Queen Camilla Wears the Queen Mother’s Sapphire Butterfly in York

Queen Camilla made her way south from Balmoral to Yorkshire last week to attend a favorite racing festival—and her choice of brooch for the day was a fitting tribute to a former Duchess of York.

On Wednesday, Queen Camilla arrived at York Racecourse to attend the first day of the Ebor Festival, one of the last major race meetings of the flat season in Britain. She was on hand for the presentation of the trophy following the running of the Juddmonte International Stakes, one of the UK’s annual Group 1 races. This year, Andrew Balding’s Item won the race with the Irish jockey Colin Keane.

For her day at the racecourse, Queen Camilla wore one of her favorite light blue dresses from Anna Valentine, paired with a Philip Treacy hat and a Dior handbag.

She wore her favorite earrings—diamond floral studs with round white pearl drops—and two pins: her Jockey Club badge and the Queen Mother’s Sapphire and Diamond Butterfly Brooch.

Here’s an excellent closeup of the brooch from Wednesday, thanks to the keen eye of the photographer Chris Jackson. As I wrote over at Hidden Gems back in July, the jewel originally belonged to the King’s grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. (A very appropriate choice for an event in York, as Elizabeth was Duchess of York from 1923 until 1936.)

In February 1977, Elizabeth made a visit to the Birmingham International Spring Fair. The organizers of the fair, Trade Promotion Services Ltd. and the British Hardware Promotion Council Ltd., presented her with the sapphire and diamond butterfly brooch, which was described by the Birmingham Evening Mail as having a “Victorian design.” The piece is made of white and yellow gold and set with diamonds and sapphires.

The brooch has become a firm favorite of Queen Camilla. In July, Buckingham Palace released a new portrait of Camilla wearing the brooch to mark her 79th birthday. The picture was taken by Chris Jackson at Hillsborough Castle during the royal visit to Northern Ireland in May.

With the portrait, the palace shared a bit about the brooch’s provenance: “Her Majesty is wearing a diamond and sapphire butterfly brooch. It was presented to Queen Elizabeth II at the Birmingham Spring Fair in February 1977.” The caption, though, was in error. The palace appears to have confused their Queens Elizabeth, as it was indeed the Queen Mother who received the brooch in Birmingham in 1977.

As usual, Queen Camilla finished off the look with her engagement and wedding ring, as well as several bracelets. You’ll spot her blue agate Alhambra bracelet on her right wrist. It’s part of her extensive collection of jewelry from Van Cleef & Arpels. (Do you think she’s secretly going to pop in to the big exhibition over in Vienna soon?)