The British state visit to Germany concluded today in Hamburg, and Queen Camilla wore a spectacular royal heirloom brooch with German connections for the occasion.
For the final day of their state visit, King Charles and Queen Camilla took the train to Hamburg, where they visited Hamburg City Hall.
At the city hall, they viewed the Golden Book and signed pages to be added to it.
They also paid their respects at St. Nikolai Memorial Church, which was heavily bombed by the Allies during World War II, and at the memorial to the Kindertransport at Dammtor railway station.
Camilla also visited Rudolf Ross Grundschule School alongside Elke Buedenbender and Axel Scheffler, the illustrator of the children’s book The Gruffalo.
She proudly showed off her own drawing of the Gruffalo character during the visit.
For Friday’s engagements, Camilla wore a blue coat with dark accessories, including a fur-trimmed hat.
She also wore diamonds, sapphires, and pearls, including one of the most important brooches in the British royal collection.
Her earrings, also worn on Wednesday in Berlin, were the sapphire, diamond, ruby, and pearl drop earrings.
This image, from the Commonwealth Day service earlier in March, shows a detail of the earrings.
And pinned to her coat was Prince Albert’s Brooch, an Heirloom of the Crown that dates to 1840.
The brooch was presented to Queen Victoria by her husband-to-be, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, on the night before their wedding in 1840. She wore it pinned to her gown during their wedding ceremony. It remained one of Victoria’s most-loved jewelry treasures throughout her life, and in her will, she designated it as an Heirloom of the Crown, ensuring that it would be worn by future queens regnant and consort.
It has indeed been worn by every queen, regnant or consort, since then. Camilla now joins a list that includes Queen Alexandra, Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, and Queen Elizabeth II.
Elizabeth II loved the brooch and wore it frequently for 70 years, including appearances in Germany. She wears it above for her arrival in Germany during her final state visit to the nation in 2015. It’s an especially appropriate choice, because Prince Albert was born and raised in Germany.
The brooch is the latest in a series of heirloom royal sapphires that Queen Camilla has worn since her husband’s accession. She chose the Hesse Diamond Jubilee Brooch, which she’d had in her jewelry box for several years, for Elizabeth II’s state funeral in September 2022.
For the first tiara events of Charles’s reign, Camilla wore her late mother-in-law’s sapphire tiara and jewels. Here, she wears them for the South African state banquet in November 2022.
And she wore the sapphires again for the Diplomatic Reception in December 2022.
Most recently, we saw her wear the Russian Sapphire Cluster Brooch for the Commonwealth Day service in March 2023.
And now the Albert Brooch can be added to the list of the sapphires that the Queen Consort has worn.
We also got a good glimpse of Camilla’s bracelets as she drew during the school visit.
And we also got a great view of her engagement and wedding rings during the same engagement.
The final event of the visit was a reception at Schuppen 52 in Hamburg.
Interestingly, Camilla changed her jacket and removed the brooch during the reception.
This photograph from the event shows that she also wore her chain necklace with two familiar pendants: her Kiki McDonough Apollo Pendant and the gold disc engraved with the initials of her grandchildren.
And that’s a wrap from Germany! Looking forward to hearing more about the rescheduled French state visit soon.
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