10 Significant Brooches That Queen Elizabeth II Loved

Throughout Queen Elizabeth II’s reign, we’ve seen her dress up in various styles. If anything, her necklaces and tiaras were always eye-catching and caught our attention at a glance. But take a deeper look at her style and you’ll quickly realise that she almost never showed up anywhere without a brooch. While some were originally hers, she also had brooches that were handed down by the Queen Mother, Queen Mary and Queen Victoria. Here’s everything you need to know about the 10 outstanding brooches in her collection.

1. The Australian Wattle Brooch

Made from platinum and set with white and yellow diamonds, the Australian Wattle brooch was one of Queen Elizabeth II’s favourite pieces throughout her reign. It was gifted to her in 1954 by the former prime minister of Australia, Sir Robert Menzies when she was on her Commonwealth tour in Canberra. Designed to resemble the national flower of Australia, the golden wattle, this brooch was worn by the queen during multiple Christmas events, when she was in Australia for official visits and even at King Charles III’s wedding to the Queen Consort, Camilla.

2. Cartier Lily Brooch

Designed in 1939, at seven inches, this was one of the longest brooches that Queen Elizabeth II owned that was handed down to her after the death of the Queen Mother. Combining existing royal diamonds – six pear-shaped stones and 187 brilliants with 52 additional stones, the brooch was designed by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth’s favourite jeweller, Cartier. It was a flexible piece when it was first created but was later modified to be static. In a nutshell, this brooch is described by Sir Hugh Roberts, a British art historian and curator, as “a stem of lilies with two open flowers, claw-and-pave-set with brilliants and six pear-shaped stones forming buds, one flower and one adjustable.” Queen Elizabeth II wore this brooch for the first time during a state visit when she met the then South African president, Jacob Zuma in 2010.

3. Courtauld Thomson Scallop-Shell Brooch

This was another one of Queen Elizabeth II’s favourite brooches which was made in 1919. It was designed by the late Courtauld Thomson and was a present from his sister to the late Queen Mother. Made from white gold and diamonds, the brooch comprises of a shell with a pearl at the base and diamond drops that spray out to resemble falling water. This brooch was handed down by the Queen Mother to Queen Elizabeth II, who also wore it to the 6death anniversary of her father, King George VI.

4. Flower Basket Brooch

As much as this brooch was the queen’s favourite piece, it’s ours too! Designed as a diamond and emerald basket filled with flowers made of diamonds, emeralds, rubies and sapphires, this brooch was gifted to Queen Elizabeth II by her parents in 1948 when she gave birth to her first child, Prince Charles. She was spotted wearing it in the first picture that she took with him and continued to wear it to many events thereafter, even to Prince George’s christening in 2013.

5. Granny Chips Brooch

The name of this brooch narrates the love that Queen Mary had for her granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II, and is also a reminder that besides being a leader, the queen also had many roles like anyone else: a mother, daughter, grandmother and granddaughter to someone. Weighing a total of 3,106 carats, the Granny Chips brooch is made from Cullinan diamonds – III & IV which bears the name of the founder of the premium mine in South Africa where it was found in 1905. The two pieces were given to Queen Mary in 1910 as a gift by the South African government and she wore it for the first time in 1911 during her coronation at Westminster Abbey. Fun fact: Queen Mary even set it in her crown and wore the diamonds as a pendant at one point in time. The brooch was later handed down to Queen Elizabeth II to wear when she took over the throne.

6. Nizam of Hyderabad Floral Royal Brooch

Created in 1939 by Cartier, there were three brooches that originated from this series, all of which were used as a central element of the diamond floral tiara which could be removed at any time and worn in different ways. While the diamonds of each rose was set in platinum, its centre was made of brilliants which can move when in motion and will exude light from the different cuts of diamond. More often than not, Queen Elizabeth II used the largest rose to events but during her 70th anniversary celebration to the throne this year, she styled both the smaller ones and wore them as a pair to the event.

7. Palm Leaf Royal Brooch

Resembling the paisley motif that represents the name of a Scottish town, this brooch was another one of the Queen Mother’s favourites. Using existing diamonds that she had, this brooch was created by Cartier in 1938. Upon her death, it was handed down to Queen Elizabeth II and joined her list of favourites that she was spotted wearing to many joyous occasions during her reign.

8. Prince Albert Brooch

Symbolising love and happiness, this brooch (also known as the Garrard Sapphire Cluster Brooch) originated from Queen Victoria, who was Queen Elizabeth II’s great-great grandmother. History has it that in 1840, a day before Queen Victoria’s wedding, Prince Albert gifted this brooch to her. She was very much in love with it that she wore the brooch even on her wedding day and many other times before the death of her husband in 1861, after which it was handed down. Comprising an oval sapphire surrounded by 12 diamonds, this brooch became one of the sources of inspiration for Kate Middleton when it came to designing her wedding ring.

9. Singapore Peranakan Diamond Jubilee Brooch

Gifted to Queen Elizabeth II by Tony Tan, the then president of Singapore in 2012, this brooch was made out of 18K gold set with 61 brilliant diamonds. Designed by Foundation Jewellers in Singapore, its design is similar to the kind of jewellery that was worn by Peranakan Chinese descendants who have found homes in Malaysia and Singapore over the years. In 2014, the Queen wore this brooch to bid President Tony Tan farewell after his state visit to her and ever since then, she had been spotted wearing this brooch a few other times outside of work-related matters that have connections with Singapore. That move itself says a lot about her liking towards the brooch and she’s even worn it on multiple other personal occasions, including the Christening of Princess Charlotte.

10. True Lover’s Knot Brooch

Like many of her other brooches, this was also handed down to Queen Elizabeth II from Queen Mary. As one of the largest bow brooches that the queen had, it features cut diamonds set in silver and gold that are tied into the shape of a lover’s knot. One of the most unique qualities of this brooch is that its scalloped ribbon has joints that allows each end to move. Queen Elizabeth II kept this brooch close to her heart because of its shape and even wore it to Princess Margaret’s wedding at Westminster Abbey. Today, Kate Middleton wears it as a bracelet.

Featured image: @TheRoyalFamily