Queen Elizabeth wore one of her most historic signature brooches this Friday.
Buckingham Palace shared a picture of the Queen attending a virtual meeting with young leaders supported by the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust, in a post on the official royal family Instagram on Friday. In the picture, the Queen appears to be wearing one of her three Victoria Bow Brooches that date back to the 1800s.
The post also included a clip of the Queen addressing the young leaders from the U.K., Rwanda, Guyana, and The Maldives, whose work has helped members of their communities. “The very interesting thing about listening to all of you is how much teamwork matters. I think for the Commonwealth Trust it’s obviously very, very important. Thank you for telling me all your experiences and wonderful work you’re doing,” she said.
The diamond bow brooch was handed down from Queen Victoria, who ruled from the United Kingdom from 1837 to her death in 1901. Queen Victoria, who is Queen Elizabeth’s great-grandmother, preferred to wear all three brooches at once cascading down the front of her skirt. In 1901, Queen Victoria designated the brooches as “heirlooms of the crown” that pass directly from monarch to monarch to be worn by queens regnant or consort.
The Queen prefers to wear one bow brooch at a time, and has worn them to a variety of daytime events, according to People. She previously wore one of the brooches on September 9, 2015, when she surpassed Queen Victoria as Britian’s longest reigning monarch. Her Majesty also wore one of the brooches to Princess Diana’s funeral in 1997.
The Queen, who often loans out her precious jewelry to members of the Royal Family, also loaned one of the brooches to Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, in 1986. Ferguson wore the brooch at the Braemar Gathering, an annual sporting competition in the Scottish Highlands that has been one of the reigning monarch’s official patronages since the reign of Queen Victoria.
