Church at Sandringham

The Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, attended church at Sandringham.

Click to see an article and pictures from the Huffington Post.

Oh, the Bentley wouldn't start after church. We've all been there, I'm sure.

Pearl Trefoil Brooch

Queen Mary's Button Earrings

Three Strand Pearl Necklace

Photo: PA

The Cambridge Lover's Knot Tiara (Queen Mary's)

The Cambridge Lover's Knot Tiara

This tiara was created for Queen Mary (it's also called Queen Mary's Lover's Knot Tiara) and inherited by the present Queen. She wore it earlier in her reign before loaning it to Diana, Princess of Wales. The tiara is now back in The Queen's vault and has been loaned to The Duchess of Cambridge, who debuted it in 2015.

Read more at Order of Splendor.

Appearances (all after 2015 on The Duchess of Cambridge; all prior on The Princess of Wales):
23 October 2018: State Visit from The Netherlands, State Banquet 
5 December 2017: Diplomatic Reception
12 July 2017: State Visit from Spain, State Banquet
8 December 2016: Diplomatic Reception 
8 December 2015: Diplomatic Reception
1982: State Visit from the Netherlands
1981, 1991: State Opening of Parliament

The South African Necklace and Bracelet

The South African Necklace and Bracelet

The Queen's 21st birthday gift from South Africa was a long diamond necklace which she later changed to this necklace and bracelet. Her "best diamonds", as she's said to call them, are still worn today - notably in 2010 during the South African state visit.

Read more at Order of Splendor.

Appearances:
2010: State Visit from South Africa
1953: Christmas Broadcast  

Photo: Royal Collection/Queen Elizabeth II

Queen Victoria's Fringe Brooch

Queen Victoria's Fringe Brooch, at the center of the Queen's neckline

Made for Queen Victoria using diamonds from the Sultan of Turkey and an existing royal jewel, the Fringe Brooch includes a central cluster and nine swinging strands. It has passed from queen to queen since then, becoming a particular favorite of The Queen Mother, and passed to The Queen in 2002. She first wore it in 2011, during a state visit from Turkey.

Read more at Order of Splendor.

Appearances (before 2002, on The Queen Mother):
6 June 2014: State Visit from France, D-Day Anniversary Commemoration
2011: State Visit from Turkey, State Banquet 
1973: Wedding of Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips
1963: Wedding of Princess Alexandra and Angus Ogilvy

Photo: PA

The Delhi Carved Emerald Brooch

The Delhi Carved Emerald Brooch

This large emerald hexagon is carved on the front and back (a rose in front, a plant in back), set in silver and gold, and surrounded by brilliant-cut diamonds. Queen Mary was given this brooch by the Ladies of India at the Delhi Durbar, the coronation celebrations of George V and Mary in India in 1911.

Queen Mary

Combined with her Cambridge emeralds, Queen Mary had a magnificent set of emeralds that she wore often. As we know, she was a big fan of playing with her jewels and trying out different configurations. Accordingly, this gem took a turn as the centerpiece of a diamond bandeau tiara (Marie Feodorovna's Sapphire Bandeau, possibly, though she had other diamond bandeau options) for a night out:

Queen Mary

The brooch passed to Queen Elizabeth on Queen Mary's death in 1953, but of course we've only seen her use it in traditional brooch fashion to date.

The Queen didn't use this brooch much (if at all) for a long time after she inherited it. Really only in the past few years have we had the opportunity to see the unusual piece in use, and I find that understandable: you usually can't tell if a brooch is extra heavy on Her Majesty's ensembles, but this one looks like it might be a bit of a trial to wear.

Appearances:
11 May 2013: Royal Windsor Horse Show 
20 January 2013: Church at Sandringham 
2011: State Visit from Turkey, Farewell

Photos: Royal Collection/Queen Elizabeth II/Leslie Field/PA/Polfoto

On Dressing the Queen: The Jubilee Wardrobe

Angela Kelly is the Queen's personal assistant, adviser and curator – in other words, the woman responsible for coordinating the Queen’s outfits (including personally designing and overseeing the production of much of the clothing and hats) and helping select what to wear from that massive jewel collection. Dressing the Queen: the Jubilee Wardrobe is her firsthand account of both the daily business of that amazing job and also the extra special outfits created for the Diamond Jubilee year. I’ve had some requests for a review, so for anyone still on the fence about purchasing it, here you go:

On the clothes: The last part of the book is devoted to the individual outfits from the largest events of the Jubilee year, but before we get there, Ms. Kelly writes extensively about the basic business of dressing the Queen. Every little detail is planned for - the number of things they plan around makes the head spin. What I liked the most was the behind the scenes feel of it all; you really do get to see what the inside of the dressers’ area is like and just how many people are involved in dressing the Queen. And though some of the details of the thought behind the Jubilee outfits were released at the time, there’s still new depth to be revealed here.

On the jewels: I wasn’t expecting too much on the jewel front from the book, but I was pleasantly surprised. There are photographs of several pieces I had never seen before, and professional display photos of things we’ve only seen in use. Ms. Kelly is the curator of the Queen’s jewelry, and she shares a bit about her process – including a new look at how exactly the Grand Duchess Vladimir Tiara is swapped between emeralds and pearls. My sole frustration with the book does come on the jewel front, though: many of these pictured gems aren't captioned or explained. We can see new brooches and other new to us pieces, but the only written explanations are for pieces most jewel watchers already know well. But as it was with The Queen’s Diamonds, so it is here, and detail of this level is probably too much to ask for.

Overall impressions: What I loved about this book is that it feels like a piece of history, and it's almost hard to believe that it really happens today. The sheer scale of this couture operation – a mini fashion house, all for one person – is fascinating! It’s such an enormous contrast to the purposefully low key fashion we see from so many royals today. I was expecting this to be a bit of a reference book, but it is certainly not; it’s very easy to read, conversationally written, and rather romantic in its tone, I would say. (You learn quickly that Ms. Kelly has her dream job and adores her employer.) It’s both rare to get a look inside this side of things and to get that look from someone as close as Ms. Kelly is, and on that level alone I think it’s worth a look if you’re a fan of the Queen (and if you're a jewel fanatic, the new pieces alone will be worth it!).

Have you read the book? What did you think? Were you surprised by anything you read?

Links for purchase:
The Royal Collection Shop
Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.com

Photo: The Royal Collection

Church at Sandringham

The Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, attended church at Sandringham.

Click here to see an article and picture from EDP24.

 First brooch spotting of the new year and it's amethyst! I hope this is foreshadowing for a purple year.

Amethyst Bouquet Brooch

Queen Mary's Button Earrings

Photo:Ian Burt/EDP24