What are the messages behind Queen Elizabeth’s brooch choices? Royals and public figures don the high jewellery pieces to make a statement – and not just sartorially
- Queen Elizabeth wore a diamond-encrusted Cartier brooch after Prince Philip’s funeral – which was part of a tiara gifted on her wedding day
- Cartier’s panther and Chanel’s lion are particularly iconic, while Carnet’s red pomegranate brooch is popular as an auspicious symbol of prosperity
In the last official portrait taken of Queen Elizabeth and Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, for his 99th birthday last year, the queen wore the famous heart-shaped Cullinan V diamond brooch – one of her favourites – as a symbol of her enduring love for her husband.
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Power brokers of modern times have done the same, from the former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to the former president of the UK Supreme Court, Brenda Marjorie Hale, who famously wore a large spider brooch in 2019 when the Supreme Court ruled that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decision to prorogue parliament had been “unlawful”. Many speculated the pin symbolised the tangled web of politics.
The mischievous Albright owned a “diplomatic arsenal” of brooches, described in her book Read My Pins: Stories from a Diplomat’s Jewel Box. Picked up on her travels, these pieces conveyed messages of warmth, welcome and warning. It was a way for her to inject some humour into her diplomatic role, such as the time she wore a gold snake brooch to meet Saddam Hussein – he had once called her an “unparalleled serpent”.
While a brooch offers a limitless platform for attracting attention and broadcasting a message, it also lets jewellery designers unleash their imagination and creativity.