Getty Images
Deadline Contenders Television
On a trip to Northern Ireland with King Charles III on Wednesday, Queen Camilla wore a very notable accessory: a rarely seen brooch that once belong to the late Queen Elizabeth II.
According to the Queen’s Jewel Vault, the new queen was wearing the Emerald and Diamond Celtic Knot Brooch that Queen Elizabeth II wore only occasionally during her reign. She notably donned the bauble during an official state banquet given in honor of Irish President Michael D. Higgins in 2014.
The brooch made another public appearance in 2015 when Queen Elizabeth wore it on a trip to Malta. The design features what appears to be a cabochon emerald encircled by the traditional three-pointed Celtic knot design set with diamonds. The blog notes that it also appears to match a brooch once worn by Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth II’s grandmother, in her early years—and may have been among the jewels gifted to her for her wedding in 1893. Of course, Queen Elizabeth II had a large collection of brooches—including the floral Cartier brooch she received for her 19th birthday and the Richmond brooch (another one inherited from Queen Mary) that she wore to Prince Philip’s funeral.
The new king and queen traveled to Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland on Wednesday to open the new Coronation Garden, their first visit to the country since the coronation. Their majesties met the designers of the Garden and representatives of community and charitable organizations, to learn how the garden marks the beginning of a new green initiative for the Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council.
As Robb Report covered, Camilla’s title upgrade from “Queen Consort” to “Queen” was confirmed in the new coronation invites sent out a few weeks ago. This was after she wore more of Elizabeth II’s jewels—a diamond necklace and the Greville tiara—at a state banquet in Berlin.
Camilla’s coronation gown will officially be displayed at Buckingham Palace this summer. British designer Bruce Oldfield created the custom white dress with silver and gold embroidery for the ceremony at Westminster Abbey. “These pieces, on the actual gown, were between 4 and 6 centimeters tall….the detail is amazing,” Oldfield wrote in an Instagram post.