Queen Camilla Wears Antique Diamonds and Rubies in Scotland

King Charles III spent the third anniversary of his mother’s death and his accession privately at Balmoral yesterday, but on Sunday, he attended a church service nearby with Queen Camilla.

On Sunday, King Charles III and Queen Camilla put on their kilts and tartan to attend a service at Crathie Kirk near Balmoral Castle. The royal family has worshiped in the small church since the nineteenth century, and the building contains numerous memorials to members of the family. After the late Queen’s death at Balmoral three years ago, the royal family attended a prayer service in the church before heading out to participate in more public memorial and funeral ceremonies.

Queen Camilla arrived wearing a green jacket with tartan accents and a pleated tartan skirt. She wore a black armband just above her left elbow, because the family is in mourning for the Duchess of Kent until her funeral in London next Tuesday.

With her red and green outfit, Camilla wore jewels set with diamonds, red gemstones, and green enamel. Her earrings feature red gemstones (rubies?) surrounded by a diamond halo, and with another diamond set as a center stone.

On her jacket, Camilla pinned an antique brooch that has been part of her collection for a little over a year. The brooch, a gift from King Charles, was acquired from Wartski.

Here’s an image of the brooch from the Wartski website. They noted that the brooch was made in England around 1880, and they described it as made “of an undulating square of old cut diamonds interwoven with two ribbon like, electric green enamelled gold strands.” Appropriately for a gift from a husband to his wife, they elaborated, “The interweaving of two unbroken strands is symbolic of two lives which have been joined together by love.”

We first saw Queen Camilla wear the brooch for events in January 2024, including the opening of the Maggie’s Royal Free cancer support center in London, leading many to guess that the jewel may have been a Christmas gift.

So far, Camilla has primarily worn the brooch on clothing in shades of green and blue. In March 2024, she brought it along on a trip to Northern Ireland, wearing it for a Queen’s Reading Room reception at Hillsborough Castle in Belfast.

Here’s one more look at Camilla’s brooch, earrings, and bracelets at Sunday’s church service. The bracelets visible in this photograph both come from Van Cleef & Arpels: a blue agate Alhambra bracelet and a red carnelian heart bracelet.