The meanings behind Queen Elizabeth's brooches

Royal watchers believe her choice of jewellery is never accidental  
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When President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump met with the Queen on their official state visit in June 2019, many eagled-eyed royalists looked out for one particular detail: Queen Elizabeth’s choice of brooch.

AP

Many of the brooch-watchers were inspired by Donald Trump’s first meeting with the Queen in 2018 as the 45th President of the United States. As a member of the Royal Family the Queen is unable to publicly weigh in on political issues, which has prompted some to believe she weaponises her wardrobe instead.

if the jewellery coders are anything to go by, the Queen appeared to throw out some pretty solid shade during her meeting Donald Trump - a move the Internet coined “Brooch Warfare”.

During Trump’s 2018 visit, blogger Samurai Knitter’s observations of Queen Elizabeth’s brooches led the way. The tweets, which have since disappeared after Knitter deleted her Twitter account, honed in on the very first pin Queen Elizabeth wore to meet President Donald Trump.

The brooch was one of the more modest ones in the Queen's collection: a moss agate floral brooch which nearly disappeared against the busy print of her outfit. The American-made brooch was in fact selected by the Obamas and gifted to Queen Elizabeth on their previous state visit.

Queen Elizabeth wearing the brooch at the reciprocal diner in 2011
Getty Images

As Knitter pointed out: “The U.S. has given QE jewelry before over the years and I bet her dresser could put hands on any and all of it given five minutes. But she chose the most sentimental piece in the collection, the one that was given OUT OF FRIENDSHIP WITH THE OBAMAS AS PEOPLE.”

Queen Elizabeth wearing the Obama Moss Agate Floral Brooch on Day 1 of Trump's visit
Getty Images

In addition to this, according to The Court Jeweller, the very first time Queen Elizabeth is known to have worn the brooch was at a “return dinner” held by Barack and Michelle Obama, an event held to thank the Queen for hosting them over the course of their 2011 state visit.

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Michelle Obama talked of how touched she and her husband were that the Queen had chosen to wear the brooch to the state dinner, saying earlier this April: “We gave her a little pin and I remember the evening of the dinner after we exchanged gifts, we were standing in line and she had on a beautiful [outfit]... And in the gloriousness of that outfit that she had on, she put on the little bitty pin we gave her.”

She continued: “And I did the same thing, I was like, ‘You wore the pin’, and she just said ‘hmm, yes’. That was my experience... That kind of warmth and graciousness, and intelligence and wit. I like her.”

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As Sali Hughes, the author of Our Rainbow Queen, explained in her book, “What [Queen Elizabeth] cannot overtly say with language, she secretly says with clothes. Truly, Elizabeth II’s quiet, devastating trolling through fashion could inspire an assassin.”

Her ensuing brooches over Trump’s 2018 visit attracted just as much attention, as on the second day she wore the Sapphire Jubilee Brooch, a gift from a commonwealth country and one of Britain’s staunchest allies... Canada.

Queen Elizabeth wearing the Canadian brooch over the course of Trump's visit
Getty Images

Knitter wrote, “It’s called the Sapphire Jubilee Brooch, and it was given to the Queen of England as a gift for ruling for eleventy billion (okay 65) years. From Canada, you know who Trump’s been screaming about and insulting. The commonwealth country and one of the UK’s greatest allies. Them.”

AFP/Getty Images

And for Trump’s final meeting with the Queen that year, she wore the most 'loaded' brooch of all: one previously worn by the Queen Mother to the funeral of King George VI.

The Queen Mother wearing the brooch to the funeral of King George VI
Corbis via Getty Images

Though the brooch is one of Queen Elizabeth's favourites, called the Queen Mother Palm Leaf Brooch and made by Cartier in 1938.

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If this sounds like much ado about nothing, Hughes pointed out, “This might seem a conspiracy theory too far, were it not for the fact that the Queen is known to have matched her brooches thematically throughout her entire reign.”

While Trump’s 2018 state visit appears to be the first time that Queen Elizabeth has apparently used her brooches to troll a visiting politician, as Hughes points out it isn’t the first time her brooch choice has been viewed as significant. For example, she has been known to wear brooches as a special nod to certain countries or events.

Queen Elizabeth wearing the Three Thistle Brooch at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games (Getty Images)

In 2014 for instance, Queen Elizabeth attended the Glasgow Commonwealth Games wearing the Three Thistle Brooch.

While it’s said to have been gifted to her by the Sultan of Oman, the brooch paid homage to Scotland as the thistle is the country’s national flower.

Queen Elizabeth wearing the Lover's Knot brooch in 1960
The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty

And in a moving gesture, the Queen also chose to wear the True Lover’s Knot to the weddings of two people close to her heart: her sister Princess Margaret’s in 1960 and her grandson Prince William and Kate Middleton’s nuptials in 2011.

Queen Elizabeth and Donald Trump at the 2019 State Banquet
Getty Images

The monarch's choice of accessories during Trump's 2019 visit did not appear to have any political ties, with ER wearing the Round Cambridge Emerald Brooch and the Cullinan VI and VIII brooch.

Donald and Melania also gave her a Trump-approved brooch as a gift: a Tiffany & Co poppy flower which came in a custom White House leather box.

President Donald Trump, Melania Trump, the Queen, Prince Charles and Duchess of Cornwall at the state banquet
AFP/Getty Images

Grisham told CNN, “Working with the State Department, Mrs. Trump takes great care in selecting meaningful gifts.”

Whether or not the gift was the Trumps' attempt to control the brooch narrative, Twitter had a theory that the Queen threw some shade with her tiara instead.

At the state banquet, Queen Elizabeth chose to wear the Burmese Ruby and Diamond Tiara.

AFP/Getty Images

According to the House of Garrard who created the Burmese tiara for the Queen, the "rubies [were] gifted to her on her marriage from the people of Burma. The 96 rubies are a symbolic gesture, as rubies in Burmese culture protect from illness and evil, in this case to protect the wearer from the 96 diseases that can afflict humans".

It didn't take long before Twitter exploded with theories that ER was at it again.

In any case, nothing beats the Queen's EU hat that she wore to parliament in the wake of Brexit. You didn't need to be an accessory expert to decode that one...

Queen Elizabeth II - In pictures

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