17 October 2018

RAF Club 100th Anniversary and Audiences at Buckingham Palace

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.

Embed from Getty Images

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."

Royal Family

The portrait also includes all The Queen's daily essentials: the Three Strand Pearl Necklace, Queen Mary's Button Earrings, the Gold Watch, the Engagement and Wedding Rings, the black Launer handbag. And the brooch, of course: The Queen Mother's Aquamarine Art Deco Brooch.



October 16: The Queen held audiences at Buckingham Palace.
Embed from Getty Images

Thank goodness for pendants; otherwise, we'd miss out on spotting the Round Cambridge Emerald Brooch for the first time this year.

Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , ,

13 October 2018

Princess Eugenie Wears One of Queen Victoria's Wheat-Ear Brooches

For the private evening dinner held after the wedding of Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank, the bride debuted another loan from her grandmother, The Queen.

Alex Bramall/Royal Family

The catch is that we can't actually see the loan. The Royal Family's press release was kind enough to let us know anyway that Eugenie wore one of Queen Victoria's Wheat-Ear Brooches in her hair:

"Princess Eugenie also wore a hair slide belonging to Her Majesty The Queen. Queen Victoria’s Wheat-Ear Brooches were originally commissioned by William IV in 1830 for Queen Adelaide. They were passed down to Queen Victoria in 1837, and eventually to The Queen in 1952. Her Majesty has worn them as both hair slides and brooches."

I believe this is the first time The Queen has loaned out any of the Wheat-Ear Brooches. It's a significant loan, since these are heirlooms of the Crown and are some of the oldest pieces The Queen still wears. It's lovely to see them in use by a new generation of Queen Victoria's descendants. (Or at least to know one is in use, if not exactly to see.)
Posted by at
Labels: ,

The Greville Emerald Kokoshnik Tiara

The Greville Emerald Kokoshnik Tiara
Boucheron

Boucheron made this tiara for Mrs. Greville in 1919, featuring brilliant and rose cut diamonds pavé-set in platinum with a central 93.70 carat emerald and six emeralds on either side. It was left to Queen Elizabeth (later The Queen Mother) as part of the Greville bequest in 1942. The tiara later passed to The Queen and it remained unworn by the Royal Family until 2018, when it was loaned to Princess Eugenie for her wedding day.

Read about the tiara's full story here, at Order of Splendor.

Appearances: 
12 October 2018: The Wedding of Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , ,

12 October 2018

The Wedding of Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank

The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, and other Members of The Royal Family attended the wedding of Princess Eugenie of York and Mr. Jack Brooksbank at St. George's Chapel, Windsor.
Embed from Getty Images

The Queen picked a Stewart Parvin ice blue cashmere coat with diamanté buttons and a coordinating blue, peach and gold dress for her granddaughter's wedding today, paired with a matching Angela Kelly hat. Plus a very dapper Duke by her side, of course!

Royal Family screencap

While I always hope big family occasions will bring us something rare in the brooch department, you also can't really complain about an 18.8 carat Cullinan chip. And the Cullinan V was certainly sparkling like crazy in the lights today. Yummy. (The earrings are looking a little bigger to me - will need to seek out some more pics later for confirmation.)

Three Strand Pearl Necklace


Royal Family screencap

Another wedding also brings about another surprise tiara loan! The Queen loaned Princess Eugenie the Greville Emerald Kokoshnik Tiara, a piece which was obviously part of the Greville bequest but which has not been seen on a member of the Royal Family prior to today. It's one many have been waiting anxiously to see!

This is the first time we've seen Eugenie in a tiara and I believe the first time we've seen her wear jewelry loaned from her grandmother. The earrings were a gift from the groom. The green details are stunning on her!

Embed from Getty Images

We also had a loan on The Duchess of Cambridge, who wore The Queen's Diamond Pendant Earrings again.

Click here for complete wedding coverage at Order of Splendor.

P.S.: The Queen did have an investiture yesterday. Of course, I've yet to see evidence of the brooch, so I didn't cover it separately.
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , ,

01 September 2018

The Braemar Gathering

The Queen, accompanied by The Duke of Rothesay, The Princess Royal, and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, attended the annual Braemar Gathering in Scotland.
Embed from Getty Images

Ah yes, the jolliest occasion of the Scottish summer break is upon us! And so is our annual sighting of the Braemar Feather Brooch.

Embed from Getty Images

We're still keeping up with all the rest of the Balmoral appearances on the big Balmoral Holiday post, of course. Her Maj's theme for the summer is blue, have you noticed?

Posted by at
Labels: , , , , ,

06 August 2018

Balmoral Holiday, 2018

By Nick Bramhall from Aberdeen, UK - Balmoral Castle Uploaded by Kurpfalzbilder.de, CC BY-SA 2.0

The Queen started her annual summer Balmoral holiday on July 19. She stayed at Craigowan Lodge on the Balmoral estate while the castle was still open to the public as she usually does, followed by taking up official residence at the castle itself on August 6. Her break usually ends around late September/early October with an engagement or two in Scotland before heading south.

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

***********

October 7: NEW! As she wraps up her Balmoral break, Her Maj jumps straight from summer to winter with her fur-trimmed red outfit. Both the Gold Trellis Brooch and Lady Sarah Chatto accompanied her to church today.

 September 30: The Sapphire and Diamond Grapes Brooch shows up at church as blue continues to be the color of the summer.

September 23: The Diamond and Pearl Navette Brooch makes another church appearance. In other Balmoral news, The Queen was spotted checking in on some horses, and unfortunately one of her ladies-in-waiting, The Hon. Mary Morrison, broke her ankle in a fall at the castle. [Express, Hello]

 September 16: Another church brooch that needs no debate: the Singapore Peranakan Diamond Jubilee Brooch.

 September 9: Church again and hmm, interesting, this kinda looks like a badge to me. We'll see what you think. Here's a gallery for your investigation. [Zimbio]
Embed from Getty Images

 September 2: The Cullinan V Brooch stands out beautifully on this navy coat for another Sunday at Crathie Kirk.
Embed from Getty Images

 September 1: The annual Braemar Gathering has its own post right here.


August 26: More members of the Royal Family have arrived at Balmoral. The Queen, wearing the Pearl Navette Brooch, was joined in her car for church by The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The Duchess wore the Bahrain Pearl Drop Earrings on loan from The Queen. [Evening Standard]
 

August 19: A good effort from the Pearl Trefoil Brooch here, trying to stand out on this beige tweed for another Sunday church outing.

 August 12: It's about time for a thistle brooch. The Three Thistle Brooch was worn to church at Balmoral. Princess Beatrice accompanied her grandmother, wearing a fabulous Garbo hat. [People, Sun]

August 6: The Queen starts her official residency at Balmoral Castle with the traditional welcome ceremony. This always includes inspecting a Royal Guard, so of course the Royal Regiment of Scotland Badge was the pick.
Embed from Getty Images

August 5: Church at Balmoral, and if history's an indication, not the first time this summer the brooch will be tough to identify.


July 29: Church at Crathie Kirk near the Balmoral estate, her place of worship while in residence, wearing the Jardine Star Brooch. [Hello]
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , ,

14 July 2018

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.

Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)