King Charles III and Queen Camilla arrived in Ottawa on Monday for the start of the first visit to Canada of his reign, with a special royal diamond maple leaf accompanying them on the journey.
On Monday, King Charles III and Queen Camilla were welcomed to Canada at Ottawa Airport, where they were greeted by Prime Minister Mark Carney, Governor General Mary Simon, First Nations leaders, and other dignitaries. They immediately jumped in to a pair of planned events: a community gathering at Lansdowne Park and a tree planting ceremony at Rideau Hall.
The King wore a gray suit with a blue shirt and a red tie and pocket square for his arrival in Canada. He had a flower in his lapel, and he wore a tiny pin that is part of the insignia of the Order of Canada.
Queen Camilla wore pink for the Canadian arrival ceremony, along with some familiar jewels—her diamond and pearl drop earrings, and the gold necklace engraved with the initials of her grandchildren—and a very special diamond brooch with almost a century of Canadian royal history.
The Diamond Maple Leaf Brooch was made in the late 1930s by Asprey. The diamond and platinum jewel was acquired by King George VI as a present for his wife, Queen Elizabeth, to commemorate their forthcoming royal tour of Canada. Thrilled with the gift, Elizabeth wore the brooch for the first time as they crossed the Atlantic in May 1939, and many times on the marathon tour that followed.
When war broke out that autumn, the brooch became one of the important national symbols worn by Queen Elizabeth during the conflict. She wore the patriotic brooch to tour munitions factories and inspect troops. When First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt traveled to London in October 1942, Elizabeth wore the brooch during her visit. She continued to wear the brooch regularly throughout her very long life, even making an appearance in the jewel when she received the Order of Canada at the age of 100.
Queen Elizabeth loaned the brooch to her daughter, Princess Elizabeth, for her first visit to Canada in 1951, but Elizabeth II didn’t inherit the brooch personally until her mother’s passing in 2002. She wore the brooch very often in the two decades that followed, for events both in Canada and in Britain. Here, she wears the brooch on Canada Day in Ottawa in 2010.
Loaning the brooch to royal ladies making visits to Canada has been a tradition for more than half a century. After she inherited the brooch, Queen Elizabeth II followed in her mother’s footsteps by loaning the brooch on multiple occasions to the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duchess of Cambridge.
After King Charles III’s accession in September 2022, the brooch was part of the magnificent jewelry collection that became part of his inheritance. His wife, Queen Camilla, wore the brooch for the first time during his reign in 2024, when she posed for an official portrait as Queen of Canada. Now, she has worn the brooch on Canadian soil as Queen of Canada for the first time.
Delightfully, one of our lovely readers, Ranae, was on the ground at Rideau Hall for the tree planting ceremony earlier today. She managed to snap a few great photos of the King and Queen during their walkabout. This one of King Charles offers another view of his Order of Canada pin, plus his gold signet ring.
And here’s her view of Queen Camilla, with the Maple Leaf Brooch sparkling mightily on her pink coat dress. There’s the possibility we’ll see even more sparkle tomorrow, when King Charles delivers the Speech from the Throne during the Opening of Parliament. Which brooch are you hoping to see Queen Camilla wear for the event (and the wreath-laying ceremony that follows)?
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