The Royal Family often choose red, white and blue for events around Commonwealth Day for pretty obvious reasons but one duchess just gave a masterclass in flag dressing with the help of some rarely seen jewels.

The Duchess of Gloucester joined King Charles, Queen Camilla and the Prince and Princess of Wales at Westminster Abbey for the Commonwealth Day service and turned to some sparkling gems almost a century old to make sure she ticked all the colours on the flag.

For this important event in the royal calendar, the Duchess wore a deep navy coat with matching hat which sorted out the blue but the most striking part of her outfit were the two sparkling gems pinned to each of the lapels of her collar.

The jewels are made of diamonds and rubies, adding in the white and red needed for a full on flag tribute. But these are very elegant. The Duchess of Gloucester chose two stylish diamond and ruby clips for her Commonwealth Day outfit.

The clips feature rubies in their centres, surrounded by seas of small, sparkling diamonds. They once belonged to Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, the late mother in law of the current duchess.

Birgitte, who now holds that title, makes good use of Alice’s rather fantastic jewellery collection although always in her own discreet way. The Duchess of Gloucester carries out a wide range of engagements for the Royal Family and is also a constant at big events like the Commonwealth Day service.