What with a coronation, and a new Queen with access to a rather vast jewellery vault, the last 12 months have seen a lot of sparkle with various members of the Royal Family wearing a range of jewellery and historical items. We’ve taken a look a some of our favourite jewels seen this year.
Catherine has worn the Prince of Wales feather brooch this year reflecting her position as Princess of Wales. The brooch features the Prince of Wales feathers in an oval of diamonds, and a scroll inscribed with the Prince of Wales’ motto ‘Ich Dien’ – ‘I serve’ in German. The piece holds 18 brilliant-cut diamonds accented with tiny emeralds. Catherine wore the brooch for this 2023’s Commonwealth Day service.
Traditionally, Queens Consort have had a new crown made for their coronation. However, in keeping with The King and Queen’s interests in ‘sustainability and efficiency’, Camilla opted to wear Queen Mary’s Crown, with some slight modifications in tribute to her late mother-in-law.
Traditional yet contemporary – Queen Camilla’s refurbished crown
A fantastic new/old piece we also saw in 2023 was the Strathmore rose tiara, brought out from the vaults for the South Korean state banquet. As it had not been seen for around 80 years, we were pleasantly surprised to see this back on the circuit, on the head of Catherine. It had once belonged to the Queen Mother, who retired the piece in the 1930s.
You can purchase a replica of this gorgeous piece on our store, here.
Royal watchers saw St Edward’s Crown feature at the moment Charles was crowned Monarch during the Coronation in Westminster Abbey back in May. St Edward’s Crown is made of solid gold, set with over 400 stones and dates back to the time of the last King Charles (the second); the velvet cap is trimmed with an ermine band.
One that we are more familiar with is the Imperial State Crown; it was seen during the Coronation, as the piece Charles arrived in, and for The King’s first State Opening of Parliament. It is set with a staggering 2868 diamonds and a further 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds and 269 pearls; three other large stones (one diamond, one sapphire and one ruby) are set mounted the frame – making a total of 3168 stones…!
The Crown was created from open gold frame by royal jewellers, Garrard, in 1937 for the coronation of George VI, and of course altered for the new King last year.
Queen Camilla debuted a new brooch in her collection this year to reflect her position as Colonel of the Grenadier Guards. The brooch dates back to the reign of George VI (1936-1952), and we can see his ornate cypher – GVIR – in diamonds. The badge also features a stylised Tudor crown in precious stones, a frequent symbol of the British Monarchy.
For the Coronation, Queen Camilla wore magnificent suite of necklace and earrings for the Coronation in May, which dates back to that of Queen Victoria. The necklace has been worn for every Coronation since.
There was a range of coronation regalia seen throughout the service, from the procession section of the ceremony, and during the moment of crowning. The regalia includes crowns, the iconic orb and sceptre, and arm bands.
Which was your favourite? Let us know!
