Queen Camilla Wears Queen Elizabeth’s Cartier Brooch in Washington

Queen Camilla opened King Charles III’s U.S. visit with a royal jewel that already had American history attached to it.

Arriving at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Monday, Camilla wore Queen Elizabeth II’s Cartier Union Jack and Stars and Stripes brooch, a crossed-flags design given to the late queen during her 1957 state visit to the United States.

Pinned high on her left shoulder, the brooch features two slim flagpoles set in platinum cross at an angle, with the Union Jack placed above the Stars and Stripes. Cartier picked out the British flag in rubies and diamonds. The American flag was worked in diamonds and rubies, with emeralds marking the field of stars.

The brooch came from Elizabeth’s 1957 trip, when New York officials suggested a jewel that would mark the relationship between the two countries. Mayor Robert F. Wagner later presented the finished Cartier design to the queen at a New York luncheon. Camilla’s choice put that history back in view at the start of another first visit by a new British monarch.

She wore the brooch with a pale pink Dior coatdress with long sleeves, a pointed collar and a smooth fit through the torso, along with a matching belt fastened high at the waist. Two flap pockets sat below the belt, and the skirt fell straight below the knee. Camilla paired it with pearl earrings and nude pumps.

Charles, beside her, stayed with his usual tailoring. He wore a structured, two-button front blue pinstripe suit with a light-blue striped shirt, a pale patterned tie and a folded pocket square.

When they arrived at the White House, Charles stayed in the same look, while Camilla changed into a white coatdress with a collarless neckline, squared shoulders, a straight open front and floral beadwork embroidered along the neckline, front, cuffs and hem. She wore it over a matching high-neck top and kept Queen Elizabeth II’s Cartier Union Jack and Stars and Stripes brooch pinned high on her left shoulder.

The royal fashion history around White House visits tends to be far grander. In 2007, when Elizabeth and Prince Philip were hosted by President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush, the late queen dressed for the state dinner in white tie: a white evening gown with a beaded bodice and chiffon skirt, long gloves, a blue sash, diamonds and the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara.

Princess Diana’s best-known White House image came from the Reagan years. In 1985, she wore a midnight-blue Victor Edelstein velvet dress with a sapphire-and-pearl choker for the state dinner. Later that evening, John Travolta took her hand on the dance floor, fixing the off-the-shoulder gown in royal fashion history.

The four-day visit is Charles’ first U.S. state visit as king and the first by a British monarch since Elizabeth’s 2007 trip to Washington. The schedule is built around the 250th anniversary of the United States’ founding, with a garden tea, a White House state dinner and an expected address to Congress giving the trip its ceremonial weight. Elizabeth was the first British monarch to address a joint meeting of Congress in 1991; Charles is expected to become the second.