I was so hoping that we'd kick off the new year with an appearance by The Queen at Sandringham for church, but it was not to be; still suffering from her cold, she stayed home. (Just an abundance of caution and she's doing better, they say.) We do, however, have a new message from her:
The Queen sent a message of congratulations to the people of Canada on the 150th anniversary of Confederation.
Royal Family video screencap
Obviously recorded at the same time as her Christmas broadcast, Her Maj made sure to swap out brooches for the always appropriate Maple Leaf Brooch. It's nice to see her wear this one again; we haven't seen it on her since 2012.
Merry Christmas! We're chatting about Christmas service appearances at the other blog here. And over here:
The Queen's annual message was broadcast on Christmas Day.
Royal Family video
Still suffering from a heavy cold, The Queen skipped the usual Christmas church services at Sandringham, so thank goodness the Christmas speech is recorded in advance. She spoke about unsung heroes from the Regency Room in Buckingham Palace while seated next to pictures of her husband and oldest son, and she wore an Angela Kelly-designed deep jade silk cloque dress with deep jade velvet trim at the neck and pockets. She also wore Queen Victoria's 11 Pearl Brooch, a favorite of the late Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. Eagle-eyed brooch observers will note that she's chosen to wear the brooch on the opposite side from its normal position, which is unusual for her.
The Royal Family released a new portrait of The Queen and The Prince of Wales, taken earlier this year, to mark the end of Her Majesty's 90th birthday year.
Nick Knight
This is a sweet shot, apparently taken in just a few minutes - in true Windsor fashion, they have no time for posed photos - and with The Queen trying to hold back a laugh from a quip made by The Prince of Wales. This was just before Her Maj's big birthday celebration at the Royal Windsor Horse Show back in May, which explains why she looks a little low on the bling next to Charles and his tuxedo: her big brooch was on the jacket that went over this dress.
The Queen hosted the annual Diplomatic Reception for ambassadors at Buckingham Palace. The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall, The Duke of Cambridge, and The Duchess of Cambridge were also present.
Okay, let's address the best thing first: THIS PHOTO. This is RARE, folks. Pictures from the Diplomatic Reception are often not published at all; a proper group shot like this is a first. I'd like to send a fruit basket to the person that convinced them to do it, but instead I shall just express my enthusiasm in ALL CAPS. WOW.
The Duchess of Cornwall: It's business as usual for Camilla. This is exactly what she wore to the Colombian state banquet and almost completely what she wore to the State Opening of Parliament before that, dress and all. So, all her tiara appearances this year are essentially the same.
The Duchess of Cambridge: Kate is sporting the Cambridge Lover's Knot Tiara for the second time. She's also wearing the Diamond Pendant Earrings, her most recent vault loan (these go better with a tiara than her usual longer diamond earrings, I think), and is repeating the red Jenny Packham gown she wore to the Chinese state banquet.
The Gentlemen: This is one of the most formal events of the year, so the royal men wear knee breeches with the actual Garter from the Order of the Garter just below the knee. It's rare that we get to see this; this event is one of the last consistent examples of the Garter in use, but again, we don't always get to see inside.
December 6: The Queen had a pre-Christmas lunch with her staff at the Goring Hotel.
Her Maj added the Pearl Trefoil Brooch to her pink suit for this festive event (and an unexpectedly lively event, too: the party was interrupted by a drunk intruder). You can see her leaving the hotel here.
This is a great investiture brooch, easy for us to spot from the side and all. (Priorities.) The Queen must agree, because the last time we saw it was also at a Windsor Castle investiture ceremony.
...larger ones here. She was without the Grima Ruby Brooch earlier this year - it was on display with her birthday fashion exhibition at the Palace of Holyroodhouse - and has now squeezed in two appearances for the year. She must be pleased to have it back.
Blue, the perfect spot for some sapphire love! I think we have Prince Albert's famous blue gem here. (Or it might possibly be the Sapphire Chrysanthemum.)
The Queen, accompanied by other members of the Royal Family, hosted a reception at Buckingham Palace celebrating the work and patronages of Princess Alexandra of Kent in her 80th year.
Two matching cousins in their tasteful suits, pearls, and diamond floral brooches, what's not to love? The Queen wore her lovely Flame Lily Brooch and Princess Alexandra wore her six petal diamond flower brooch. (Her Maj also has one like this, of course; it's a common design.) Special shout-out to The Countess of Wessex, while we're at it, because that is an excellent red dress.
The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh, accompanied by The Earl and Countess of Wessex, attended a Service of Thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey to celebrate the 60th anniversary of The Duke of Edinburgh's Award.
This is a pretty purple dream, isn't it? Purple with rich velvet trim, the perfect background for a rich little amethyst. (But I'm less in love with the flower on the hat, I must say.)
The Wessexes were in attendance, of course, because they're the ones carrying the DoE Award flag for the family these days. The Countess wore a Bruce Oldfield outfit and Jane Taylor hat she first wore to The Queen's Diamond Jubilee service in 2012 - and now here, for another diamond anniversary service.
Good jacket, jaunty little hat, maybe a touch too much happening on the skirt, but still, it's easy to see why this has become one of her "special occasion" outfits.
The Queen, accompanied by other members of the Royal Family, hosted a reception for the Royal Life Saving Society at Buckingham Palace.
Royal Family Instagram
At first, I though these were the regular Aquamarine Clip Brooches - which was pretty delightful, considering we were just discussing the fact that they haven't been worn much this year. But they are actually something even more delightful: a debut! These two aquamarine clips are pieces from The Queen Mother's collection, worn for the first time by The Queen. (See the link below for more on this debut.)
It's a big day for HM's gem collection, considering The Duchess of Cambridge also borrowed her Diamond Pendant Earrings for the first time tonight. (More on that appearance on the other blog tomorrow.)
Speaking of favorites that we haven't seen much this year, I'm preeettttty sure this is the Frosted Sunflower, which is somehow only just making its fourth appearance in 2016.
We're mid-November, and this is only appearance #3 for the year for the Aquamarine Clips! These brooches have been near the top of our annual list of favorite brooches each year this blog has been around. Will they miss the cut in 2016?
The Queen, accompanied by other members of the Royal Family, hosted a reception for The Queen's Commonwealth Canopy forestry initiative at Buckingham Palace.
The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, accompanied by other members of the
Royal Family, attended the Remembrance Sunday ceremony at the
Cenotaph, London. The service honors those that have died in armed
conflicts.
Sgt Ross Tilly/UK MoD Crown Copyright
The Queen kept things simple at today's service, holding her traditional cluster of poppies with her favorite bow brooch.
Interestingly, The Duchess of Cambridge has been loaned another piece from The Queen's jewel vault: the Bahrain Pearl Drop Earrings. These earrings were created using pearls given to Princess Elizabeth as a wedding gift. Much like the Silver Jubilee earrings recently worn by Kate, this pair has been loaned to Sophie in the past. They've also been worn fairly recently worn by The Queen herself, who chose them for last year's Festival of Remembrance.
The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh, accompanied by other members of
the Royal Family, attended the Royal British Legion Festival of
Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall, London.
An interesting brooch choice from The Queen tonight: the Bronte Porcelain Brooch, which has seen one appearance a year since its 2014 debut. It seems a bit of a busy brooch for anchoring a poppy, but then most do (apart from the bow brooches, of course, which are her most popular pick for the job).
The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall returned from their tour of Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain just in time to join the large group of royal family members also present for the Festival. Camilla wore her favorite pearl choker these days, the Four Strand Pearl Choker with Large Diamond Clasp, as well as a large pearl bracelet she's worn before.
Ooh, this would have been a prime opportunity to put the pendant on this brooch. I would have appreciated the extra emerald today. Oh, I'm not really complaining - I'm rooting this brooch on to make it onto the list of the year's favorites for the second year in a row, actually. (Appearance #4 and counting!)
The delicate filigree of the Singapore brooch is holding up pretty well on this textured suit, but it's nothing compared to the unmistakable Cullinan V Brooch on the new portrait Her Maj unveiled.
The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh bid farewell to the President of Colombia and Mrs. Santos as they left Buckingham Palace during their State Visit to the United Kingdom.
There's no brooch! But don't worry, we'll get to it.
The Queen later visited Newmarket, where she unveiled her 90th birthday gift from the town, a statue of herself with two horses. She also opened the new National Heritage Center for Horseracing and Sporting Art.
She just left it on her jacket, see. I love the idea of her wearing a gift from her parents when enjoying a day celebrating her support of racing, which is an inherited interest. Not that she needs a reason to wear this favorite gem, of course.
The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh welcomed the President of the Republic of Colombia and Mrs. Santos at the beginning of the President's State Visit to the United Kingdom.
This is one of those times when I would love to be privy to the reasons behind a particular brooch selection, because rubies - the Ruby and Gold Flower Brooch, which has no known connection to these guests - are the last thing I would have paired with this outfit. They're not really that noticeable, I guess.
ITN screencap
Usually, The Queen just takes off her coat once inside with her guests (and, later, inspecting the state banquet setup), but by the time they reviewed the special Royal Collection exhibit with their Colombian guests, she had a total outfit change. She went ahead and leaned into the ruby theme with the Grima Ruby Brooch.
This Prince of Wales Feathers Brooch is one we haven't had a chance to cover here yet (it comes from Queen Alexandra), but it's a perfect match for her deep green outfit. A winner, and paired with her favorite pearl pendant earrings and her usual assortment of bracelets. She did receive a pair of emerald earrings when she and The Prince of Wales visited Colombia a couple years ago, but these were on display with the rest of exhibits, so sadly weren't worn.
The Queen, along with other members of the Royal Family, gave a State Banquet at Buckingham Palace in the President's honor.
We haven't seen a tiara event in a while, and I can't tell you how delighted I am that it's one of the colored stone options instead of one of the usual favorites! Her Maj's been dipping into those more often in the past couple years (she wore this one just last year for the China state banquet), and I love the variety. Her sapphire parure also picks up very nicely on the blue in the Order of Boyaca from Colombia, so that's well played.
(Many have also asked which orders the men are wearing. The Duke of Edinburgh also has the Order of Boyaca, I would imagine in a lower grade without the grand collar. The President has been given the Order of the Bath, which is often given to presidents when orders are exchanged.)
Collar and Star of the Order of Boyaca
Evening Watch
Besides, we've always got Camilla to hold down the white stone fort. Is it just me, or all these Greville Tiara + White Dress + Pearl Choker appearances starting to blend together?
British Monarchy screencaps
With the exception of the earrings, this is the same dress and jewels we saw at this year's State Opening of Parliament, which is the same as the State Opening the year before that. I mean, it suits her well, but I do like to complain.
UPDATE: We now have video of The Queen's speech - observe her sparkly dress!
And with video comes a glimpse at some of the other royal ladies in attendance. (There are also additional tiaras in the video above worn by others, and maybe a glimpse of Princess Michael of Kent, but it's hard to tell.)
British Monarchy screencap
Princess Alexandra of Kent wore the Ogilvy Tiara in its pearl setting. She wears the sash of the Order of the Garter.
British Monarchy screencaps
I wish we had a better look at The Duchess of Gloucester, in the red dress, because she wore the Iveagh Tiara and we don't get to see that in use often. She's wearing the sash of the Royal Victorian Order.
