The Queen made her first appearance since her accession day this week, and she continued her trend of wearing brooches that hearken back to the earliest days of her reign. Here’s more on the brooch she chose for Tuesday’s virtual audiences.
On Tuesday, the Queen received two new ambassadors via video link from Windsor Castle to Buckingham Palace. Viljar Lubi, the new ambassador from Estonia, presents his credentials virtually in the photograph above.
And here, Jose Pascual Marco Martinez, the new Spanish ambassador, meets the Queen virtually.
For the virtual audiences, the Queen wore a floral dress with pearls and a diamond floral brooch. This is the largest of the Nizam of Hyderabad Rose Brooches.
Here’s an excellent close-up of the brooch, taken during a royal visit to Paddington Station in London in June 2017. The diamond and platinum brooch was made by Cartier in the 1930s.
The brooch was originally the central element of a diamond floral tiara. The tiara and its coordinating necklace, both worn here by the Queen at the Royal Variety Performance in 1952, were wedding gifts from the Nizam of Hyderabad. He allowed Elizabeth to choose pieces from Cartier for her wedding present—a surefire way to make sure that she liked the gift!
The tiara was versatile from the start. The central floral element could be removed and worn as a brooch, as could two smaller floral sections on each side of the piece. Above, the then-Princess Elizabeth wears the large rose brooch as she visits President Harry Truman at the White House in 1951.
The tiara itself was dismantled in the 1970s, and the diamonds were used in the construction of the new Burmese Ruby Tiara. But the Queen has continued to wear all three of the rose brooches. She has especially chosen the largest brooch to wear frequently for royal engagements. Above, she wears the large Nizam Rose Brooch at Buckingham Palace for the launch of The Queen’s Baton Relay for the XXII Commonwealth Games in October 2021.
We also recently saw her wear the smaller Nizam rose brooches, which she almost always wears together as a pair. She chose them for a reception at Sandringham House on February 5, which celebrated the 70th anniversary of her accession to the throne. She wore brooches dating to the ’30s and ’40s during that entire weekend, a clear tribute to the people who supported her at the dawn of her reign.
Here’s one more look at today’s appearance. We may have only glimpsed the Queen through a computer monitor this time around, but the largest Nizam Rose Brooch manages to sparkle mightily regardless.
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