The Queen, joined by The Duchess of Gloucester, hosted a reception at Buckingham Palace to celebrate the work of UK faith and belief groups in bringing local communities together.
Royal Family
Already the fourth appearance of good old Cullinan V in 2019! Headed for another appearance on the year's most popular list? Seems a solid bet.
It's not often we see The Queen attend a funeral, but this was a close friend. Jeanie, Countess of Carnarvon, was the widow of the 7th Earl of Carnarvon (Lord Porchester or "Porchie"), The Queen's racing manager and friend. Their daughter Carolyn is married to The Queen's current racing manager, John Warren.
The Queen, with The Princess Royal, received The King and Queen of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, King Abdullah II and Queen Rania, and their son The Crown Prince at Buckingham Palace. The Queen also received The President of Slovenia in a separate audience.
...and a curtsey, too. It's been a while since we've seen one of the family members fill in for an event that would have been attended by Prince Philip, and Anne made sure to brooch up for the occasion. As for The Queen, she gave us our first Cullinan sighting of the year.
The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, and other Members of The Royal
Family attended the wedding of Princess Eugenie of York and Mr. Jack Brooksbank at St. George's Chapel, Windsor.
The Queen picked a Stewart Parvin ice blue cashmere coat with diamanté buttons and a coordinating blue, peach and gold dress for her granddaughter's wedding today, paired with a matching Angela Kelly hat. Plus a very dapper Duke by her side, of course!
Royal Family screencap
While I always hope big family occasions will bring us something rare in the brooch department, you also can't really complain about an 18.8 carat Cullinan chip. And the Cullinan V was certainly sparkling like crazy in the lights today. Yummy. (The earrings are looking a little bigger to me - will need to seek out some more pics later for confirmation.)
Another wedding also brings about another surprise tiara loan! The Queen loaned Princess Eugenie the Greville Emerald Kokoshnik Tiara, a piece which was obviously part of the Greville bequest but which has not been seen on a member of the Royal Family prior to today. It's one many have been waiting anxiously to see!
This is the first time we've seen Eugenie in a tiara and I believe the first time we've seen her wear jewelry loaned from her grandmother. The earrings were a gift from the groom. The green details are stunning on her!
The Queen, joined by The Duke of Cambridge, Princess Eugenie, The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, The Duke of Kent, and Princess Alexandra, held a Garden Party at Buckingham Palace.
Love this Stewart Parvin outfit and Rachel Trevor-Morgan hat. The Diamond and Pearl Navette Brooch looks great on this background. This was the start of a double dose of pale blue for the day - and a double dose of brooches...
The Queen also visited London Fashion Week, where she watched designer Richard Quinn's fashion show and presented him with the inaugural Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design.
Today's second engagement was a surprise visit and an absolute treat. Front row at a fashion show with Dame Anna Wintour! People seem very fussed about the fact that Vogue's own queen kept her sunglasses on, which is a thing she always does at fashion shows to help hide her reactions to the show. That's just part of the authentic Anna Wintour Front Row Experience, man.
ITN screencap
This visit was later in the day, so Her Maj was hatless and made an outfit change to something with a bit of sparkle, an Angela Kelly duck egg blue tweed dress and jacket embellished with tiny aquamarine Swarovski crystals. And, of course, the Cullinan V shining away on her shoulder.
That's Angela Kelly herself. She organized and designed the award, in a shape inspired by the Queen Elizabeth rose. The award recognizes the role the fashion industry plays in society and diplomacy, and it will be awarded annually to "an emerging British fashion designer who shows talent and originality, whilst demonstrating value to the community and/or sustainable policies."
Let me know if you spy any video of this one for brooch purposes...otherwise, we're in the dark. Update: With thanks to the Royal Spectator, looks like this was most likely the Cullinan V.
We have another multiple brooch day on our hands - and this one must be aiming for some kind of total carat weight record... The Queen gave a
reception for the Queen's Award for Enterprise at Buckingham Palace.
Fitting her brooch to her prime minister adds another hefty amount of carats to the day's picture. The Australian Wattle was in order for the Australian PM, of course. (And, you'll notice, even it can barely do battle with those ubiquitous floral prints.)
The Queen, accompanied by The Prince of Wales, traveled to the Palace of Westminster to open the
Session of Parliament.
As promised, this year's State Opening of Parliament was a "dressed down" version, thanks to the speedy schedule. Business as usual meant that those of us hoping The Queen's jewels might reflect a more special occasion were disappointed - not that one could ever be too terribly disappointed with an 18.8 carat diamond, of course, but she stuck with her usual day pearls and earrings.
What was not business as usual: The Prince of Wales stood in for The Duke of Edinburgh. Prince Philip was hospitalized Tuesday night for an infection, according to a Buckingham Palace spokesperson: "The Duke of Edinburgh was admitted to King Edward VII Hospital in London last night, as a precautionary measure, for treatment of an infection arising from a pre-existing condition. Prince Philip is in good spirits and is disappointed to be missing the State Opening of Parliament and Royal Ascot. The Prince of Wales will accompany The Queen to the State Opening. Her Majesty is being kept informed and will attend Royal Ascot as planned this afternoon."
And so The Queen carried on, sporting a delphinium blue coat with a blue and yellow floral silk dress and matching hat adorned with flowers by Angela Kelly. An outfit which, many have noted, sorta kinda dresses her up like...the European flag. Because if you're gonna make The Queen schlep down to London on an Ascot day, you're gonna get trolled.
I watched The Queen's Speech on 2x speed, which is exactly how I imagine
it went in Her Maj's head. She had to get to Ascot, and she had to make
it in time for an outfit and brooch change (people bet on those hats,
you know, it just won't do to be tipping them off early!), so speed.it.up.
The Queen honored Ascot Races with her presence today.
Recruiting The Duchess of Cornwall to help continue the day's yellow and blue theme, The Queen wore another ensemble designed by Stewart Parvin and Rachel Trevor-Morgan. She swapped in the Flame Lily Brooch for an extra bit of diamond sparkle.
The Duchess of Cornwall repeated her outfit from Princess Charlotte's christening as she continued to display her resplendent collection of pearl chokers. The Duchess of Gloucester wasn't slouching on the jewel front either; check out her sneaky use of diamond and ruby clip brooches at the neckline. Elegantly piled on, just how I like it.
The Queen, accompanied by The Duke of Cambridge, welcomed Aung San Suu Kyi to Buckingham Palace for a lunch. Her Majesty also held an Investiture today.
The Cullinan V is back for its second appearance of the year and the filling in for Philip has begun, with William third wheeling it through these pics.
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 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 Cullinan V is making a serious run for top brooch of the year - it's already on appearance #7! (It was 2015's top brooch with just eight catalogued appearances for the whole year.) Her Maj also looks to be wearing her simple pearl stud earrings again; given that these are her "casual" earrings, I'm thinking she might already be in the Balmoral state of mind.
The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh attended an Evening Vigil at Westminster Abbey to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Battle of the Somme. The battle was one of the bloodiest in World War I, resulting in over one million casualties.
I suspect that it is not a coincidence that The Queen chose to wear a brooch from Queen Mary on this day, when King George V was on the throne during World War I. Her brooches are so obviously not the focus of remembrance events like these, but the way she occasionally uses them to add subtle significance can be quite thoughtful. (The Cullinan V was also worn last year to commemorate VE and VJ Day anniversaries; the outfit was first seen when visiting the Bergen-Belsen memorial in Germany.)
The Royal Family will be out in force to commemorate the Somme centenary. The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall will be in France on Friday, where The Duchess will lay a wreath at the grave of her great-uncle, Captain Harry Cubitt, who died during the battle.
BBC screencap
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry are also in France. They attended a vigil at the Thiepval Memorial on Thursday and will attend more events on Friday. Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence was there as well, due to his involvement with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. The Duke of York, The Countess of Wessex, The Princess Royal, and The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester will also participate in events surrounding the anniversary.
The Queen presented awards and hosted a reception for the Queen's
Young Leaders at Buckingham Palace, with other members of the Royal Family present. She also held audiences and an investiture today.
Doesn't The Duke look particularly dapper today? This is a sharp tie. The Queen's minty ensemble is...hmm, but the Cullinan V can be spotted from a mile away, so that's all as it should be.
This choker used to be more of a special occasion thing for The Duchess of Cornwall, and I'm extremely glad to see it becoming an everyday selection this year. The petite Prince of Wales feathers brooch she wore on her wedding day is a nice touch. (Though I must say I'm a little dubious on the rest of the outfit, which you can see here.)
And last but not least: The Prince of Wales, The Princess Royal, The Duke of Kent, and Princess Alexandra of Kent! Princess Alexandra's looking fresh and nearly as sporty as one can in a massive garden party hat, with that striped scarf on.
