When King Charles and Camilla stepped out for the New Year’s Day service at Sandringham estate on Sunday 1st January 2023, the Queen Consort was displaying an impressive piece of jewellery on her dark coat.
Featuring diamond set letters that spell out ‘Minoru’ – one of King Edward VII’s most successful racehorses – it was a particularly poignant brooch to welcome in the New Year that Camilla likely chose to bring her luck in 2023.
Fine jewellery and diamond experts at Steven Stone couldn’t wait to take a closer look at the piece.
Shaped as a horse-shoe, the brooch features diamond-set letters that spell out the name ‘Minoru’ – alongside three round cut rubies and four round cut sapphires.
Minoru was one of King Edward VII’s most successful thoroughbred racehorses and his win at Epsom in 1909 made him the first reigning monarch to win the Derby – making the brooch a particularly poignant jewel for the Queen Consort to welcome the New Year with.
To celebrate his horse’s grand victories, Edward VII had several jewel-studded scarf-pins made. According to press clippings from the time, Danny Maher – the American-born jockey who rode Minoru to victory in the Free Handicap at Newmarket – was presented with one of the jewel-studded scarf-pins in recognition of his success.
The Queen Consort most recently wore the brooch towards the end of last year, when she attended Ascot’s November Racing Weekend with Ebony Horse Club. Camilla – who has been involved with the charity since 2008 – heard from ten students, who spoke about their experiences with Ebony Horse Club. Following this, four students were invited by Her Majesty to the Royal Box to watch the third race of the day.
Though Camilla isn’t the first member of the royal family to pay homage to their love of horses through jewellery and Princess Anne frequently accessorizes with a golden brooch that’s shaped like a horse.
Princess Charlotte also recently wore a brooch in the shape of a horse-shoe to Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral, which was a particularly heartwarming choice not only as it paid homage to the late monarch’s love of horses, but because it was the first time that the Princess had been seen in a brooch.
“Featuring diamonds, rubies and sapphires, Camilla’s brooch is certainly an impressive piece. The diamond-set letters spell out ‘Minoru’, which was one of King Edward VII’s most successful racehorses – making it a particularly poignant jewel to welcome the New Year with that the Queen Consort likely wore to bring her luck in 2023.
Though how the brooch fell into Camilla’s possession is unknown, press clippings from the time period of Minoru’s victories in the early 1900’s state that King Edward VII commissioned several jewel-studded scarf pins, which makes the Queen Consort’s brooch an incredibly historic piece.
I’d estimate Camilla’s brooch to be worth approximately $15,000.”
MAXWELL STONE, DIAMOND EXPERT, STEVEN STONE
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