This weekend, Queen Camilla sparkled in antique royal jewels at York Racecourse, including a special brooch that calls back to one of the most triumphant moments in British royal racing history.
Queen Camilla headed to York on Friday to attend the Sky Bet Ebor Festival at York Racecourse. Camilla recently became royal patron of the racecourse. She was also there to watch Crown Estate, one of the horses that she co-owns with King Charles, run in one of the races during the festival.
With her blue ensemble, Camilla wore a special heirloom brooch that has been a frequent companion of hers at equestrian-related occasions for the last few years. The horseshoe-shaped brooch is set with sapphires and rubies, reflecting the royal racing colors. Interspersed between the sapphires and rubies are diamond-set letters, spelling out the name Minoru.
Minoru was one of the most successful racehorses owned by King Edward VII. He famously won the Epsom Derby in 1909, an achievement that Bertie celebrated extensively. He commissioned several pieces of jewelry to commemorate the win, presumably including the brooch that Queen Camilla now wears. I investigated more about the possible provenance in this earlier article on the jewel.
With the brooch, Queen Camilla wore her favorite pair of earrings: large diamond floral clips with pearl drops. These have been mainstays in her collection for years.
She also wore bracelets on both wrists, including two pieces from her personal collection of Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry, worn as part of the stack on her right wrist. She also wore two beaded bracelets on her left.
Friday’s engagement also offered us several excellent views of Queen Camilla’s diamond engagement ring, which once belonged to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, and her Welsh gold wedding ring.
Camilla was back at York Racecourse on Saturday to attend the festival for a second day. She was also on hand to officially open the newly-refurbished Bustardthorpe Stand at the racecourse. Originally built in 1913, the renovated stand has been designed to improve the experience for racegoers with sustainability in mind, incorporating features like rainwater harvest tanks, solar panels and a living roof.
Camilla was elegant in a light blue embroidered ensemble that we saw recently at a garden party in Edinburgh. This time, she wore the outfit with a light fedora-style hat. One of her favorite necklace charms, a diamond and blue topaz piece from Kiki McDonough, was visible at her neckline, and a stack of bracelets, including a blue agate Alhambra piece from Van Cleef & Arpels, peeked out from her sleeve. She also pinned her Jockey Club badge to her coat. (King Charles and Queen Camilla are joint patrons of the organization.)
For Saturday’s outing, Camilla wore a special pair of earrings that once belonged to her late mother-in-law, Queen Elizabeth II. The clip earrings, which feature pearl drops, are set with sapphires in a cluster of diamonds and rubies. Queen Camilla began wearing them after the late Queen’s passing, and they’ve been spotted at numerous important occasions since then.
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