Queen Camilla’s Vibrant Pansy Brooches at Cheltenham

Last week, British royals flocked to Gloucestershire for the annual Cheltenham Festival. During her appearance at the races on Wednesday, Queen Camilla wore a pair of gorgeous pansy brooches that she’s treasured for decades.

On Wednesday, Queen Camilla arrived at Cheltenham in a long brown coat with a coordinating handbag and tall boots, as well as one of her favorite fur-trimmed hats.

The Queen was on hand both to watch the races and to present trophies to the winners of the Queen Mother Champion Chase. She was also spotted chatting with her daughter, Laura Lopes, as well as several other family members, including Princess Eugenie and Zara Tindall.

With her brown ensemble, Camilla reached for gold clip earrings with pavé-set diamond drops and a pair of favorite brooches in the shape of pansy blossoms. The brooches, which have sparkling diamonds set around the edges, have been in her collection for at least two decades. While some online have written that the brooches feature yellow and purple enamel, I’m pretty convinced that the petals of each flower are set with faceted gemstones, perhaps amethysts and citrines.

Here’s an early look at Camilla wearing the brooches, when she was still Duchess of Cornwall, at Westminster Abbey in the autumn of 2006. On this occasion, she paired them with earrings featuring pink topaz drops.

Camilla wears the pair of brooches both together, as she did during her visit to Hungary in 2010, and separately on her collar/jacket. She has loved pairing them over the years with suits and jackets in bright shades of purple.

Here’s another look at the brooches on Queen Camilla at Cheltenham last week. To me, this image makes the faceting of the gemstones pretty apparent. What do you think: enamel or gemstones?

UPDATE: One of our lovely readers, Brian, reached out with the answer: it’s definitely gems! He sent me a link to a matching brooch that was sold at Wartski. The firm’s website describes the piece: “the petals comprising of three amethysts and two citrines, the outer edge mounted with brilliant cut diamonds with a larger diamond in the centre, mounted in silver and gold.” They indicate that the brooch was made in England around 1900, and they also point out that it has a linguistic double meaning: “The pansy flower, translating as ‘pensée’ in French, is a rebus for the word ‘pensez’ (to think). The jewel serves as a reminder to the recipient to think of the person from whom the brooch was given, ‘pensez à moi.'”