Queen Camilla’s Pear-Shaped Diamond Demi-Parure

Camilla has had this demi-parure of diamonds in her jewelry box from the earliest years of her royal marriage. She debuted the set in November 2005, for a dinner at the de Young Museum in San Francisco, California. The set consists of a necklace and a matching pair of earrings. The necklace features large pear-shaped diamonds suspended from a collar of marquise-shaped stones, and the earrings feature a modern, artistic cluster of pear-shaped gems. We don’t have confirmed provenance information about the suite, though some think it may have been made using diamonds taken from a dismantled tiara.

Camilla, then the Duchess of Cornwall, wore the necklace and earrings again a few weeks later, for a December 2005 gala performance of Madame Butterfly by the English National Opera at the Coliseum in London. The versatile set is perfect for a whole range of formal evening events, from black-tie and white-tie galas to receptions and nights at the theater.

In fact, we’ve seen Camilla wear these pieces at theater outings on multiple occasions. Here, she wears the set with a bright red gown for the Royal Variety Performance in London in December 2016.

We also saw her wear the necklace and earrings at the Royal Albert Hall for the Olivier Awards in April 2019. She also added a diamond bracelet on her left wrist for this occasion. The neckline of this gown, made by Bruce Oldfield, is particularly nice with the set, framing the necklace beautifully.

We’ve often seen Camilla wearing the set with a tiara, too—almost always with the grand Greville Tiara from the late Queen Mother’s collection. One of the earliest of those appearances came in March 2006, when she paired the necklace and earrings with the tiara for a state banquet at Buckingham Palace in honor of the President of Brazil.

She wore the same combination of jewels—tiara, necklace, and earrings—for a state banquet in honor of President and Mrs. Obama at Buckingham Palace in May 2011.

She’s also used the earrings with the same tiara and different necklaces for gala occasions. Here, she wears them with the Greville Tiara and the Greville Festoon Necklace for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Banquet in Uganda in November 2007.

She wore the same combination of jewels (and even the same dress!) for the Duke of Wellington’s Waterloo Banquet at Apsley House in London in June 2015.

In March 2010, during the President of South Africa’s state visit to London, she wore the earrings with the Greville Tiara and her diamond and emerald necklace for a state banquet at Buckingham Palace.

Camilla wore just the earrings and the Greville Tiara for the (very warm and humid) Commonwealth Heads of Government Banquet in Sri Lanka in November 2013.

The earrings and necklace are also perfect for non-tiara gala and receptions, like this black-tie dinner in Copenhagen during the Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012.

She paired the earrings and necklace with another red dress in April 2017 for a gala dinner at the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence.

And in June 2019, she wore the necklace and earrings (plus a gorgeous gold bangle with a beautiful cluster featuring diamonds and a green cabochon gem) for a dinner at Winfield House in London.

Most recently, we saw Camilla wear the earrings (with the Queen’s Royal Family Order and her new Garter star) at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Dinner in Rwanda in June 2022. Because the new Queen Consort does not have pierced ears, I’m expecting that we’ll see her continue to wear tried-and-true pairs like these during her husband’s reign rather than converting earrings from the collections of the late Queen Elizabeth II or Queen Mother. And honestly, these versatile earrings will look wonderful with a range of royal jewels. I’m excited to see how Camilla uses them for gala events in the near future!