It was a sombre day for The Royal Family when Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on his 66th birthday (Thursday 19 February). Buckingham Palace released a statement from The King stating that ‘the law must take its course’ and that he and his family ‘would continue in our duty and service to you all’ – and they did. On the same day, multiple working members of The Royal Family had prior engagements and all went ahead as planned. While The King was front row at Tolu Coker’s autumn/winter fashion show, Queen Camilla held an audience with former Vogue editor-in-chief, Dame Anna Wintour.
To mark the first day of London Fashion Week, The Queen welcomed Dame Anna to Clarence House. The meeting was to discuss British fashion and The Queen’s Reading Room, Queen Camilla’s reading charity. For the occasion, The Queen wore a monochrome black look, with a tunic-style dress edged in velvet. At the centre of her ensemble was a curious, heart-shaped brooch.
Chris Jackson
Chris Jackson
The brooch presents a bit of a mystery, as it isn’t one she or other members of The Royal Family appear to have worn in public before. Queen Camilla does have another black, heart-shaped brooch, but it is smaller and a slightly different design. The one worn at Clarence House on Thursday featured a black enamel centre outlined in diamonds, with a royal insignia, and appears to signify mourning or a sombre mood.
The day of Andrew’s arrest was a serious event, not only for this reason, but also because there was a royal funeral taking place in Stockholm. Princess Désirée of Sweden was a relative of the UK Royal Family, as she was a great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria. This meant she was technically in line to the throne – in about 306th place at one time, according to The Times. The Princess passed away at age 87, and was the older sister of the reigning King of Sweden, King Carl XVI Gustaf.
Keystone-France
Princess Désirée of Sweden dancing during her wedding day ball with her husband, Baron Nicolas Silfverschiöld, in 1964.
The Swedish Princess’ funeral could be an alternative (or additional) explanation for Queen Camilla’s choice of clothing and jewellery on the day. For example, Queen Margrethe of Denmark owns a strikingly similar brooch to Queen Camilla, and often wears it for family funerals. According to expert royal jewellery site The Court Jeweller, ‘It’s a memorial brooch made in honour of her great-grandmother, Princess Louise, Duchess of Connaught.’ It also explains that brooches like these act as ‘tokens of remembrance, created for mourning family members to wear after the death of a royal relative.’
Patrick van Katwijk
Queen Margrethe has a strikingly similar brooch, which she wears for serious events, including here at the funeral of former King Constantine II of Greece, in 2023.
The Palace hasn’t publicly commented on the reasoning behind this choice of jewellery (as is standard). But, in either case, it looks as though Queen Camilla will have chosen her demure all-black outfit and sombre brooch to reflect a more serious, respectful mood on a difficult day for The Royal Family.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has denied any wrongdoing.
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