After the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Consort Camilla gained full access to all the royal jewels. Within days, Angela Kelly, the QEII’s dresser (and keeper of the royal jewels), was thrown out and all the locks were changed. Camilla put her dresser in charge of the royal jewelry and Camilla has been happily displaying some of the special pieces for the past year and a half. QEII had her favorite pieces and, in her later years, she would constantly cycle through a few dozen pieces, while leaving her least favorite pieces at the back of the jewelry safe. Not Camilla – Camilla wants to show off every piece, even the necklaces, brooches and tiaras that were closely associated with QEII. From the Times:

The queen has taken on many of the duties of the late Elizabeth II, especially since the king has been forced to stay away from public engagements. With a sense of purpose and a natural inclination towards happiness, Camila appears to have adopted some of her attitude towards the job. Yet there’s also another subtle nod to her late mother-in-law that may have easily gone unnoticed. Camilla has repeatedly breathed new life into the priceless collection of jewelery owned by Elizabeth.

Camilla wore an aquamarine and diamond brooch on Commonwealth Day this month. In Northern Ireland she chose a turquoise and diamond three-leaf clover brooch. While hosting a reception for International Women’s Day at Buckingham Palace, Camilla wore sapphire, diamond and ruby ​​cluster pearl drop earrings. And while leading the British royal family at a Thanksgiving celebration at Windsor for Greece’s late King Constantine, she wore the Cartier Diamond Ivy Leaf Clip, the first time she’s been seen since Elizabeth’s death in 2022.

For her visit to Shrewsbury on Wednesday, Camilla chose one of Elizabeth’s fly brooches to wear with a bee brooch from her collection. For the Maundy service at Worcester Cathedral on Thursday, Camilla chose the rarely seen Cartier gold and sapphire flower brooch, which was given to Princess Elizabeth by her parents, who bought it in the 1940s. Sometimes, she even goes back in time in her selections from historical jewelery collections. During a recent visit to the Isle of Man, Camilla picked up a sapphire brooch given to Queen Victoria by Prince Albert the night before their wedding in February 1840.

For a state visit to Germany in March last year, Camilla wore a diamond and turquoise flower brooch given by Queen Mary as a gift to Princess Elizabeth in 1942. A palace source suggested that Camilla chose him simply because she liked him. However, others say that aides have been paying attention to what clothes Camilla is wearing, indicating that she is keeping Elizabeth’s memory close as she makes an increasing number of solo appearances, which Some see this as a skillful move to connect the past and present. ,

Lauren Kihanna, writer and editor of the Court Jewellers website, which documents jewelery worn by members of the royal family, said: “It has been really interesting to follow Queen Camilla’s jewelery choices so far this year, and I love “Looks like there’s some connection between them.” The increasing responsibilities of the king in his absence and the kind of jewelery we see him wearing. She has worn an interesting mix of pieces from a selection of different categories of brooches: small jewels from her personal collection, gifts from the King, and antique brooches from the royal safes. “She has specially selected several pieces of important royal jewelery to represent the King at events.”

“The most exciting aspect about his recent choices is his continuing to revive pieces of his legacy that have not been seen in many years, or in some cases, that perhaps have not been seen in public before at all. Wearing those relatively unknown pieces allows her to create a visual connection between past and present, but it also gives her a chance to innovate a little with her jewelry rather than repeat familiar pieces often worn by the late Queen . When Queen Camilla wears a brooch associated with Queen Elizabeth, or even Queen Alexandra or Queen Mary, it underlines the importance of her royal role. But choosing lesser-known legacies helps avoid direct visual comparison. Happily, it also hints at what many of us have long known: that the late Queen’s jewelery collection was incredibly vast, with plenty of treasures still waiting to be discovered.

Author and royal historian Iain Lloyd said Camilla was giving “a new lease of life” to the late queen’s “private jewelery collection”. He added: “This is what Queen Elizabeth would have wanted. She was a very practical person and enjoyed seeing them used. She believed that she was the custodian of the collection and that it should be used by her heirs. “They wouldn’t like the thought of them becoming museum pieces or never being seen again.”

[From The Times]

The magpie in me is also enjoying the fact that Camilla is literally cleaning out the lesser-seen pieces and showcasing the vastness of the royal jewelry collection. But surely we can accept that QEII might not have been so excited about it? QEII wore jewelery because people expected it to, because she felt people wanted a bit of glitz and glamour, but she was not as generous in allocating pieces from the Royal Collection. I think there are a lot of personal pieces that QEII might have wanted to leave to his daughter and granddaughters rather than to his eldest son’s sycophantic wife. Like, personal gifts from King George VI to Elizabeth… they’re not Camilla’s. Every time I see Camila wearing something QEII-related, I cringe, and I’m sure I’m not alone – Camila might actually be trying to make a comparison, but instead she just tells everyone Reminding that she “won” and all but some of the dead queen’s jewelery now belongs to the girl next door.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.