If there was someone who knew how to send messages through her jewelry, it was Queen Elizabeth II.
Taking the witness of that virtue, the queen consort, Camila, and the Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, in addition to her great-granddaughter Princess Charlotte, have paid a final tribute to the monarch at her funeral, which was held this Monday, March 19. September in Westminster Abbey, London, after 11 days of official mourning since the death of Elizabeth of England on September 8.
The new queen consort, Camila, who has accompanied King Charles III at all times at the funeral, has chosen to wear a Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee brooch.
The piece is heart-shaped, set with three sapphires and the number 60 inside, which is the age a monarch reaches when a diamond jubilee is celebrated.
This brooch belonged to Queen Victoria and was a gift from her grandchildren, those who survived from her late daughter, Princess Alice.
Several British media outlets point out that Camila has chosen to wear it, instead of pearls -the jewel par excellence at royal funerals-, as a special nod to Elizabeth II, the British monarch with the longest reign, replacing the queen Victoria, who remained on the throne for 63 years.
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But it has not been the only jewel that belonged to Elizabeth II and that the queen consort has worn in these days of official mourning.
For the religious ceremony that was held on September 12 at Edinburgh Cathedral, Camila chose one of her favorites: a diamond brooch in the shape of a bouquet of flowers, a family piece that originally belonged to the private collection of the Queen Mother;
Subsequently, and after her death in 2002, it passed to the jeweler of Isabel II, to later belong to the wife of Carlos III.
Although the exact date on which she gave it to him is unknown, the first public appearance in which Camila wears the jewel dates back to 2015, according to the magazine
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The Queen consort, Camilla, attends a religious ceremony for Elizabeth II on September 12, 2022 in Edinburgh, Scotland.
She wears a diamond brooch in the shape of a bouquet of flowers that belonged to the Queen Mother.
Max Mumby/Indigo (Getty Images)
For her part, the new Princess of Wales has chosen two pieces of enormous symbolism for the British royal family and for the marriage made up of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh, as well as for her mother-in-law, Lady Di.
To show her respect to the late queen, she wore Bahrain pearl and diamond earrings and a four-strand pearl choker with a diamond brooch in the center, both from Elizabeth II's personal collection.
The necklace was a design commissioned from the Garrard house and made with pearls that the Japanese government gave Elizabeth II when she made an official visit to the country in the 1970s.
Kate Middleton has walked alongside Prince William and his two children, Prince George, nine, and Princess Charlotte, seven,
It was not the first time that the Princess of Wales had worn this choker, which Queen Elizabeth II herself wore at a state banquet in Bangladesh in 1983 and a year earlier, in 1982 —curiously the date of birth of Prince William and Kate Middleton— Lady Di also wore this jewel, a loan from her mother-in-law, for a gala dinner on a state trip to the Netherlands.
In addition, the pearl earrings, a gift from Bahrain to the then princess and heir to the throne for her wedding to Philip of Edinburgh in 1947.
Queen Elizabeth II wears the four-strand choker with a diamond brooch in the center at a state dinner in Bangladesh in 1983. Tim Graham (Getty Images)
This last detail suggests why Kate Middleton would also use these two pieces on two very emotional dates: in November 2017 during a celebration dinner on the occasion of the 70th wedding anniversary of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip and for the duke's funeral from Edinburgh in 2021. More recently, in June 2022, the Princess of Wales would wear the same earrings for the Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
It is not the only gesture of tribute from Kate Middleton to her political grandmother that has been seen in these 11 days of official mourning through the jewels she has worn.
For the reception ceremony of the leaders who have attended the state funeral, held this Sunday, September 10, at Buckingham Palace, the wife of the William of England chose a pearl necklace that also belongs to Queen Elizabeth II's personal jewelry box and that the monarch wore on numerous occasions.
In addition to Meghan Markle, wife of Prince Henry, who has repeated the pearl earrings, a personal gift from Elizabeth II that she already wore in the procession in the funeral chapel in Westminster Hall, the great-grandchildren have also participated in this particular and brilliant tribute to the monarch. British.
Princess Charlotte, seven years old, who together with her brother, Prince George, has accompanied the funeral procession with their parents, the Princes of Wales, has also worn a horseshoe-shaped brooch on her lapel, a gift from Queen Elizabeth II and a clear tribute to her great-grandmother, a lover of horses.
Princess Charlotte, wearing a horseshoe brooch, leaves Westminster Abbey on September 19, 2022 after Elizabeth II's state funeral.
Chris Jackson (Getty Images)