octagonal sapphire in a gold setting overlaid with four rectangular-cut and one square-cut rubies, butted together in a gold strip setting to form a cross, with a border of fourteen cushion-shaped diamonds and a diamond on each shoulder, with a gold hoop.

This ring was made for the coronation of William IV in 1831. Like all coronation rings until the twentieth century, each monarch had a newly-made ring which was not kept with the regalia but with the personal jewellery of the sovereign. 

William IV left this coronation ring to his widow, Queen Adelaide, who in turn bequeathed it to Queen Victoria, together with her consort's ring. Queen Victoria left both of these, and her own coronation ring to the Crown in 1901, and all three were deposited in the Tower of London

~ Royal Collection Trust

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Princess Anne was spotted wearing an interesting brooch at Saturday’s Field of Remembrance event.

The brooch features a large pearl surrounded by diamonds. The Princess Royal first wore the brooch in 2023.

The brooch appears to have previously belonged to Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother who wore it as a clasp on a set of pearl necklaces for the christening of Prince Michael of Kent in 1942.

The provenance of the brooch is unknown. It is unlikely to have been part of the Greville bequest as the Queen Mother wore the set before she was left the jewels. It’s also unknown how this was passed to Princess Anne, whether this is an item considered her personal property, left to her either by the Queen Mother, or by the late Queen, or if this is property of the Crown and available for other members of the family to wear.

(Source X)

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The Crown of Scotland

The Crown was made in 1540 using materials from an even older crown. It has been used in Scottish coronations since the 16th century, when it was worn by King James V during the coronation of his second wife, Marie de Guise.

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The Princess of Wales also wore a special pair of diamond and pearl earrings that belonged to the late Queen Elizabeth II. These are the Bahrain Pearl Drop Earrings, made using two round pearls that Elizabeth received as a wedding present from the Hakim of Bahrain in 1947. 

Fun Fact: Kate wore the earrings in public for the first time on Remembrance Sunday in 2016,

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Cecil Beaton was one of the Queen’s favourite photographers, and he took many portraits of her from 1939 to 1970.

This striking photograph was taken in 1948, and marked a return to his pre-war, distinctly glamourous style. Beaton used backdrops inspired by 18th-century paintings as a device to link the modern Royal Family to their ancestors.

This image is on display in our exhibition at The King's Gallery, London.

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According to the Daily Mail, these floral earrings with colorful gems were a 19th birthday present from the then-Princess's parents, King George VI and the Queen Mother, and belonged in her private collection.

The late monarch rarely wore them out in public, but she did wear it for a portrait with a young King Charles in 1949.

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Royal Visit of Australia || Arrival

Queen Camilla arrives in Australia for the royal visit, wearing the Australian Wattle Brooch.

The brooch is designed to represent the national flower of Australia, and appropriately, it was made by an Australian firm, William Drummond. The jewel is made of platinum and set with white and yellow diamonds.

The piece was commissioned specifically as a gift for the new monarch, who received it in February 1954 during her Commonwealth tour.