I thought we might have a sighting of the Aquamarine Clips here - it's been a year since we saw them last - but I have to call it instead for the Aqua Art Deco. (Which is actually my fave of the two at the moment, it's just weird the old Aqua Clips have fallen off so far off the radar.)
The Queen, Patron, visited the Royal Air Force Club on Piccadilly, London, to mark its centenary year.
Royal Family
Her Maj is fully back in action after her Balmoral break, huzzah. The Flame Lily Brooch is back in action for the first time in over a year, double huzzah.
The RAF Club commissioned a new portrait for their 100th anniversary. Details from the Royal Family: "Started in February 2018 and set in the White Drawing Room of Windsor Castle, the portrait was painted by Benjamin Sullivan – who won the BP Portrait Award in 2017. The portrait includes a number of RAF elements: in the background is a Spitfire – ‘S’ for ‘Strike’ - from 253 Squadron from which the artist's grandfather, F/Lt JM Sullivan, flew over Albania during WW2. The image on the right is a portion of ‘Hurricanes in Flight‘ (1944), by Eric Ravilous, painted as part of his work for the War Artists’ Advisory Committee. Ravilous lived and worked near Benjamin Sullivan, and in the 1930’s, as a member of the Great Bardfield Artists, whose body of work is now housed at the Fry Art Gallery in Saffron Walden."
The Queen wore this ensemble to a garden party back in 2014, which gave me an opportunity to praise it as one of the best in her current outfit rotation. And now I get to say it once more with feeling, because she's swapped the Aquamarine Clip Brooches for the Queen Mother's Aquamarine Art Deco Brooch - a piece that has rapidly overtaken its clip cousins as my favorite of Her Maj's aquamarine brooches. Excellent.
One of my favorite brooches debuted by The Queen in recent years makes its 2017 debut! Delightful. Also delightful, in case you missed it yesterday: Her Maj was spotted out riding her pony at Windsor Castle.
Merry Christmas! We'll be chatting about the various fashions on display at the annual Windsor walk to church at the other blog over the weekend, but first we'll cover our interests here:
The Queen, accompanied by members of the Royal Family, attended Christmas service at St. Mary Magdalene Church, Sandringham.
In a surprising turn of events, The Queen managed to be one of the least bejeweled ladies in the family for Christmas service! Even The Duchess of Cambridge wore a brooch today (one that she first wore in 2012, and which may be in her personal collection - as far as I know, it is not a loaned piece), but Her Maj rolled up broochless in cozy Christmas red with fur trim. Her regular daytime selection of jewels was also all that was on display for the day's earlier service. I cannot lie, I was a little disappointed...but my spirits were lifted by her brooch selection for the Christmas speech. Read on...
As always, there's meaning to be found in everything The Queen wears and in her surroundings for her Christmas speech. The portraits at her side are of the present and future leaders of the family (a shot of the Cambridge family from Princess Charlotte's christening, a wedding photo of The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, a casual photo of herself with The Duke of Edinburgh), and her brooch reminds of us the last generation: The Queen Mother's Art Deco Aquamarine Brooch. It's not a piece that many would find instantly recognizable as a member of the late Queen Elizabeth's collection, making it a subtle yet significant choice for this speech, just as it was for the VE Day commemoration events earlier this year.
The brooch really stands out in contrast to the gold in the 18th Century Room at Buckingham Palace and on the light background of her Angela Kelly tweed outfit. The Queen also wore her usual selection of day jewels, with what looks to be her larger pair of pearl and diamond button earrings.
The link in the tweet above shows her brooch, which continues her recent run of aquamarine brooches beyond her favorite clips. This one's from her mother, and I think it might be my favorite of her aqua pins. It's the fourth time she's worn it since debuting it last year, and you can (as always) read more in the link below.
At Windsor Castle, The Queen lit the first of 200 beacons marking the 70th anniversary of VE (Victory in Europe) Day. She was accompanied by The Duke of Edinburgh, The Duke of York, and Princess Beatrice of York.
She has developed a fondness for her mother's brooches for war commemoration purposes, hasn't she? Feels entirely appropriate here, as always. (And I'm so happy to see another aquamarine brooch make it into the regular rounds, too!)
This is the start of the weekend's commemorations for Her Majesty; she'll also lead the royal party at a Service of Thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey on Sunday.
To mark this special 70th anniversary, the palace posted this audio of The Queen's memories of that memorable day - and, or course, that memorable night, when she and Princess Margaret were allowed to leave Buckingham Palace and go out into the crowds.
Video: A BBC recording from 1985
It's quite a lovely listen, isn't it? You will note that VE Day qualified as a tiara occasion, which is perfect. A fictionalized account of that night is now a movie, by the way, called A Royal Night Out (here's the trailer).
Accompanied by The Duke of Edinburgh and The Duke of Cambridge, The Queen joined The King of the Belgians to open the Flanders Fields Memorial Garden at Wellington Barracks, London.
Remembrance events are picking up speed in advance of Remembrance Day, and HM started out bundled up in a neutral background outfit with one of her favorite brooches.
Later, with The Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry, The Queen hosted a reception at Buckingham Palace to recognize those that have helped injured servicemen and women on their paths to recovery.
For more: Zimbio gallery, Express and Star article.
And later, she went for something new-ish - a brooch from the Queen Mother's collection that was reintroduced this summer. This time, she's worn it vertically instead of horizontally, which is probably just the best way to wear it on this dress, but in my imagination is a cheeky nod to those of you that wish she'd use her regular Aquamarine Clips in a more inventive manner.
The Queen honored Ascot Races with her presence today.
For video, see the Daily Mail link below.
Another brooch debut! One of you is going to have to come over here and pick me up off the floor if this continues. (And please please, let it continue!)
Look at this pair! Not who I thought would end up in their own little rainbow of a carriage ride, but I like it. Anyone else seeing orange peels on the top of Beatrice's hat, or do I just need a snack?
Haya's Ascot game is growing stronger every day, is it not? Black and white at Ascot is always My Fair Lady and always YES. I can't wait to see what she's got for us in the final stretch.
I'll leave you to discuss the rest (including the Countess of Wessex, who hilariously went to the opposite end of yesterday's white spectrum with an entirely black outfit) in the links provided. I'm off to get that snack, just to be safe.
Photos:Daily Mail video and Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images
Worn by the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother mostly in her earlier years, this Art Deco brooch contains multiple cuts of aquamarine jewels with diamond accents. The brooch is very much in the style of Cartier jewels from the time, though the maker is unconfirmed. Queen Elizabeth did commission other pieces from Cartier. The design seems a double-clip style, though there is no evidence to suggest that it can be separated as such.
Queen Elizabeth
The Queen Mother wasn't known for a love of aquamarine jewels, and appearances of this brooch seem to have been mainly in her earlier years. She did have another set of aquamarine brooches (her Curved Aquamarine Clip Brooches; one can be seen on her hat in the above photo), which are likely the ones described by Leslie Field in The Queen's Jewels:
In the 1930s she had a pair of curved diamond and aquamarine clips. She
was wearing these in 1935 when she brought her two daughters to Norman
Hartnell's salon in Bruton Street to have a fitting for their
bridesmaid's dresses for the marriage of Princess Alice, Duchess of
Gloucester.
The brooch would have passed to The Queen on her mother's death in 2002, and she wore it for the first time publicly at Ascot in 2014, when she wore it placed horizontally; for its second outing, she wore it placed vertically. The Queen of course already has her set of Aquamarine Clip Brooches which are favorites in her collection.
