Historic Diamonds / Royal Stories
The Glorious Royal Jewels of Queen Camilla
The most impressive diamonds of Camilla, the Queen Consort of the United Kingdom.
Updated July 16, 2025
Written by: Josie Goodbody
When the Duchess of Cornwall became Queen Camilla on 9th September 2022, following the death of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, she inherited the largest collection of jewelry in the world—often surmised to be worth in the region of $120 million (£100 million).
Since her wedding to Prince Charles in 2005, the Queen Consort has worn a plethora of prominent pieces; many of which once belonged to the Queen Mother, whilst many others are either her own family pieces or presents from her husband. At the time of their marriage, several ‘royal experts’ envisaged that she would wear understated pieces. Far from it! In one of her first state visits, to Uganda in 2007, the then Duchess of Cornwall wore the Greville diamond parure, possibly the most ornate and intricate of all. Subsequently, we have become used to seeing her wearing the fabulous Greville Diamond Tiara, officially the largest diadem in the collection.
Meet the Expert
- Josie Goodbody is a jewelry historian, novelist, and communications specialist with a passion for storytelling and the world of high jewelry.
- Goodbody is the author of the Jemima Fox mystery series, blending intrigue with dazzling jewels, and her work has appeared in the Daily Mail and Rapaport.
Honoring Queen Elizabeth II Through Iconic Jewelry Choices
Since becoming Queen Consort, she has chosen to pay homage to the beloved late queen by choosing significant pieces for relevant occasions. Since King Charles III’s coronation in 2023, Queen Camilla has worn Elizabeth II’s favorite Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara, Queen Alexandra’s Kokoshnik Tiara and more.
Just ahead of her 78th birthday, Queen Camilla has become the first woman and the first member of the Royal Family to be named Vice Admiral of the United Kingdom. The honor recognizes her commitment to the Navy and dates back to the reign of King Henry VIII.
Take a look back on Queen Camilla’s most impressive diamond jewelry moments.
Queen Camilla Pulled The 132-Year-Old Rothschild Diamond Watch Brooch Out of the Vaults for the 2025 Royal Ascot
Queen Camilla attended the 2025 Royal Ascot, wearing a priceless natural diamond royal heirloom that hadn’t been seen in a century – the Rothschild Diamond Watch Brooch. The 132-year-old diamond brooch was last seen in 1936. Alice de Rothschild, aka. ‘Miss Alice’ gave it to Mary of Teck as a wedding present upon her marriage to the future King George V in 1893. The Queen Mother also wore the brooch back when her title was Duchess of York, but Queen Elizabeth II never publicly wore it during her reign.
Queen Camilla Wore Queen Elizabeth II’s 18.8-Carat Cullinan V Heart-Shaped Diamond Brooch
Queen Camilla lead the Royal Procession at the 2025 Royal Ascot, with King Charles in the first carriage. The Queen wore a feathered hat by Philip Treacy and a Dior dress coat with Queen Elizabeth II’s 18.8-carat Cullinan V diamond heart brooch pinned to her lapel.
One of Queen Elizabeth’s favorite pieces, she wore the brooch on several occasions, including Prince Philip’s 99th birthday portrait and Princess Eugenie’s wedding day. The diamond originally belonged to Mary of Teck. In 1911, she had it transformed into the stomacher of her Delhi Durbar parure. As styles evolved and stomachers went out of fashion, Queen Mary had it redesigned as a brooch and later gifted it to Queen Elizabeth.
Queen Camilla Wore Queen Mary’s Crown for King Charles III’s Coronation
Queen Camilla appeared regal as ever for King Charles III’s coronation in 2023, wearing the crown that Queen Mary wore at to 1911 coronation. However, she modified it in tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II.
The crown was reset with the Cullinan III, IV, and V, which were part of the late monarch’s personal collection. She wore them frequently as a single or multi-stone brooch. These stones all cut from the largest gem-quality rough diamond ever found. The Cullinan III (94.4 carats) and IV (63.6 carats) diamonds were originally set in Queen Mary’s crown, but they were later removed to make the brooch for her granddaughter on her coronation day in 1953. Queen Elizabeth referred to them as “Granny’s chips.”
Queen Camilla and the George VI Victorian Suite
For the South African State Banquet, the King and Queen’s first home State Banquet in November 2022, the Queen Consort wore an exceptional parure of diamonds and sapphires, which has as its sobriquet, the George VI Victorian Suite, of which the tiara is called The Belgian Sapphire. Most recently, Queen Camilla wore it again to attend the State Banquet during the first State Visit made by France in 17 years, welcoming President Emmanuel Macron and Mrs. Brigitte Macron at Windsor Castle.
In 1944 for Queen Elizabeth II‘s 18th birthday, King George VI gave his daughter, a sapphire and diamond bracelet. It was one of the first pieces of ‘grown-up’ jewelry that the future queen received. As Suzy Menkes mentioned in her book “The Royal Jewels“, because of WWII the future queen came late to wearing the jewels that she would inherit from her grandmother, Queen Mary, who so loved jewelry that she created an encyclopedia of them.
On Elizabeth’s marriage to Philip in 1947, George VI gave his daughter an exceptional set of Victorian sapphires and diamonds to match the sapphire bracelet. According to the jewelry historian, Leslie Field, the sapphires were from the 1850s and therefore the diamonds were most likely Brazilian, having been set in the demi-parure before 1867, the year the Eureka diamond was found in South Africa.
The George VI Victorian Suite was first seen in 1949 and then again in 1951 during a royal tour of Canada. In 1952, Her Majesty had the necklace shortened by removing the largest sapphire, which in 1959 she had created into a sapphire pendant, more often worn as a brooch.
Now to the sumptuous sapphire and diamond tiara; this was, unusually, purchased by the late Queen in 1963 to create a full parure with the jewels given to her by her parents; it is called the Belgian Sapphire Tiara because its provenance began with Princess Louise of Belgium.
This 19th-century princess had a slightly scandalous life; after having two children, she left her husband for a Croatian Count and was expelled from royal life. However, by 1907 and living as a divorcée with Conte Geza, she had surmounted debts of 250,000 marks (German Empire currency until 1914) so the jewelry she inherited from her mother, Queen Marie Henriette, was confiscated by her creditors and sold.
What we now know as a tiara, was originally a necklace, but when bought by Her Majesty in 1963; it was converted into a tiara, probably by then Crown Jewellers: Garrard. Queen Elizabeth II wore the full parure countless times, and it is a joy to see the Queen Consort continue this spectacular sporting of sapphires and diamonds.
Queen Camilla and The Greville Diamond Suite
We had become used to seeing the then Duchess in the Greville Diamond Tiara, which is perhaps one of the most impressive and extravagant of all pieces loaned to her by the Queen. It is part of sixty or more pieces bequeathed to the Queen Mother in 1942 by a loyal friend of Queen Mary’s, Dame Margaret Greville.
The tiara, also known as the Boucheron Honeycomb Tiara, was created by Boucheron in 1921 using diamonds from a 1901 tiara, created by the iconic Parisian jeweler. The tiara is constructed around a geometrical honeycomb pattern, pavé-set with diamonds, and surrounded by a millegrain setting in platinum, thereby increasing the sparkle so spectacularly; round brilliant diamonds placed within the honeycomb sections, are also bordered by millegrain. In 1953, Cartier increased the height of this already significant piece by rearranging clusters of brilliants on the top layer, as well as adding four round brilliants from one of Her Majesty’s brooches and crowning the piece with a large marquise at the apex.
Also part of the same bequest from Lady Greville is the spectacular Greville Festoon Necklace, which the Queen Consort wore for the first time in Uganda, alongside the sumptuous Greville tiara. The diamond necklace by Cartier originally had two rows of plaques set with pavé-set diamonds around central round brilliants and a back-chain of two simple lines of diamonds fastened with a large brilliant also within a pave-set plaque.
In 1938 Mrs. Greville commissioned Cartier to add four more plaques and redesign the back clasp, she also commissioned another necklace with three rows of 18 plaques that could be attached to the original necklace to create a fabulous five-row festoon necklace. What a commission!
“In spectacular symmetry to her first State Visit as a member of the Royal Family, Camilla wore the Greville Tiara for her first State Visit as Queen. But instead of the festoon, she paid honour to Her late Majesty by wearing the fabulous Fringe Necklace, given to Princess Elizabeth as a wedding present by the City of London.
This piece comprises 56 graduated bars set with a variety of brilliant-cut, cushion-cut and pear-shaped diamonds, interspersed with slim spikes set with graduated brilliant-cut diamonds. The Queen Consort also wore a pair of fringe style earrings set with baguette diamonds. Her Majesty wore the Garter Star and the Royal Family Order of Queen Elizabeth II, alongside the Grand Cross of the Federal Order of Merit, given to her by the German president, Herr Steinmeier, on occasion of the visit to Germany in March 2023.”
Queen Camilla’s Signature Pearl Choker with Diamond Clasp
We have also become accustomed to seeing the Queen Consort wear the pearl choker that was inherited from her mother, Rosalind Cubitt, a granddaughter of Alice Keppel. Camilla cleverly transforms the opulent pearls by alternating the number of strings – sometimes three, sometimes four, and sometimes five; but also the gemstone set clasp to coordinate with whatever dress or suit she is wearing.
On their first public outing, the 50th birthday of Camilla’s sister at the Ritz in London – she attached a large step-cut aquamarine nestled amongst gold scrollwork and ten brilliant cut diamonds. Moreover, there is an amethyst and diamond clasp, a garnet, and an Art Deco style clasp set with an enormous cushion cut diamond that belonged to the Queen Mother.
However, my favorite is the very pretty pink topaz surrounded by natural diamonds of different cuts. The superb jewel, set as a brooch and matching earrings, was bought at Sotheby’s in 2000 by Prince Charles for over £20,000 and is late Georgian. The then duchess wore the topaz pearl choker and earrings in Pakistan in 2006, and of course – innumerable times since.
The Story Behind Queen Camilla’s Art Deco Diamond Engagement Ring
In 2005, King Charles III proposed to Queen Camilla with a 5-carat emerald cut diamond engagement ring, flanked with 3 baguette diamonds graduating in size on each side. The Art Deco design belonged to Charles’s maternal grandmother, the Queen Mother. She was originally gifted the ring as a push present when she gave birth to Queen Elizabeth II and was known to wear the ring throughout the 1980s.
