The Welsh Guards presented The Queen, their Colonel-in-Chief, with a platinum and diamond brooch in the shape of a leek, which is both the form of their cap badge and the national emblem of Wales. This is not the only brooch in her collection that represents the regiment, as it is also present in her larger
Guards' Badge.
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| Example of the cap badge. The brooches use the central leek only. |
And The Queen's version isn't the only leek badge in the royal family, either. While still married to Prince Charles, the late Diana, Princess of Wales wore a version that also appears to have been set in diamonds (you can see more views
at the Princess Diana Remembered site).
And the same can be said for The Prince of Wales' current wife, The Duchess of Cornwall, who also has a leek badge. Hers is in gold and also looks to be diamond-set. The similarities make it difficult to tell the brooches apart, but I believe that the version worn by Diana is different from that worn by Camilla. They are both different from the larger brooch worn by The Queen, as witnessed when both The Queen and The Duchess
wore theirs on the same day.
The Queen tends to wear her brooch strictly for events directly pertaining to the Welsh Guards, as she uses most of her badges. The Duchess of Cornwall, on the other hand, has worn hers at events for the regiment, but also for events in or pertaining to Wales in general, such as appearances on
St. David's Day or the
opening of the Welsh Assembly.
Appearances:
7 July 2016: Visit to Wales (Duchess of Cornwall)
30 April 2015:
Welsh Guards New Colours Presentation (Queen and Duchess of Cornwall)
Photos: via Getty Images and Wikimedia Commons/British Army
