At yesterday’s services commemorating the sacrifices made by the ANZAC soldiers and other allied troops a hundred years ago in Gallipoli, the Queen wore a brooch that belonged to her mother: the Palm Leaf Brooch.
The Queen has been regularly wearing jewels from the Queen Mum’s collection at events remembering those who fought and died in the two World Wars, both of which were seminal events in Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon’s life.
The Queen Mother commissioned Cartier to make the Palm Leaf brooch for her in 1938. The jewelers used loose diamonds that were already in her collection to construct the piece, which jewel lovers have noted also shares a major resemblance to paisley motifs. Above, the Queen Mum wears the brooch during a visit to Hull in 1941.
The Queen Mum wore the brooch throughout her lifetime, donning it in the famous photograph taken of her with her daughter and mother-in-law after George VI’s death…
…as well as in images taken of her toward the end of her century-long life.
The Queen inherited the brooch from her mother in 2002, and in recent years, it’s become one of her more frequently-worn pieces.
Leave a Reply