24 July 2019

Audiences at Buckingham Palace

The Queen held an audience with Theresa May, who tendered her resignation as Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury. The Queen next received Boris Johnson and requested him to form a new Administration. He is the 14th Prime Minister of Her Majesty's reign.
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The Queen should have started her Balmoral break last week but she was held back due to, you know, this whole situation. Buckingham Palace is already open to the public for the summer, so she briefly came in from Windsor Castle for the prime minister switcheroo and then left the palace immediately after.

17 July 2019

Viewing the Buckingham Palace Summer Opening Exhibition

The Queen, accompanied by The Duke of York, viewed an exhibition marking the 200th anniversary of Queen Victoria's birth ahead of Buckingham Palace's summer opening.
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No brooch, and for a Queen Victoria-related event?! Color me surprised she didn't at least throw on Queen Victoria's Bow Brooch or something.

16 July 2019

Presentation of The Queen’s Truncheon

The Queen inspected The Queen's Truncheon, the ceremonial staff of the Royal Gurkha Rifles, during an audience at Buckingham Palace.
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It's already our third sighting of the Round Cambridge Emerald Brooch for the year, think it has a shot at making the year's most popular brooch list? (It did back in 2015.)

11 July 2019

Audiences at Buckingham Palace

The Queen held audiences at Buckingham Palace.
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Great brooch-to-dress match here, no?

10 July 2019

Audience at Buckingham Palace

The Queen held an audience at Buckingham Palace.
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There's juuuuuuust enough brooch peeking out here to call it the Pearl Trefoil.

09 July 2019

Visit to Cambridge and Dersingham Village Center Opening

The Queen visited Cambridge for a day of engagements at the National Institute of Agricultural Botany, Queen’s College, and Royal Papworth Hospital.
Royal Family

This visit has everything: a bonus royal, a dress showcase, a little brooch tidbit, and a monarch in sassy mode. The bonus royal is of course The Duchess of Gloucester, who joined in for visit to Royal Papworth Hospital because she is the hospital's Patron.

Royal Family

For those of you who like seeing the matching dresses underneath the coats, this visit offers you a good look at a bold take on her usual florals.

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A brooch tidbit! The press notes this brooch is the "Singapore Shield" gold brooch, so now we know what the palace calls it. I've been calling it the Singapore Peranakan Diamond Jubilee Brooch around here.



And finally, some 93-year-old sass: Offered assistance with a ceremonial tree planting, Her Maj replied, "No, no, I'm not too old to plant a tree."

Three Strand Pearl Necklace


July 5: The Queen officially opened the new village center in Dersingham, West Norfolk.

While at Sandringham this weekend, The Queen made what was billed as a private visit to Dersingham for an engagement. You can see a couple pictures here at Lynn News; the appearance marks the return of the Aquamarine Clips - favorites (former favorites?) that have been absent since March 2018.

Aquamarine Clip Brooches

04 July 2019

Holyrood Week: Gorgie City Farm Visit

The Queen visited Gorgie City Farm, Edinburgh, on the final day of Holyrood Week.
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Here's The Queen taking a stroll with Olive the duck, as one does, while sporting two unusual things: 1) a very speedy outfit repeat (we just saw this one at Ascot), and 2) the two smaller Nizam of Hyderabad Rose Brooches! Although we regularly see their larger rose brooch counterpart, this is the first time we've seen the smaller ones since this site began keeping track in 2012. A great way to end this year's week of Scottish engagements.

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03 July 2019

The Pink and Black Paisley Brooch

The Queen wearing the Pink and Black Paisley Brooch
Royal Family

For her annual garden party at the Palace of Holyroodhouse today, The Queen appears to have delivered the public debut of an unusual brooch. The piece is created from seven curved teardrop or paisley shapes (paisley using the Persian bota or boteh motif), accented with diamonds or other white stones on the edges.

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The paisley shapes alternate in black and pink opaque stones. The black could be onyx (in various photos from the garden party, the reflection off the shapes can make some of the black paisleys appear to be blue); the pink could be conch pearl or coral or another material. Onyx, conch pearl or coral, and diamond is a combination of stones that brings to mind designs from the Art Deco era.

Royal Family

This is a bold piece with a strong graphic impression and high contrast between the stone colors, making it an immediate standout in The Queen's large brooch collection. As of this writing, the piece has no confirmed provenance or history.

Appearances:
3 July 2019: Holyrood Week: Garden Party 

Holyrood Week: Audiences and Garden Party

The Queen, accompanied by The Duke of York, The Earl of Forfar, and The Princess Royal, attended a Garden Party at the Palace of Holyroodhouse.
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Guess what time it is, folks: NEW BROOCH TIME! (New to me, at least.) This is the first "new" piece we've seen this year.

Duke of York

It's an unusual pick for The Queen, with black and pink opaque stones in paisley shapes accented by what appear to be diamonds. I don't really know any information about it at this time, but you can click the brooch name below for more thoughts.



The Queen received the First Minister of Scotland and the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament for audiences at the Palace of Holyroodhouse.
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It's not just a NEW brooch day, it's also a TWO brooch day, as Her Maj sported something different for her audiences earlier in the day. I very nearly thought this one was also a new brooch, thanks to a dress pattern that practically erases the diamonds in this brooch. It turned out to be Queen Mary's Russian Brooch - but worn with the sapphire on top, rather than the sapphire on the bottom as we usually see The Queen wear it.