Queen Camilla Wears the Queen Mother’s Cartier Ruby Brooches for the Oman State Visit

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King Charles and Queen Camilla welcomed the Sultan of Oman to Windsor Castle on Tuesday for the first state visit by an Omani head of state to the United Kingdom since 1982. They were joined by the Prince and Princess of Wales for the morning’s arrival ceremony, which included a procession through Windsor’s streets in horse-drawn carriages.

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Queen Camilla on the royal dais during the welcome ceremony at Windsor.

In a nod to one of the primary colors on Oman’s national flag, Queen Camilla stepped out all in red, rewearing a red Fiona Clare dress coat and a matching Phillip Treacy hat that she was previously seen in for Commonwealth Day earlier this year. Pinned just to the side of her lapels were the Queen Mother’s Cartier Ruby and Diamond Floral Clips, a pair of ruby and diamond flower brooches that carry a long history within the royal family.

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A closer look at the the Queen Mother’s Cartier Ruby and Diamond Floral Clips.

According to The Court Jeweller, the clips were commissioned by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, who was still the queen consort to King George VI at the time, from Cartier in 1943, and she supplied the loose stones herself. Each brooch in the pair features two flowers: one centered with a ruby and the other with a diamond, with the leaf midribs left as open negative space. The clips were eventually passed down to her eldest daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, upon the Queen Mother’s death.

Queen Elizabeth wore the ruby brooches on several occasions, including Christmas at Sandringham in 2009, where she paired them with a red coat dress in a strikingly similar combination to Tuesday’s look. In 2025, King Charles loaned the brooches, along with several other pieces that once belonged to his grandmother, to the Cartier exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Queen Elizabeth at a thanksgiving service for her wedding anniversary in 2007.

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Queen Elizabeth after church at Sandringham on Christmas Day 2009.

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Queen Camilla has developed a clear affinity for Cartier pieces from the royal collection. For Commonwealth Day earlier this year she wore the Queen Mother’s Cartier Diamond Palm Leaf Brooch. For the state visit to the United States in April she wore the Union Jack and Stars and Stripes brooch originally presented to Queen Elizabeth II as a gift from the city of New York during her visit in 1957. And for the Nigeria state visit in March, she wore the Greville Ivy Leaf Clips, a set of matching pavé-set diamond brooches made by Cartier that once belonged to noted Edwardian socialite Dame Margaret Greville before passing to the Queen Mother.

Rachel King (she/her) is a news writer at Town & Country. Before joining T&C, she spent nearly a decade as an editor at Fortune. Her work covering travel and lifestyle has appeared in Forbes, Observer, Robb Report, Cruise Critic, and Cool Hunting, among others. Originally from San Francisco, she lives in New York with her wife, their daughter, and a precocious labradoodle. Follow her on Instagram at @rk.passport.