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Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

Sundays with the Queen: The Queen Mother’s Hibiscus Brooch

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If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you know that the Queen’s brooch collection is absolutely packed with sentimental and important pieces that belonged to her mother, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. Today’s brooch is one that the Queen Mum received during her long widowhood, and that the Queen has begun to wear regularly since her mother’s death.

The Hibiscus Brooch, set with diamond and rubies, was given to the Queen Mother by the people of Australia in the 1950s. The hibiscus is an important flower in Australia — so important, in fact, that the nation even has an Australian Hibiscus Society. The brooch features two of these hibiscus flowers entwined. Above, in perhaps the most Aussie-themed photo of the Queen Mum ever taken, she wears the brooch while cradling a koala during her 1958 visit.

The brooch was inherited by the Queen after the Queen Mother’s death in 2002, but she didn’t wear the piece in public until four years later. The occasion was a significant one: Prince William’s passing out parade at Sandhurst.

Since then, the hibiscus has been a fairly regular part of the Queen’s brooch rotation, most often appearing when she wears red or pink outfits. 

This Week in Royal Jewels: June 26-July 2

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June 26-July 2, 2015

With the craziness of Royal June winding down, we’re back to our normal posting schedule with a weekly roundup of royal jewels! Our posts on the Queen’s state visit to Germany are here and here — now let’s see what some of the other royals have been up to, shall we?

10. On Saturday, the always-glamorous Charlotte Casiraghi wore an interesting pair of geometric hoop earrings at the annual equestrian jumping event in Monte-Carlo.

9. Also at the equestrian festival were Princess Caroline and Princess Alexandra. While Alexandra went with a delicate necklace, Princess Caroline wore a bright, chunky earrings-and-bracelet set. (Also, check out that watch!)

8. On June 30, the Duchess of Cornwall wore an especially meaningful elephant pin at a fundraiser for the Elephant Family, a charity started by her late brother, Mark Shand. You also get a good look here at the small necklace she often wears under her larger necklaces. Not sure what the small pendant is made of, but it’s lovely.

7. For the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show on Wednesday, Camilla went with pearls.

6. The Fete Imperiale in Vienna this weekend drew a royal crowd, including Eilika von Habsburg (the sister-in-law of the head of the Habsburg family), who wore a triple-stranded pearl necklace.

5. Infanta Elena of Spain also attended the Fete Imperiale, wearing aquamarine earrings, a diamond pendant necklace, multiple bracelets, and the insignia of the Order of Charles III.

4. Tatiana of Greece and Denmark selected an intriguing modern pair of earrings for an event at the Natural History Museum in London on Saturday.

3. Queen Maxima of the Netherlands wore an enormous pair of jeweled tassel earrings on Wednesday during her trip to the Philippines.

2. The Spanish royals are on a state visit to Mexico this week. Queen Letizia debuted a new pair of Tous ruby and emerald earrings on Monday in Mexico City.

1. Letizia also gets my top spot this week for the gorgeous diamond pendant earrings she sported during the state banquet in Mexico.