The biggest royal brooch week of the year is here, everybody! We’re kicking things off at Royal Ascot today with a big one: the Cullinan V, sparkling mightily on Queen Camilla.
After the traditional luncheon at Windsor Castle, King Charles III and Queen Camilla rode with their guests in a carriage procession to Ascot Racecourse, where they were present for the first day of this year’s Royal Ascot race meeting. For the occasion, the King mixed lots of patterns and wore a favorite tie pin, which features a royal cypher with the letter A in diamonds and enamel.
Lots of possible royal links to this pin have been suggested over the years. My personal favorite guess at the moment is the tragic King Alexander of the Hellenes, who was a first cousin of the late Prince Philip. The crown resembles the one used for the cyphers of Greek monarchs.
Queen Camilla was elegant in a mint green ensemble for the first day of the races, wearing a Dior coat and a Philip Treacy hat with diamonds and pearls.
With her favorite diamond and pearl drop earrings and her four-row pearl choker with the round diamond clasp, Camilla wore one of the most special brooches in the family collection: the elegant Cullinan V Brooch.
The brooch is set with an 18.8-carat heart-shaped diamond that was produced from the historic Cullinan Diamond. Queen Mary supervised the setting of the diamond in the brooch, with its elegant scrolls and sunray design elements. Queen Camilla wore the diamond for the first time on Coronation Day in May 2023. The brooch was affixed to the front of her coronation crown (which was also made for Queen Mary) in place of the Koh-i-Noor Diamond.
Queen Camilla has also worn the jewel more traditionally as a brooch, including this appearance at a garden party at Buckingham Palace in May 2024.
The Princess Royal was in the second carriage in today’s royal procession, wearing a light blue and white outfit. She accessorized with her gold, sapphire, and pearl drop earrings, as well as the three-row pearl necklace that belonged to her late mother, Queen Elizabeth II. On her jacket, she pinned her usual badges, as well as a spectacular gold, diamond, and pearl floral brooch.
That brooch, remarkably, has been in Princess Anne’s jewelry box for at least 56 years. When she stepped into life as a working royal in 1969, she wore the brooch numerous times. Here, she wears the jewel as she travels from London to Paris to attend a reception at the British Embassy in June 1969. She also wore the same brooch a few days later, in July 1969, for her brother’s investiture as Prince of Wales.
Princess Anne’s family was well-represented at the races on Monday. Her daughter, Zara Tindall, wore blue and pink for the occasion. She added sparkle to her ensemble with a ring and a pair of earrings from Calleija. (She has collaborated on co-branded collections with the company in the past.) We previously saw her wear the earrings, which feature small pink diamonds, at a Buckingham Palace garden party earlier this spring.
Princess Anne’s son, Peter Phillips, rode in the carriage procession today. Notably, he was accompanied in the carriage by his girlfriend, Harriet Sperling. For the occasion, she wore a pair of earrings and a necklace set with marquise-cut diamonds.
There were more royals on hand at the races on Tuesday, too. The Duchess of Edinburgh was present in the Royal Box, wearing a daisy lace dress from Suzannah with diamond circle earrings from Chopard.
Princess Beatrice, pictured here with her husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, wore pink gingham for the races. She accessorized with gold jewelry: rings, bracelets, and (I believe) a pair of earrings.
Before we wrap up our bejeweled survey of the first day of Royal Ascot, I wanted to highlight one more interesting piece. The Duchess of Wellington, who was also in the carriage procession, wore a classic three-row pearl necklace with a lovely gem-set clasp. The Duchess is a cousin of both royals and aristocrats: born Princess Antonia of Prussia, she is both a great-granddaughter of the last Emperor of Germany and a great-granddaughter of the 1st Earl of Iveagh, who was the head of his family’s famous Guinness brewing empire in Ireland.
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