Earlier this week, while attending a church service at St. Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, Queen Camilla decided to wear her crown. Not on her head, as is customary, but pinned to her chest as a brooch that adorned her elegant camel-colored coat by Anna Valentine. Camilla completed the ensemble with a DeMellier handbag, Russell & Bromley boots, and hat by Lock & Co. Hatters.
Queen Camilla and King Charles III.
Joe Giddens – PA Images/Getty Images
Yet upon closer inspection, it is not just any brooch, nor is it just any crown. The one the sovereign has decided to pull out of her vast jewelry box is a precious one in the shape of a Tudor crown, none other than the symbol her husband, King Charles, chose to include in his coat of arms when he ascended the throne, and which has since made its appearance everywhere—from royal postmarks to the uniforms of the guards.
There are precisely two figures in the king’s monogram: C for “Charles” and R for “Rex,” meaning “king” in Latin, encased within the Tudor crown. At the time of his accession to the throne in 2022, King Charles’s choice marked a break with the long reign of his late mother. The coat of arms for Queen Elizabeth II instead featured the solemn crown of St. Edward—in homage to Edward the Confessor, who was King of England from 1042 until his death in 1066.