As part of their royal visit to France, Queen Camilla and King Charles attended the Palace of Versailles for a state banquet last night, alongside 150 carefully curated guests.
Earlier in the day, Camilla dazzled as she stepped off the plane in a pink coat-dress and her favourite necklace, so we couldn’t wait to see what she had instore.
Camilla was a vision in blue as she stepped out of the car wearing a navy cape dress and sapphire jewellery – consisting of earrings, a necklace and a bracelet.
Fine jewellery experts at UK retailer Steven Stone have taken a close look at the jewels and revealed everything there is to know – from where we’ve seen them before, to their impressive price tag.
Gifted to Queen Elizabeth II by her Father on her wedding day in 1947, the King George VI Victorian Suite was undoubtedly among the late monarchs most meaningful jewels.
The sapphire and diamond cluster line necklace originally featured 18 sapphires, sat on a gradient, ranging from 8 to 30cts, before Queen Elizabeth II redesigned it in 1952 – the late monarch removed four of the sapphire clusters from the back and re-modelled and reset one of larger stones from the front, to create a beautiful pendant for the necklace. Sometime during the ’60s, she also commissioned a matching bracelet to accompany the set.
Also featuring a pair of sapphire earrings that look to be 15ct, the King George VI Victorian Suite is likely to be worth £5,000,000.
In November 2022, Camilla wore the suite to a white tie banquet at Buckingham Palace in honour of visiting South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa. An evening that marked King Charles’s first state banquet, and the first official state visit hosted by the UK since he became monarch.
“It’s heart-warming to see that Queen Camilla wore Queen Elizabeth II’s King George VI Victoria Suite for the state dinner at the Palace of Versailles as a sweet nod to Queen Elizabeth II.
Gifted to the late monarch by her father on her wedding day in 1947, the suite was undoubtedly among her most meaningful jewels. The King George VI Victoria Suite consists of a sapphire and diamond cluster line necklace, a pair of sapphire earrings and a bracelet – though the bracelet wasn’t originally part of the set and was actually commissioned by Queen Elizabeth II sometime during the ‘60s.
The incredible sapphire and diamond cluster line necklace originally featured 18 sapphires, sat on a gradient, ranging from 8 to 30cts, before it was redesigned in 1952. The huge sapphires are surrounded by a halo of diamonds, and linked together by additional single stone diamonds, which are between 0.8ct and 1.5ct. The sapphire earrings look to be 15ct.
This isn’t the first time that Queen Camilla has worn the suite and she famously wore it to King Charles’ first state banquet – an evening which also marked the first official state visit hosted by the UK since he became monarch.
I’d estimate the suite to be worth a staggering £5,000,000.”
maxwell stone, leading jewellery expert, steven stone
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