The Wedding of Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank

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.

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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.)

Cullinan V Brooch

Queen Mary's Button Earrings

Three Strand Pearl Necklace

Royal Family screencap

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!

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We also had a loan on The Duchess of Cambridge, who wore The Queen's Diamond Pendant Earrings again.

Click here for complete wedding coverage at Order of Splendor.

P.S.: The Queen did have an investiture yesterday. Of course, I've yet to see evidence of the brooch, so I didn't cover it separately.

The 2016 Diplomatic Reception

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. 

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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. 

 To the gems! 

 The Queen: Her Maj is LOVING her sapphires of late. She's worn this suite to both the Colombian state banquet this year and the Chinese state banquet last year. 

Modern Sapphire Tiara

George VI Sapphire Necklace and Earrings

Modern Sapphire Bracelet
Evening Watch

Order of the Garter (Riband, Star, Badge)

Royal Family Orders

 

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.

Greville Tiara

Pear Drop Diamond Demi-Parure Earrings 

Four Strand Pearl Choker with Large Diamond Clasp

Royal Family Order of Queen Elizabeth II
Star, Riband, and Badge of the Royal Victorian Order

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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.

Cambridge Lover's Knot Tiara
Diamond Pendant Earrings
Wedding Gift Bracelet

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.

Garter Day

The Queen gave a Luncheon Party for the Companions of the Most Noble Order of the Garter. A Service was held in St. George's Chapel this afternoon.

Click above for an article, pictures and video from the Daily Mail.

Well, Her Maj ignored my request for sapphires, but she's compensated by giving us another look at a little pair of earrings we've seen once before on the blog, these diamond pendant jobs. I'll take it.

I didn't really see a bracelet or watch, though - possibly under the gloves, not that extra jewels are ever easy to pick out from under the robe.

Diamond Pendant Earrings

Mantle of the Order of the Garter
Collar and Great George of the Order of the Garter

Photos:MalOnline screencap/WPA Pool/Getty Images

State Opening of Parliament

The Queen, accompanied by The Duke of Edinburgh, traveled in State to the Palace of Westminster today to open the Session of Parliament.

State Opening of Parliament: the only time it's acceptable to heckle the Queen's peeps. She compensates with maximum day bling, as well she should.

One requires two separate head ornaments, naturally. One for doing the thing itself (the Imperial State Crown, above left and center), and one for the ride to and from (the George IV State Diadem, above right).

And then one needs enough diamonds and etc. to clang around just in case the crown's not enough of a LOOK AT ME signal. There's the diamond earrings and a lovely trinket of a necklace from one's father (above left), one of Queen Mary's bracelets and a diamond evening watch (above center), plus the Collar and Great George of the Order of the Garter, just for a touch of medieval flair (above right).

George IV State Diadem
Imperial State Crown
Diamond Pendant Earrings
George VI Festoon Necklace
Queen Mary's Chain-Link Bracelet
Diamond Evening Watch
Collar and Great George of the Order of the Garter

Photos:Getty Images/PA

Diamond Pendant Earrings

Diamond Pendant Earrings

This pair of diamond pendant earrings includes a pendant of separate stones hanging within a diamond frame. These first appeared at the 2012 State Opening of Parliament, but have no publicly known provenance as of yet.

In 2016, these earrings were loaned to The Duchess of Cambridge, who wore them for the first time for the Place2Be Awards in November.

Appearances (on The Duchess of Cambridge unless otherwise noted):
12 October 2018: The Wedding of Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank
7 November 2017: Anna Freud Centre Gala Dinner
17 June 2017: Trooping the Colour 
8 December 2016: Diplomatic Reception 
22 November 2016: Place2Be Awards
17 June 2013: Garter Day (on The Queen)
9 May 2012: State Opening of Parliament (on The Queen)