This is an extensive – but not exhaustive – list of The Queen’s brooches. Many of them were gifts over the course of her reign, and they must hold many memories for her.
The brooches are separated into categories according to their colour, so both aquamarine and sapphire brooches will be found under the same section, as will pearls and other white materials like porcelain (yes, really!).
More links will come as the ‘database of diamonds’ expands, so keep checking back!
Head here to explore the royal jewel vault.
Diamond and clear-stone brooches
The brooches here are comprised solely of diamonds and are distinctly absent of colour. If you are looking for a brooch with a flash of rubies for example, head to that section.
Floral brooches:
A diamond New Zealand Fern brooch, displayed in a Commonwealth exhibition at the opening of Buckingham Palace (RCT/Queen Elizabeth II)
Nizam of Hyderabad rose brooches
The Canadian Maple Leaf brooch was part of a Commonwealth exhibition at the opening of Buckingham Palace (RCT/Queen Elizabeth II)
HMS Vanguard brooch
Botswana millet brooch; this was put in a Commonwealth exhibition at the opening of Buckingham Palace for the public to see (RCT/Queen Elizabeth II)
Queen Mary’s Thistle pin
Diamond flower brooch
Irish blossom brooch
Three thistle brooch
City of London flower brooch
Gold flower brooch
Cullinan V brooch
Flame lily brooch
Other shapes:
Queen Mother’s palm brooch
Cullinan III & IV brooch
Queen Victoria’s fringe brooch
Queen Victoria’s bow brooches
Jardine star brooch
FEI horseshoes brooch
Three diamond bar brooch
Blue-stone brooches
A collection of sapphires, aquamarines, turquoise stones and even blue topaz are below.
Russian sapphire brooch
Prince Albert’s sapphire brooch
Brazilian aquamarine brooch
Queen Mother aquamarine clip brooches
Queen Mary’s turquoise filigree brooch
Grape brooch
Marie Feodorovna’s sapphire brooch
Rounded small aquamarine brooch
Chrysanthemum brooch
Pearl and white brooches
The central focus of these brooches are lustrous pearls, and other white materials, like porcelain.
Art deco pearl traingle brooch
Pearl trefoil brooch
Queen Mother’s navette brooch
Richmond brooch
Greville scroll brooch
Victoria’s 11 pearl brooch
Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee brooch
The Queen Mothers scallop shell pearl brooch
Porcelain lily of the valley brooch
Cambridge pearl pendant
Red brooches
You’ll find swathes of rubies, garnets, coral and other red tones here
Grima ruby brooch
Ruby spray brooch
Queen Mother’s ruby spray bouqet
Hibiscus brooch
Pink brooches
Pink topaz, sapphires, and even diamonds make up these pieces.
Williamson pink diamond brooch
Saskatchewan flower brooch
Small pink stone brooch
Cameo rose brooch
Purple brooches
Amethysts are the main stone in this section, but you might also find
Amethyst bouquet brooches
Green-stone brooches
Brooches made of emeralds, topaz, tourmaline and other green stones.
Three shamrock brooch
Yellow, gold & orange brooches
Rich and warm colours of orange and yellow amongst The Queen’s collection
Australian Wattle Brooch
Frosted sunflower brooch
Singapore filigree brooch
Braemar Gathering feather brooch
Daffodil brooch
Multi-colour brooches
These pieces are a mix of gorgeous stones, giving a colourful look
Sri Lankan spray brooch
Small multi-flower bouquet brooch
Flower basket brooch
Opal spray brooch
Official badges
These brooches are military badges and symbols of various official organisations.
Grenadier Guards badge
Duchy of Lancaster brooch
HMS Ocean brooch
Drapers’ Company
Sources and recommendations:
Certain pieces are easy to research and look-up, on the internet, or in books, though others can be tricky. I have largely based my work on three books and the Royal Collection site. The books are: Hugh Roberts’ ‘The Queen’s Diamonds‘; Leslie Fields’ ‘The Queen’s Jewels’; and Suzy Menkes’ ‘The Royal Jewels’, although these publications are 30 years old now. Fields focuses solely on Elizabeth II’s collection, and Menkes’ book features jewels from Victoria to Diana.
For those trickier pieces, I sometimes defer to the more knowledgeable authors of Order of Splendour (referenced as OoS), an informative and detailed site covering the European jewel collections too, or From Her Majesty’s Jewel Vault (HMJV), their sister site. Another excellent jewels blog comes from The Court Jeweller (TCJ).
For more general fashion readers (and royal watchers) is a book by Angela Kelly, The Queen’s dresser and assistant, called ‘Dressing The Queen: A Jubilee Wardrobe’. It was released, unsurprisingly, for the Jubilee in 2012, and it is a great look at how Her Majesty’s wardrobe works, and is put together. Angela Kelly released another book (2019) called ‘The Other Side of the Coin’, which looks at her working relationship with Her Majesty; there are a number of other references and anecdotes in this book.