Victoria Cross and George Cross Association Reception

The Queen, accompanied by Members of The Royal Family, gave a reception for members of The Victoria Cross and George Cross Association at Buckingham Palace.

Royal Family

Outfits like this are why it pays to have a brooch in every color! She's perfectly matched and giving us a rare-ish brooch to look at while she's at it, excellent.

Royal Family

Queen Mary's Turquoise and Diamond Brooch

Queen Mary's Button Earrings

Three Strand Pearl Necklace

Audiences at Buckingham Palace

The Queen held audiences at Buckingham Palace. Among those received was The Sultan of Brunei Darussalam, HM Hassanal Bolkiah.

Embed from Getty Images

Although there was actually a head-on shot published from this group of audiences, this brooch is a little easier to pick out from the side, I think. There's a dot of bright blue to indicate the first 2017 appearance of this turquoise and diamond brooch.

Queen Mary's Turquoise and Diamond Brooch

Queen Mary's Button Earrings

Three Strand Pearl Necklace

Gold Watch

Engagement and Wedding Rings

The Queen's 90th Birthday Celebrations at Windsor

The Queen, accompanied by other members of the Royal Family, attended the final night of her birthday celebrations at Windsor.

Embed from Getty Images

HM is wearing her Turquoise and Diamond Brooch tonight! It looks lovely with her Angela Kelly outfit in sea green with a lace overlay. She stuck to her usual day pearls and earrings, which is somewhat surprising given that this was a black tie event.

Turquoise and Diamond Brooch

Queen Mary's Button Earrings

Three Strand Pearl Necklace

Many members of the Royal Family are present tonight, including The Duchess of Cambridge, who is wearing diamond chandelier earrings loaned to her by The Queen and seen several times before. Princes William and Harry are wearing the red-trimmed dinner jackets that are known as the Windsor uniform, worn only at Windsor Castle. (Read more about its history here.)

It looks like The Duchess of Cornwall is again wearing her Five Strand Pearl Choker with Pink Topaz Clasp, and I'm feeling ever so lucky to have two appearances in one week.

Embed from Getty Images

It isn't only the British royal family in attendance tonight. Royal Windsor Horse Show regular The King of Bahrain is seated next to The Queen, and The Landgrave of Hesse is seated next to Kate, and his wife seated between William and Harry. Seated right behind The Duke of Edinburgh was his nephew, Prince Ludwig of Baden.

The show closed with some VIP riders on a few of The Queen's horses: The Earl of Wessex, Lady Louise, The Princess Royal, and Zara Tindall! A lovely birthday surprise, and a wonderful end to an entertaining evening.

The Queen also met the performers at an earlier reception, which was shown on the broadcast. She wore the Flower Basket Brooch:

The birthday celebration is available to watch for a limited time 
on ITV's player, if you have access.

Photos: ITV Screencaps unless otherwise noted

Malta Visit: Day 3, Departure

On the third and final day of their State Visit to Malta, The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh visited Heritage Malta and Marsa Racecourse before their official farewell ceremony and departure from Malta International airport. The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall ended their Malta trip with an engagement in Mdina before departing.

View image | gettyimages.com

For more: Telegraph article and video, Zimbio gallery.

One more rare-ish brooch for the road! This is the third time we've seen this turquoise brooch following its debut last year. Turquoise can be a bit polarizing when it comes to fine jewelry, but this is a perfect example of how well it can work when it's done right. And, of course, this is the perfect end to a trip full of sparkly delights.

Turquoise and Diamond Brooch

Queen Mary's Button Earrings

Three Strand Pearl Necklace

The Duchess of Cornwall ended her trip with an impressive dedication to her chosen flying bug theme: first dragonfly brooches, then a moth brooch, and now a sapphire and diamond butterfly brooch (yet a another piece we have not covered here).

#RoyalVisitMalta TRH today visiting our #PeaceDonkeys @BritishMonarchy pic.twitter.com/TkWCETXKh2

— CARAVAN (@oncaravanarts) November 28, 2015

Longtime readers will know that I generally CANNOT with the bug jewelry. But, go figure, Camilla has managed to wear three in a row that I find quite lovely. One of many reasons we had to add her to our little blog scope.


Recap Time!

Day 1: Prince Albert's Sapphire
Day 2: Mysterious aquamarine debut
Day 2, Dinner: Emeralds for days
Day 3: Turquoise fun

Favorite jewel moment for you? For me, well, nothing beats emeralds with my beloved pink topaz set for Camilla.

Balmoral Holiday, 2014

The Queen has officially started her annual holiday at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. I will collect links to her appearances during the break here, and you'll find the link to this post on the side bar under Recently Updated Events until public events start up again. During the break, I have updates to take care of and (time permitting) we have some backlogged jewels to cover, so stay tuned!

• NEW! September 28: Attending church at Balmoral (alternate link). Wearing for the second time one of the brooches we've seen debuted this year, the Turquoise and Diamond Brooch.
• NEW! September 21:Attending church at Balmoral (see here or here). No brooch visible.
• September 14: The media was invited to watch The Queen speaking to people after church today - a rare move indeed. She let them hear her make a comment on the upcoming Scottish independence referendum, urging people to think carefully. Not exactly a wild statement, but this is incredibly rare from her, and it's getting quite a bit of attention. She appears to be wearing a rare brooch, too, the Tutti Frutti Bouquet Brooch. Pics can be seen at the Daily Mail, Sky News, and The Telegraph.
• September 6: The Braemar Gathering, as is traditional each year.
• Apropos of nothing, really, but HM was pictured riding out at Balmoral.
• August 24: Attending church at Balmoral. No brooch visible.
• August 17: Attending church at Balmoral, with Princess Eugenie in tow and the Kent Amethyst Brooch out on display. (Do revisit the Kent Amethyst link, a rather interesting find has been posted in the comments by Jeanne!)
• August 7: Official welcome and review of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. As expected, HM wore the badge of the Royal Regiment of Scotland for the job.

Visit to Derbyshire

The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh visited Derbyshire, celebrating the 230th anniversary of knitwear company John Smedley Ltd. and visiting Chatsworth House, where they were hosted by the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire.

For more: Video from ITN, gallery from Zimbio, article from the Derby Telegraph.
She took a couple days off (from public engagements, that is - I think we all know she never really takes time off) and to make up for it, she gave us another new-to-us brooch, and in a stone she rarely wears! See below.

Turquoise and Diamond Brooch

Queen Mary's Button Earrings

Three Strand Pearl Necklace

Photo: ITN video

Queen Mary's Turquoise and Diamond Brooch

Several pieces of turquoise jewelry were gifted to Princess Victoria Mary of Teck (the future Queen Mary) for her 1893 wedding to The Duke of York (the future King George V). Included among gems such as the Teck Turquoise Parure, a gift from Mary’s parents, was this brooch with a turquoise center and an ornate scrolling diamond surround. The brooch was a gift from Mary’s new in-laws, the future King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. They were, at the time, the Prince and Princess of Wales.

Queen Mary's Turquoise and Diamond Brooch

The brooch most likely passed to The Queen with many other jewels on Queen Mary’s death in 1953. The Queen – seemingly not a fan of turquoise stones, based on her rare use of the turquoise pieces at her disposal – waited until 2014 to wear it in public, making this another case of an extraordinary jewel waiting decades for a proper showcase.

Note: Provenance was initially unknown after the 2014 appearance, and the brooch was referred to here just as the Turquoise and Diamond Brooch. Commenter Franck’s theory of this brooch’s provenance was confirmed at the Royal Jewels of the World Message Board by poster Beth in 2016, who located an illustration of the wedding gift. Sincere thanks to them both.

Appearances:
16 May 2018: Victoria Cross and George Cross Association Reception
14 December 2017: Audiences at Buckingham Palace
15 May 2016: 90th Birthday Celebration at Windsor
28 November 2015: Visit to Malta, Day 3
28 September 2014: Church at Balmoral
10 July 2014: Visit to Derbyshire

Photo: PA