Royal Maundy Service

The Queen attended the Royal Maundy Service at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.

Royal Family

Swanky in fur trim this year, but - gasp! - that big fur collar means there's no room for a brooch. I can get over it thanks to this lovely strong blue, and I do love a fur trim...

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...although fur on the edge of the hat brim is maybe just a teeeeeeeensy bit like we were having too much fun with the hot glue gun. Maybe around the base of the hat instead?

Royal Family

Anyway, a brooch isn't the only staple missing from today's service: The Duke of Edinburgh was expected to attend but had to miss it due to a hip problem. (He was also reported to have missed the recent Grenadier Guards ceremony due to feeling under the weather.) Hopefully he'll feel better soon!

Queen Mary's Button Earrings

Three Strand Pearl Necklace

Audiences at Windsor Castle

The Queen held audiences at Windsor Castle.

A post shared by @thedailyroyals on Mar 28, 2018 at 2:02pm PDT

Well, this is all pleasingly coordinated, from queen to room and even to this guest (in white, the President of Estonia; also received today was the Governor-General of Barbados). The Gold Lace Work Brooch is never a favorite of mine, but the gold and rubies are nice with this dress.

Gold Lace Work Brooch

Queen Mary's Button Earrings

Three Strand Pearl Necklace

Gold Watch

Engagement and Wedding Rings

HMS Ocean Decommissioning Ceremony

The Queen, Lady Sponsor, attended the decommissioning ceremony of the helicopter carrier HMS Ocean at HMNB Devonport.

Royal Family

Interesting that The Queen chose not to wear her HMS Ocean Brooch today; she received it in 2015, and it has only been worn on one occasion. Instead, the diamond Palm Leaf adorned this pink outfit (which I enjoy, possibly minus the button situation). As always, though, she is carefully coordinated for contrast in a sea of uniforms.

Royal Navy/MOD Crown Copyright 2018

Queen Mother's Palm Leaf Brooch

Queen Mary's Button Earrings

Three Strand Pearl Necklace

Grenadier Guards Ceremony for The Duke of York

The Queen attended a parade at St. George's Hall, Windsor, to mark the appointment of The Duke of York as Colonel of the Grenadier Guards.

Sgt Paul Randall RLC/MOD Crown Copyright 2018

The Duke of York is taking over from The Duke of Edinburgh as Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, an appointment The Queen approved in December and which was marked today as he inspected their parade and took the Royal Salute.

Antoinette Eugster

The Queen's own ties to the Grenadier Guards run deep; she was appointed their Colonel on her sixteenth birthday. So it's no surprise that a quick zoom reveals she wore their badge, distinctive with its blue Garter surround, on her pink suit.

Antoinette Eugster

Grenadier Guards Badge

Queen Mary's Button Earrings

Three Strand Pearl Necklace

The Duchess of Cornwall Debuts Her Plaisterers Badge

The Duchess of Cornwall attended a reception to mark The National Literacy Trust's 25th anniversary at Plaisterers' Hall, London.

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We see a lot of gifts handed out around here, but we don't always get to see them worn, which is why I loved this: I believe this is the debut of The Duchess of Cornwall's Worshipful Company of Plaisterers badge, given to her in 2015. She is an Honorary Liveryman of the company; this Literacy Trust event was held at Plaisterers' Hall. You can read more about the badge and see a close up in our original entry here.

Clarence House

Camilla picked up the blues from the badge with her earrings, turquoise and diamond jewels from her personal collection. A fabulous contrast to her dark jacket and skirt from Anna Valentine!

Royal Academy of Arts Visit

The Queen visited the Royal Academy of Arts to officially open the Burlington Gardens building and mark the Academy's 250th anniversary.

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Oh, I like this orange ensemble way better on the first day of Spring than I did on Christmas Day. She really pops against the gallery colors, no?

Royal Family

 
Today also brings us another delayed 2018 debut for a perennial brooch fave: Queen Victoria's Bow, making its first appearance since November.

Royal Family

Queen Victoria's Bow Brooch

Queen Mary's Button Earrings

Three Strand Pearl Necklace

Audience at Buckingham Palace

The Queen received the Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island, Antoinette Perry, for a private audience at Buckingham Palace.

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Always interesting when a brooch with a colored stone is paired with a different color - rubies with green, here - but then again this brooch is barely ruby to start with.

Gold Trellis Brooch

Queen Mary's Button Earrings

Three Strand Pearl Necklace

Gold Watch

Engagement and Wedding Rings

Audiences at Buckingham Palace

The Queen held audiences at Buckingham Palace.

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Can you believe we haven't seen the popular Aqua Clips since October? Her Maj is delighted to welcome them back.

Aquamarine Clip Brooches

Queen Mary's Button Earrings

Three Strand Pearl Necklace

Gold Watch

Engagement and Wedding Rings

Commonwealth Day

The Queen and other members of the Royal Family attended the Commonwealth Day observance service at Westminster Abbey.

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This is the third year running Her Maj has sported gifts from Down Under for the Commonwealth Day Service!  In 2016, it was the Opal Spray Brooch; last year, it was the Australian Wattle Brooch. Australia, take a bow.

Westminster Abbey

This year brings us the Australian Hibiscus Brooch, formerly in the collection of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. We haven't seen this diamond and ruby brooch since 2012 and I did not realize how much I have missed it since right this second. It's absolutely gorgeous, no?

Australian Hibiscus Brooch

Queen Mary's Button Earrings

Three Strand Pearl Necklace

The Queen didn't attend the evening reception hosted by the Commonwealth Secretary-General again this year (The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall, and The Duke of Cambridge did), so that wrapped up her Commonwealth Day. 

 The rest of the family will be covered at the other blog tomorrow.

Aga Khan Diamond Jubilee Dinner

The Queen hosted a private dinner at Windsor Castle in honor of the Diamond Jubilee of Prince Karim Aga Khan IV's leadership as Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslim Community. The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall, The Duke of York, The Princess Royal, and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence were also present.

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For more: Zimbio gallery.

This is a surprise, photos from something billed as a private dinner! It feels like it's been forever since we've seen Her Maj all gussied up in her evening best, and even longer since she's worn an evening gown with this much color. This is a treat.

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This colorful gown gets the full diamond treatment, including necklace, earrings, bracelet, watch, and the array of diamond rings she often wears for evening events. (Earrings are bracelet are particularly tough to make out, but my best guesses are below.) Any day with the King Khalid Diamond Necklace is a good day in my book.

King Khalid Diamond Necklace
Queen Mary's Diamond Collet Earrings

Baguette and Brilliant Bracelet

Diamond Evening Watch

Engagement and Wedding Rings 
 Diamond Rings

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We even get some glitter from The Duchess of Cornwall out of the deal. Dressed in an elegant black velvet gown, she too opted for the full diamond treatment.

Pear Drop Diamond Demi-Parure, Necklace and Earrings

Visit from the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia

The Queen received Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, at Buckingham Palace for a private audience. The Queen also hosted a luncheon for the Crown Prince, who is in the United Kingdom on an official visit.

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I'm not mad at more purple and another appearance for the Women of Hampshire Brooch, not mad at all.

Women of Hampshire Brooch

Queen Mary's Button Earrings

Three Strand Pearl Necklace

Gold Watch

Engagement and Wedding Rings

International Maritime Organization Anniversary

The Queen visited the International Maritime Organization in London to celebrate its 70th anniversary.

Royal Family

For more: Zimbio gallery.

Well, this is weird. The Amethyst Bouquet Brooch went away for a while - no appearances between March 2014 and October 2015 - and when it returned, I noted that the design had been changed. Original and new versions of the same brooch...or so I thought. Some of you insisted that it wasn't a redesign, there were two different brooches. That never made much sense to me. But, well, here we are:

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This is the "original" brooch. It has a round and a pear-shape amethyst at the top instead of the two pear-shapes of the "new" version, along with other differences. And it's back again in 2018. So...two, apparently? Must be two, since the "revised" version was last seen in December 2017, not long ago. That obviously raises a lot of other questions (how long have there been two? Always, or just recently? And if recently...why?), none of which we have the answers to at this point. She's certainly keeping us on our toes, that's all I know.

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Amethyst Bouquet Brooch

Queen Mary's Button Earrings

Three Strand Pearl Necklace

For those with particular opinions about how I catalog and document things on this blog: At least at this time, I'm not going to designate two different Amethyst Bouquet Brooches with different names and different entries, because two brooches so similar are bound to create situations where we can't tell which is which. So, like pearl necklaces and Queen Victoria's Bow Brooches, I'm keeping everything lumped together in the same entry with the same name. At least at this time; this brooch entry has already been updated more times than I care to remember, so as with everything else around here, nothing's permanent.

And another P.S.: The Queen was spotted driving herself to church in Windsor on February 25th, not covered independently here because a brooch wasn't visible.