Princess Anne chose a very particular brooch when she hosted a garden party for injured veterans at Buckingham Palace last week.
The Princess Royal was all smiles as she hosted the Not Forgotten Association annual garden party on May 17 which gathered more than 2,000 beneficiaries from all services.
Anne was accompanied by her husband Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence for the special event which been traditionally hosted in the Buckingham Palace Garden since 1921.
King Charles’s sister looked every inch the royal she is in a cream coat dress which featured brown metallic embroidery in curved, feather-style shapes.
She paired the look with a matching statement hat, white gloves and beige heels.
Anne accessorised the look with a matching jewellery set featuring pearls but it was her stunning brooch that sparked many people’s interest – a diamond and gold brooch that’s been part of her collection for decades.
The brooch has been in the royal’s collection since 1973 and was branded “particularly sentimental” by jewellery expert as it was given to her from the late Queen Elizabeth as a wedding gift.
Diamond Expert, Maxwell Stone, of Steven Stone, said: “The piece has been identified as the Princess Royal’s stalactite brooch, which was created by Andrew Grima and has been in her jewellery box since 1973.
“It’s a particularly sentimental piece for Anne as she received it from her Mother – the late Queen Elizabeth II – as a wedding gift when she tied the knot with her first husband, Captain Mark Phillips. I’d estimate it to be worth £16,000.
“Princess Anne frequently wears the brooch with her Grima Pearl Earrings, which constitute gold, pearl, and diamonds in a modern leaf design.
“Gifted to her by her mother and father in the late 1960’s, the earrings are one of Anne’s longest serving pieces of jewellery and have huge sentimental value. The retail price for a pair of earrings like Princess Anne’s would be at the top end of £3,000.”
The Not Forgotten Association is a tri-service charity which Princess Anne is a patron of and provides entertainment, leisure and recreation for ex-service men and women with disabilities or illness and serving personnel who are wounded, injured or sick.