• Queen Camilla wore a 129-year-old brooch from Queen Victoria’s collection to an event commemorating Holocaust Memorial Day on January 27.
  • Both the Queen and King Charles took part in a reception to mark the occasion at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday.
  • Camilla’s choice to wear this particular brooch is deeply intentional and deliberate, a jewelry expert explained.

As she marked Holocaust Memorial Day on January 27 alongside her husband King Charles, Queen Camilla wore a 129-year-old brooch from Queen Victoria that she hadn’t worn in over three years, since Queen Elizabeth’s funeral in September 2022.

Camilla wore Queen Victoria’s Hesse Diamond Jubilee Brooch to a reception honoring Holocaust Memorial Day at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday, making it only the second time she has worn the piece as Queen. The brooch—made by Fabergé—was given to Victoria by four of her grandchildren in 1897 to mark her Diamond Jubilee, Town & Country reported, and features “an open pendant heart” and three blue sapphires. The Cyrillic word for 60—indicative of Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee—is depicted in diamonds.

Queen Camilla and King Charles on January 27, 2026.

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Though this marked only the second time Camilla has worn the brooch as Queen, she wore it before 2022, when she was still the Duchess of Cornwall. Before Camilla wore it in 2007 during a visit to the United States, it hadn’t been seen in public for over a century, according to Town & Country.

Queen Camilla wearing the brooch at Queen Elizabeth’s funeral in 2022.

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Jewelry expert Nilesh Rakholia told Marie Claire that the Queen’s choice of this particular brooch was intentional. “Jewelry worn on occasions like Holocaust Memorial Day is never decorative,” Rakholia said. “It functions as a visual language or remembrance, continuity, and restraint.”

Queen Camilla and King Charles on January 27, 2026.

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“Choosing a piece rooted in one of the longest reigns in British history subtly reinforces the idea of remembrance across generations—an acknowledgement that history must be carried forward, not distanced,” Rakholia continued. He added that the Queen “is acutely aware of context. On commemorative occasions, she avoids overly grand or immediately recognizable heirlooms. Instead, she selects pieces that carry meaning without demanding attention. The absence of excess is intentional.”