Queen Camilla leaned into her usual regal glamour for a visit to Shrewsbury on Wednesday, where she spent time meeting vendors of a local farmers’ market set up in the town square.
Dressing to perfection, the royal, 76, chose to repeat one of her most-worn suede coats hailed from her wedding designer, Anna Valentine. The Queen added her ‘Dressage’ knee-high boots from Russell & Bromley, slipping on a pair of black leather gloves to guard against the March chill.
Most alluring about the royal’s appearance, however, was the addition of two bejewelled bug brooches pinned to her left shoulder; a large, diamond-encrusted bee and a smaller sapphire horsefly set with diamond wings.
Queen Camilla may have chosen to wear her bee brooch, which is set with a cabochon tiger’s eye, with cabochon ruby eyes, because her visit to the farmers’ market included a meeting with members of the local BeeKeepers’ Association.
The Queen looked pristine in a suede Anna Valentine coat and Russell & Bromley boots
Queen Camilla shakes hands with a market trader during her visit to the Farmers’ Market on March 27, 2024 in Shrewsbury, England.
Her smaller brooch, however, has sparked mystery amongst royal style watchers and jewellery experts, who agree that Queen Camilla’s delicate insect accessory has never been seen before.
Queen Camilla wore a bejewelled bee brooch from her personal collection and a smaller brooch, believed to be Queen Elizabeth II’s
On Instagram, @BritishRoyalJewels writes: “In The Queen’s Jewels by Leslie Field, she writes that one of Queen Elizabeth II’s first brooches was a diamond bee brooch set with a cabochon sapphire! She was never seen (that I know of) wearing this brooch. Could this be one of the first brooches given to Her Late Majesty referred to by Field?”
It wouldn’t be a surprise if King Charles’ wife was wearing a piece of jewellery from Her Late Majesty’s personal collection.
Since the late Queen’s death, Camilla has inherited the privilege of wearing several of her mother-in-law’s most precious jewels, including the Queen’s Sapphire Tiara and her Diamond Fringe Necklace, which was a 1947 wedding present from the City of London.
The royal’s diamond-encursted insect brooches are extremely rare
Queen Camilla’s outing in crystal-adorned creepy crawly couture comes just after Queen Maxima of The Netherlands also stepped out in some spine-tingling jewellery.
On Tuesday, the Dutch monarch wore two giant spider brooches from Argentinian jewellers Celedonio during a visit to The Hague. Royal style fans were quick to brand the arachnid accessories as “horrifying”, as another declared the unique brooch as “made of nightmares”.
