Balmoral Holiday, 2019

Hansueli Krapf, CC BY-SA 4.0

The Queen's annual break at Balmoral in Scotland is in full swing, with a couple of Sunday church appearances ahead of her official welcome to the castle. The Balmoral holiday usually lasts into October.

Any appearances by The Queen during her holiday will be gathered in this post.

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NEW! October 6: A brooch for Lady Sarah Chatto will have to do for what should be the last church outing of the Balmoral break, as Her Maj went for none. There's a London engagement planned for The Queen on Friday.

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September 29: Closing out September with the Diamond and Pearl Navette Brooch, already on its fourth outing of the year.

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September 22: Back to a standard this week, the Pearl Trefoil Brooch.  Plus a different family member in the guest seat.

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September 15: The Royal Regiment of Scotland Badge for church today.

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September 8: A lovely big pop of blue from Prince Albert's Sapphire Brooch adorned The Queen's coat for this Sunday's church service.

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September 7: This looks to be a jolly group: The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall, and Peter and Autumn Phillips joined Her Maj for this year's Braemar Gathering. The Queen naturally continued her tradition of wearing the Braemar Feather Brooch for the event.

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September 1: The Tudor Rose Brooch made the trip to Scotland for this morning's church service.

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August 25: I'm so glad we got a decent view of today's church brooch - we've only seen the Diamond and Ruby Butterfly Brooch one other time since this site started, back in 2012. We probably have Her Maj's car companion, The Duchess of Cambridge, to thank for that.

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August 18: The Sapphire Jubilee Snowflake Brooch gets its third outing of the year for a trip to church with the Wessexes (or the Forfars, I suppose, since Edward now has the title of The Earl of Forfar for use when in Scotland).

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August 17: The Queen attended a craft fair at Crathie Kirk Hall in the biggest brooch of the break so far, Queen Mary's Turquoise and Diamond Brooch.

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August 11: The Small Pink and Diamond Brooch for another Sunday drive to church.

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August 6: The Queen's official welcome (after staying at another property until the castle closes to visitors and is readied for her) involves a guard of honor and therefore, as it often does, the Royal Regiment of Scotland Badge.

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August 4: Another Sunday church mystery and my half thought is maybe the Greville Scroll Brooch? [Daily Mail]


July 28: The first Sunday outing for church at Crathie Kirk of the break, and unsurprisingly, the brooch is difficult to identify.

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Royal Ascot, Day 1

The Queen honored Ascot Races with her presence today.

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Let the brooch (and hat) (okay, mostly hat) fun begin! A jauntily flipped brim straight out of the Beauxbatons Academy + a Sapphire Jubilee present from Canada = a magical match for Her Maj on Day 1 of Ascot.

Sapphire Jubilee Snowflake Brooch

Queen Mary's Button Earrings

Three Strand Pearl Necklace


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I have been waiting for an excuse for Queen Máxima to come to Ascot for-e-ver and HERE SHE IS, staying to enjoy the races with King Willem-Alexander after attending Garter Day. Nobody takes a plant to the face with more panache. And she made up for any carat deficit from yesterday with maaaaajor earrings from the Stuart Tiara (!) and a giant diamond bracelet. ("Out jewel me once, shame on you; out jewel me twice, shame on me." - Máx, probably.)


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I have been waiting for the British royals to dig into Elie Saab for-e-ver and The Duchess of Cambridge DID IT. And then she totally picked pieces that look like other stuff she has in her closet, like I could have confused this with Temperley easily. Well trolled.


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The baby shower-ready pastels continued with The Duchess of Cornwall, not that she ever needs an excuse a pastel outfit with a giant hat. She wore, as usual, her Four Strand Pearl Choker with Large Diamond Clasp and her Everyday Pearl Pendant Earrings. Zara Tindall tied the group together with a floral that is basically one puffy sleeve away from the 80s.


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For a little more hat interest, we must travel to the rest of the family, where both The Princess Royal and The Countess of Wessex offered up some under-brim interest. Honestly, I liked Sophie's whole deal a lot more before I realized it's the dress fabric on the hat. Maybe with some contrast I'd be on board.


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Of course, the York sisters did offer up some colorful contrast and I'm not really on board with either Beatrice's random tassels or Eugenie's visible headband, so probably there's no pleasing me any way. Points for an Ascot attempt, though.

Buckingham Palace Garden Party

The Queen, joined by other members of the Royal Family, held a Garden Party at Buckingham Palace.

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It's appearance #2 for the Sapphire Jubilee Snowflake Brooch! Given by Canada in 2017, we first saw it worn last year.

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I would not have expected a pairing with the shade of this Stewart Parvin coat, but I suspect the blues on the sapphires are more subtle in person than they are in the released photos of the brooch.

Sapphire Jubilee Snowflake Brooch

Queen Mary's Button Earrings

Three Strand Pearl Necklace

Royal Family

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were present at today's garden party. The Duchess wore an Alexander McQueen outfit with a Juliette Botterill hat, another look which I guess is new but honestly feels like a repeat.

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For a nice touch of bling, she added Diana's Collingwood Pearl and Diamond Earrings.

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The Countess of Wessex opted for pink too, repeating an Emilia Wickstead dress and Jane Taylor hat from last year's Ascot. Also present for the garden party fun were the The Earl of Wessex, The Duke of York, The Duke of Kent, Princess Alexandra of Kent, and The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.

Visit from The King and Queen of the Belgians

The Queen received The King and Queen of the Belgians at Windsor Castle.

Belgian Royal Palace

This is very exciting! Both that King Philippe and Queen Mathilde swung by for a chat (they were in London for a ceremony commemorating Belgians fallen during World Wars I and II, which happened to place them in England on the day of the Belgium/England World Cup match), and that this marks an eagerly anticipated brooch debut.

Belgian Royal Palace

It's the Sapphire Jubilee Snowflake Brooch! A special gift from Canada presented to Her Maj last year and one I, like many of you, have been eager to see in action. These patterned dresses do a number on brooch detail (we know that from 99% of her audiences); in this case, the blue at the center of the piece has practically disappeared. But it's perfectly sized to her preferences, and I hope it's the beginning of many appearances.

As always, full info and more detail (including close ups) of the brooch can be found at the brooch link below.

Sapphire Jubilee Snowflake Brooch

Queen Mary's Button Earrings

Three Strand Pearl Necklace

Gold Watch

Engagement and Wedding Rings

The Sapphire Jubilee Snowflake Brooch

Attending an event at Canada House to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Canada's confederation today, The Queen added another brooch to her collection to celebrate her own milestone anniversary.

The Sapphire Jubilee Snowflake Brooch
Sgt Johanie Maheu, Rideau Hall

The Governor-General of Canada, David Johnston, presented The Queen with the Sapphire Jubilee Snowflake Brooch from Canada. The brooch recognizes Her Majesty's Sapphire Jubilee in 2017, marking 65 years on the throne.

Sgt Johanie Maheu, Rideau Hall

Appropriately, it does so with sapphire stones. The sapphires contained in the brooch come from a deposit of sapphires discovered in 2002 on near Kimmirut on Baffin Island by brothers Seemeega and Nowdluk Aqpik. Coming from Canada's only known deposit of sapphires, these Beluga sapphires are stones that have a natural blue color that does not require heat to enhance.

Hillberg & Berk

The brooch includes 48 sapphires of varying sizes, shapes, and colors, weighing 10.19 carats in total. The blue stones are arranged with the darkest blue colors at the center, surrounding a diamond dome. The sapphires fade into lighter colors as they approach the edge of the brooch, creating an ombré effect. The stones are surrounded by more than 400 diamonds from northern Canada, weighing 4.39 carats in total, and the brooch is set in 18K Canadian white gold.

Hillberg & Berk

The design, inspired by the Canadian Arctic, is a one-of-a-kind snowflake shaped like the North Star. The brooch was designed and crafted by Hillberg & Berk. The Canadian jewelers also created the Saskatchewan Tourmaline Flower Brooch that was gifted to The Queen in 2013. The center diamond dome around which the snowflake is based is a special Hillberg & Berk touch, recalling their signature Sparkle Ball collection.

Hillberg & Berk

The Sapphire Jubilee Snowflake Brooch measures 61 mm tall and 66 mm wide, or about 2.5 inches square. It's slightly larger than the Maple Leaf Brooch, which is 55 mm x 50 mm, and is right in the size range of The Queen's usual favorite brooches.

The Queen receives the brooch at Canada House from the Governor-General
Royal Family

The Queen smiled as she received this stunning brooch in its beautiful wooden box, and waited until the following year to debut it. She has worn her other Hillberg & Berk brooch on several occasions, and I hope she will be just as fond of this one.

Appearances:
18 August 2019: Church at Balmoral
18 June 2019: Royal Ascot, Day 1
21 May 2019: Buckingham Palace Garden Party
14 July 2018: Visit from The King and Queen of the Belgians