Queenly Emeralds and Butterflies for a Ceremonial Tree Planting in Windsor

Yesterday, a pair of royal couples gathered at Windsor for a great royal tradition—a ceremonial tree planting—that celebrated a coronation anniversary and remembered shared family members of the past.

King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden are currently in England, and on Thursday, they visited King Charles III and Queen Camilla at Windsor Castle. There, the two couples helped to plant a Swedish oak tree, which was a gift from the Swedish monarch to mark Charles and Camilla’s coronation in May 2023. (King Carl Gustaf attended the ceremony with his elder daughter, Crown Princess Victoria.) The tree has been nurtured at Solliden Palace, the Swedish royal family’s summer residence on the island of Öland. The two kings took care of the ceremonial shoveling, and then the two Queens sprinkled droplets on the tree from a pair of watering cans.

There are some fascinating layers of royal history bound up in this ceremonial tree planting. Visiting monarchs have been planting trees on the grounds of Windsor Castle for many years. Demonstrating the sheer depths of the royal archives, Charles and Carl Gustaf used a special spade to plant the new oak tree. As the inscription shows, it was previously used when Carl Gustaf’s great-grandfather, King Gustaf V of Sweden, planted an oak tree in Windsor on November 19, 1908.

The 1908 tree planting took place during a state visit from King Gustaf V and Queen Victoria of Sweden to King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom. This excerpt from a Times report on the visit notes, “Before lunch, the King of Sweden planted an oak sapling close to those planted by previous visiting Sovereigns.” After the oak tree was planted, the royals gathered for lunch at Cranbourne Tower in Windsor Great Park.

By the time of the 1908 visit, the Swedish and British royal families had merged into one extended royal family. In June 1905, Princess Margaret of Connaught, a niece of King Edward VII, married the future King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden. They had five children together, including Queen Ingrid of Denmark and Prince Gustaf Adolf, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden’s father. Sadly, Margaret died when she was just 38 on May 1, 1920. Yesterday’s tree planting took place on the 105th anniversary of Margaret’s passing.

For the planting ceremony, Queen Camilla and Queen Silvia chose ensembles featuring vibrant colors. Camilla repeated the emerald green dress she wore for a reception during the recent state visit to Italy, while Silvia wore a purple tweed jacket and black trousers. (Her cane and brace are the result of a recent foot surgery.)

Queen Silvia added even more color with her choice of jewelry, wearing gold earrings with amethyst drops and a lovely butterfly brooch set with diamonds, rubies, and emeralds.

Queen Camilla added additional sparkle with her gold and diamond coronation earrings and the emerald cabochon knot brooch that she also paired with the dress in Italy. The brooch, a legacy from Queen Mary, is thought to have been Mary’s wedding present from Emperor Nicholas II of Russia.