Queen Camilla Underscored the Ties Between Britain and Canada With One Unexpected Jewelry Choice

This week, King Charles III and Queen Camilla made a three-day trip to Canada, where they still reign as king and queen. In a speech to parliament, the king made headlines for defending Canada’s “freedom” without making specific references to President Donald Trump’s threats to turn the member of the Commonwealth into the 51st state. Though Camilla didn’t make any similar public remarks, her choice of jewelry emphasized the long-standing connections between Canada and generations of the royal family.

During a Monday walkabout in Ottawa, the queen wore a familiar Canadian Maple Leaf brooch, crafted by jewelry brand Asprey in platinum and diamonds. The piece was given to the Queen Mother as a gift in 1939, and it has served as the must-have accessory for royals in Canada ever since. The late Queen Elizabeth made her debut in it back in 1951, and she continued to wear it for the rest of her life. She loaned it to Camilla during her previous trips to Canada, and both Princess Anne and Kate Middleton wore the brooch when they visited the nation.

Camilla paired the brooch with a pink Anna Valentine dress and another familiar piece crafted by Asprey, the 167 Button necklace. The 18ct white gold pendant features a central amethyst surrounded by pavé-set diamonds, and according to The Court Jeweller’s Lauren Kiehna, the necklace is also engraved with the initials of her grandchildren.

During their Tuesday trip to the Canadian Parliament, where the king read a speech prepared by the government, now headed by recently elected Prime Minister Mark Carney, Camilla wore a green dress and a brooch with special significance in Canadian history, the Pellatt brooch bearing the insignia of the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada, the Canadian militia’s oldest infantry regiment. Camilla became the colonel-in-chief of the regiment back in 2012, a role she took over from Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy.

During her first trip to Canada following the appointment, she debuted the brooch, named after the regiment’s modern hero, industrialist and soldier Sir Henry Pellatt. The bejeweled piece is fashioned in the shape of the regiment’s cap badge, including a figure 2 set in rubies. It’s unclear when the piece was created, but writer Carlie Oreskovich has noted that Pellatt’s wife, Mary, was seen wearing a “brilliant” diamond-and-ruby version of the regiment’s crest during its fiftieth-anniversary ceremony in 1910.