Queen Elizabeth's brooches are among the most stunning pieces of jewelry in the world, Everything from huge pieces, flawless diamonds to magnificent rubies, sapphires, and pearls. Apart from their stunning value and beauty, they're laden with incredible history and significance too.
Leading diamond expert Maxwell Stone shared, “Queen Elizabeth has some of the most incredible jewels I’ve ever seen."
We collated 13 of the most significant and symbolic among her brooches. Four of these items will be displayed at Windsor Castle's Exhibition for by the Royal Collection Trust to mark Her Majesty's Platinum Jubilee.
1. The Cullinan Diamond Brooch
This brooch consists of a pear-shaped drop of 94.4 metric carats (Cullinan III) and a cushion-shaped stone of 63.6 metric carats (Cullinan IV). These diamonds were mounted into this brooch for Queen Mary in 1911.
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| Cullinan Diamond Brooch © Royal Collection Trust |
Leading diamond expert Maxwell Stone tells us, “Queen Elizabeth has some of the most incredible jewels I’ve ever seen."
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| Queen Elizabeth II pinned a Cullinan Diamond Brooch © Getty Images |
He continues, “The biggest and most expensive of all Queen Elizabeth's brooches is the Cullinan III and IV brooch. This is because it features two large stones cut from the Cullinan diamond—the world's largest diamond ever found. This one brooch alone is worth £50M.”
2. The Flame Lily Brooch
This one particular piece is a sentimental item in Her Majesty's jewelry collection. This is the brooch that she wore when she returned to the United Kingdom from Kenya with Prince Philip when King George VI died in his sleep in February 1952.
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| Flame-Lily Brooch. ©Royal Collection Trust |
The Flame Lily Brooch was pinned on her black mourning dress when she and Prince Philip got off the airplane upon arrival in Britain.
According to the Royal Collection Trust, the Flame Lily brooch signifies the emblem of Zimbabwe, then a British colony.
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| The Queen and Prince Philip upon arrival from Kenya |
It was given to Princess Elizabeth on her 21st birthday during their tour in South Africa. It was created by the firm of Sidersky and Son in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The brooch is made of diamonds, platinum, and white gold. This is currently exhibited in Windsor Castle to commemorate the Queen's Coronation Day.
3. The Diamond Shamrock Brooch
This is one of the most striking of all the shamrock-designed brooches of the Queen. The brooch features a small bouquet of diamond shamrocks secured by an emerald ribbon.
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| Diamond Shamrock Brooch ©Royal Collection Trust |
This is considered symbolic by many royal jewelers because shamrocks represent Northern Ireland, which can be found in the Coronation Dress of the Queen.
This significant brooch was believed to have been part of the Diamond Jubilee gifts received by the Queen and particularly given to her by the late Sultan of Oman. This is currently exhibited in Windsor Castle to commemorate the Queen's Coronation Day.
4. The Diamond Daffodil Brooch
These sprays of daffodil brooch is one of the most gorgeous brooches worn by Her Majesty. This is a modern design and the newest item in her jewelry vault, believed to have been given to her during her Diamond Jubilee celebration in 2012.
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| Diamond Daffodil Brooch ©Royal Collection Trust |
The precious brooch features three daffodil blossoms set on white diamond stems. Daffodil is one of the symbols of Wales. This is currently exhibited in Windsor Castle to commemorate the Queen's Coronation Day.
5. The Diamond Guard's Brooch
The Queen regularly wore this brooch during the Trooping the Colour ceremony, better known as The Queen's Birthday Parade, because this brooch is particularly designed to represent the five of the Foot Guards of the Household, which takes turn to troop the color every Queen's Birthday Parade.
The oval-shaped diamond brooch, topped with a tiny crown, features the badges of all five of the Foot Guards of the Household. The brooch is a significant nod to the various regiments that participate in Trooping the Colour.
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| Queen Elizabeth II for this year's Trooping the Colour |
6. The Scarab Ruby Brooch
Also called the "Grima Ruby Brooch", this precious jewelry of Her Majesty is one of her favorites due to its personal significance. This item was a personal gift from her husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in 1966.
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| The Queen first wore this brooch in July 1966 during an engagement with Prince Philip |
It was created by Andrew Grima and commissioned by Prince Philip. The Duke of Edinburgh had been introduced to the jeweler’s work the same year when Grima became the only jeweler ever to win the Duke of Edinburgh’s Prize for Elegant Design.
This particular Grima piece, made of gold set with diamonds and carved rubies, was inspired by Egyptian scarabs. The Queen often wore it during significant moments in her reign and personal events and celebrations.
But the most symbolic occasion where she donned this brooch was when she attended the memorial service for Prince Philip at Westminster Abbey in March this year.
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| Queen attended Prince Philip's memorial service. BBC |
This was also the same brooch that the Queen wore in 2021 during her visit to the naval base in Portsmouth, weeks after the funeral of Prince Philip.
Jewelry expert, Maxwell Stone, explained this sentimental brooch of the Queen. "The Scarab brooch features over 20cts of cabochon rubies, which are often associated to love, passion, courage, and raw emotion. The stones are placed on a magnificent yellow gold setting, which makes the piece one of a kind.
He continued: "A brooch like this has a value of around £250,000, however, in this case, we feel it truly is priceless."
7. The Sapphire Chrysanthemum Brooch
This brooch should not be confused with Prince Albert Sapphire Brooch, although the two looked like the same designs, they are actually different pieces.
In fact, this brooch is not a family heirloom. It was a gift from a shipping company when Princess Elizabeth inaugurated a British oil tanker named the British Princess in 1946.
She also wore it during an official family portrait in 1950 with Prince Philip and their young children, Prince Charles and Princess Anne.
The Queen wore the brooch in 2007 for an official portrait with Prince Philip taken in Broadlands to mark their 60th wedding anniversary. They also recreated their famous honeymoon photo in 1947.
It's the same brooch she wore when her last photograph with Prince Philip was taken in November 2020 to mark their 73rd wedding anniversary.
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| Christmas message in 2021. Photo: The Royal Family |
The Queen chose to wear the Sapphire Chrysanthemum Brooch when she delivered her annual Christmas message to the nation in December 2021, to honor Prince Philip.
This brooch of the Queen offers some confusion as to what year she really received this piece of jewelry. The popular theory of when this brooch was given to her was in November 1948 when Prince Charles was born, and her parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, gifted her the brooch to mark her eldest son's birth.
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| The Queen wearing the Flower Basket Brooch. Getty Images |
However, there was confusion - as published by The Court Jeweler - as to when was the exact period the Queen owned this jewelry because footage in May 1939 showed the young Princess Elizabeth, who was 13 years old then, wearing the brooch while her parents prepared to board a train to Portsmouth.
This confusion has not been resolved and the question of when the Queen exactly received this brooch remains a mystery. Nonetheless, it became one of the Queen's favorite brooches. It was the brooch she wore during the christening of Prince George of Cambridge in 2013.
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| The Queen wearing the flower basket brooch. Getty Images |
9. Onslow Butterfly Brooch
The year 2021 was really a trying time for the Queen. Apart from the bombshell interview of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex with Oprah Winfrey in the US, the Duke of Edinburgh also passed away in April that year.
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| The Queen wearing the Onslow Butterfly Brooch. Getty Images |
For the first time in her reign, the Queen faced life alone without the support of her beloved Philip. So when she resumed performing her public duty that year, it was filled with emotions and memories of her husband, and she wore pieces that honored him.
In November 2021, she delivered a video message for the opening reception of world leaders attending the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland.
In her passionate address, the Queen paid tribute to Prince Philip: "This is a duty I am especially happy to discharge, as the impact of the environment on human progress was a subject close to the heart of my dear late husband, Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh."
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| The Queen delivered a speech on 11-2021 |
Pinned to her green dress was the diamond and ruby butterfly brooch, known as the Onslow butterfly brooch. A wedding gift from the Dowager Countess of Onslow to her on the occasion of her marriage to Prince Philip on November 20, 1947.
She also placed a framed photograph of Prince Philip on the table behind her, which was taken in 1988 in Mexico showing the Duke of Edinburgh surrounded by butterflies.
10. Diamond Naval Badge Brooch
Prince Philip was known to have given the Queen several personal presents, some of which he personally designed or collaborated with jewelry designer. One of his first gifts to his wife was this diamond brooch in the shape of his Naval badge, made by Garrard.
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| Diamond Naval Badge Brooch from Prince Philip |
Philip maintained his career in the Navy until Elizabeth became Queen, and in those early years, she proudly wore the brooch as a Navy wife.
11. Diamond Clematis Brooch
This brooch is a classic piece of jewelry of Her Majesty, made of diamonds and formed in a shape of a clematis flower, with six petals encrusted in diamonds. A single diamond sits in the center of the flower.
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| Princess Elizabeth and Lt. Philip Mountbatten engagement |
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| Princess Elizabeth and Lt. Philip Mountbatten engagement |
The first prominent outing of this brooch was when the princess wore it during the announcement of her official engagement to Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten on July 9, 1947.
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| The Queen wearing the Diamond Clematis brooch |
The Queen would wear it frequently during her reign. In February 2021, Prince Philip was admitted to a King Edward VII hospital, where he would remain for a record of 28 days, the longest period he was being hospitalized.
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| The Queen during the virtual conference in February 2021 |
During his lengthy stay in the hospital, Queen Elizabeth took part in a video call from Windsor Castle wearing the diamond clematis brooch. It was seen as a special tribute to her husband, with the Queen often choosing pieces of jewelry rife with symbolism.
12. The Prince Albert Sapphire Brooch
This particular brooch is a family heirloom dating back to Queen Victoria's reign. And has a romantic history.
This gold-set sapphire and diamond brooch was a wedding gift of Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to his bride, Queen Victoria in 1839.
Queen Victoria loved it so much that she decided to wear it on their wedding day, pinning the precious sapphire brooch in her wedding dress.
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| The Queen wore the Prince Albert Brooch |
Due to its historical significance, Queen Victoria specified in her will that the brooch is an heirloom of the Crown, meaning that this brooch must be passed to succeeding British monarchs.
13. Sri Lanka Brooch
This brooch was presented by the Mayor of Colombo to Her Majesty during her State Visit to Sri Lanka, a member of the British Commonwealth of Nations, in 1981.
This is one of the most unique brooches of the Queen as it features all sorts of gemstones and arranged in a bouquet design. It is one of the brooches of Her Majesty that came from Asia, with a superstitious representation.
This vibrant brooch has an elaborate design featuring various gemstones - garnet, blue and yellow sapphires, hessonite, ruby, cat's eye, moonstone, diamond, amethyst, and aquamarine set in gold.
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| The Queen wearing the Sri Lanka brooch |
The combination of stones is regarded in Sri Lanka as having a talismanic quality to ward off evil" - as captioned by the Royal Collection Trust on instagram.
The Sri Lanka Brooch is one of the most prized brooches of Queen Elizabeth II that will be displayed at Windsor Castle today until September to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.
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