An Elegant Brooch for Queen Camilla to Honor the Work of the Anne Frank Trust

On Holocaust Memorial Day, we take a look at an appearance by Queen Camilla last week in support of one of her patronages, the Anne Frank Trust.

On Thursday, Queen Camilla attended a reception at the London Hilton in Park Lane, given by the Anne Frank Trust UK. “Learning from Anne Frank and the Holocaust, we empower young people aged 9 to 15 to challenge all forms of prejudice,” the organization explains, adding, “Our core programme covers antisemitism and all forms of prejudice, both in the Holocaust and today. We train young people as peer educators, so they share their learning across their school community.”

During the reception, which was attended by 600 people, Queen Camilla met with Holocaust survivors, children working with the Anne Frank Trust program in their schools, and supporters of the organization’s mission. The Queen became the royal patron of the Trust in 2024.

Queen Camilla also joined survivors in lighting candles of remembrance during the reception, and she delivered remarks as well. “This year we commemorate the 80th anniversary of the death of Anne Frank in Bergen Belsen, at the age of 15. Had she lived, she would be 95,” she noted.

She quoted a Holocaust survivor, Marian Turski, who warned about the dangers of complacency. Camilla added, “Today, more than ever, with levels of antisemitism at their highest level for a generation; and disturbing rises in Islamophobia and other forms of racism and prejudice, we must heed this warning. The deadly seeds of the Holocaust were sown at first in small acts of exclusion, of aggression and of discrimination towards those who had previously been neighbors and friends. Over a terrifying short period of time, those seeds took root through the complacency of which we can all be guilty: of turning away from injustice, of ignoring that which we know to be wrong, of thinking that someone else will do what’s needed–and of remaining silent.”

For the ceremony, Queen Camilla wore blue, which is identified as an important color in Jewish religious texts. (You’ll note that the Anne Frank Trust uses blue and white colors extensively as well.) She carried the blue and white theme through to her jewelry, wearing a small diamond bar brooch with two blue arches (or perhaps horseshoes, given the family’s love for equestrianism) in its design.

Here’s a side view that offers a better look at the texture of the piece. I believe we’ve seen Camilla wear this brooch before, though I’m having a difficult time placing it. I don’t think we know anything specific about its provenance, but it looks to me like an early twentieth-century piece—very much like the little brooches that the Queen Mother liked to pin to her hats in her early days as Duchess of York.

Today, royals from across Europe will attend a service marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Among those expected to attend are King Charles III of the United Kingdom, King Frederik X and Queen Mary of Denmark, King Willem-Alexander, Queen Máxima, and Princess Amalia of the Netherlands, and Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden. We’ll continue our coverage of the jewels of remembrance from this occasion here tomorrow.