On Thursday, Queen Camilla was joined by a pair of royal duchesses in velvet and diamonds for a special black-tie military dinner at the Guildhall in London.
Queen Camilla arrived at the Guildhall on Thursday evening for the biennial Rifles Awards Dinner. The gala event, last held in December 2023, celebrates achievements by members of Britain’s largest infantry regiment. Queen Camilla has been the Colonel-in-Chief of the regiment since the summer of 2020, when she took over the role from the late Prince Philip.
For Thursday’s awards dinner, during which she delivered remarks, Camilla wore a bright red velvet evening gown (previously worn for both the South Korean and Qatari state banquets) with diamonds and rubies. Just as she did for the 2023 awards dinner, she wore the diamond serpent necklace, made by Van Cleef & Arpels, that belonged to her grandmother. She paired the necklace with diamond and ruby earrings from her personal collection. They appear to be part of a suite that also includes a large diamond and ruby necklace, which was reportedly a gift from King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.
Camilla also wore a gem-set brooch in the shape of the cap badge of The Rifles. The diamonds and emeralds set in the jewel really sparkle beautifully in this photograph from Thursday’s dinner.
As usual, Camilla finished off the jewelry look with bracelets, wearing several stacked bracelets (including a Van Cleef & Arpels Alhambra bracelet) on her right wrist and a diamond tennis bracelet on her left.
Queen Camilla was joined at the dinner by her sister-in-law, the Duchess of Edinburgh, who is the royal colonel of the regiment’s 5th Battalion. She wore a dark blue velvet evening gown with a sparkly belt and clutch bag.
Sophie wore her Rifles brooch with pavé-set diamond earrings and a sparkling necklace. I’m not sure whether the necklace is set with diamonds or crystals, because she has worn a similar faux diamond necklace from Heavenly Necklaces in the past.
The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, who are the royal colonels of the regiment’s 6th and 7th Battalions, rounded out the royal party at the awards dinner. The Duke was elegant in black tie while the Duchess wore a dark green velvet evening coat with a standing collar over a green satin gown.
Birgitte accessorized with classic heirloom jewels from her collection, all of which are legacies from her late mother-in-law, Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester. The diamond and emerald drop earrings and the emerald and pearl necklaces were wedding gifts from Alice’s parents-in-law, King George V and Queen Mary, in 1935.
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