Or should we say: Charles’ tribute to his wife?
A good year and a half after his accession to the throne and a good year after his coronation, King Charles provided a nice scoop this week during the state banquet for the Japanese delegation: he had provided his beloved wife, Queen Camilla, with a brand new order. But what does this actually mean?
Medal of Honor
At a state banquet, of course, a white tie dress code applies, where pomp and circumstance is an absolute must. Gala dresses, diamonds, tiaras, ribbons, chains and medals: everything is pulled out of the closet!
This was also the case last Monday, when the British royal couple hosted a grand banquet for Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako. In addition to these protagonists, Prince William, Prince Edward and Duchess Sophie were of course also present, as well as several other prominent and less prominent guests. Of all the jewels and badges of honor they wore, however, one item particularly caught the eye: Camilla’s brand new portrait of her husband.
Family order
You may have noticed it at state banquets: many royal ladies carry a portrait of a reigning or deceased monarch. Although we do not have this tradition in the Netherlands, we still see the custom in Sweden…
…Norway…
…Denmark…
…and therefore the United Kingdom.
These Royal Family Orders often go back centuries, and we actually only see them at prestigious white tie events. Although traditions vary slightly from country to country, in general such an order consists of a portrait of the monarch who hands it out, surrounded by a set of diamonds, and pinned with a ribbon on the left side. The reverse of the medal features an engraving of the monarch’s monogram.
Charles III
In the British, each reigning monarch has his own Royal Family Order, which they can distribute to female members of the Windsor family at their discretion. So over the years we’ve seen quite a few royal ladies with a miniature portrait of the late Queen Elizabeth pinned to their chest. In turn, she always wore the orders of Kings George V and George VI, her grandfather and her father.
While we know that Buckingham Palace usually wastes no time in showcasing their traditions with great fanfare, this family order is a rare exception to the rule. For example, it was not known that Camilla had received it until Camilla’s appearance with this special badge of honor.
Image: NL Image
Thanks to Buckingham Palace and various experts, we now know a lot more about Cam’s new accessory. For example, the tiny portrait of her husband was painted by Elizabeth Meek, based on Charles’ official portrait photograph by Hugo Burnand. This painting is surrounded with diamonds and set in a gold frame.
This frame hangs from a small Tudor crown by goldsmith and jeweller Fiona Rae, with a construction by court jeweller Mark Appleby. The light blue silk ribbon is again from Philip Treacy – who we know best from his beautiful hats. Sweet detail: according to Buckingham Palace, the colour of the ribbon was chosen by Charles personally, as an ode to the light blue ribbon that his great-grandfather, King George V, chose for his family order at the time.
So this jewel is as much a tribute from Charles to his beloved Camilla, as vice versa.
Receivers
As we just mentioned, the presentation of this jewel is not extensively measured by the court. It is therefore unknown exactly when Queen Camilla received the order.
Furthermore, there may well be multiple recipients – Queen Elizabeth reportedly gave out a set of her Family Orders at Christmas. But until Princess Kate shows up at another gala event, we simply don’t know if she has one of those coveted ribbons. In short: unfortunately, we have no choice but to wait!
Source: Tatler, The Daily Mail, Instagram @BritishRoyalJewels | Image: NL Image
