The first British Royal Family Order, a badge awarded only to female members of the family by the king or queen of England, was issued during the regency of George IV (1820-1830). A couple of centuries later, Queen Camilla has debuted the new insignia, that of her husband, King Charles III. She wore it for the first time at the state banquet with the Japanese emperors on the night of this Tuesday, June 25. Camilla appeared in the Buckingham Palace ballroom wearing a miniature portrait of her husband covered in diamonds, crowned with a small gold and enamel Tudor crown – which was decorated by goldsmith and jeweler Fiona Rae, who established her business in 1990 on loan from Charles of England’s charity, The Princes Trust― and suspended on a pale blue silk ribbon on her left shoulder. The reverse, in yellow gold, has a turned background engraved with a sunburst pattern, overlaid with the current monarch’s coronation date, May 6, 2023.
Charles of England, the heir who has waited the longest to be king, acceded to the throne more than 18 months ago, after the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in September 2022. But he has not given his order until now, and he has decided who better than his wife to show it off for the first time. The small oil portrait of him was painted by renowned miniaturist Elizabeth Meek MBE and, as expected, the monarch has avoided the controversial tradition of using ivory as a support for the painting – since 2017 it has been done on glass. Instead, he has used polymin, a synthetic material that imitates the texture of that obtained from the teeth of vertebrates, but which in reality consists of a plastic sheet. Charles of England already opted for an oil suitable for vegans for his coronation anointing ceremony and the record of said anniversary, which was presented at the beginning of last May, was made for the first time since 1308 with vegan paper .
The image showing the Order of the Family is inspired by a 2023 portrait taken by photographer Hugo Burnand, in which Charles of England poses in the uniform of Admiral of the Fleet and a long list of decorations: the Royal Victorian Order, the Star of the Garter, the Star of the Thistle, the Necklace of the Garter and the Order of the Bath, among other details. The Order of the Family was designed and constructed by crown jeweler Mark Appleby, while the pale blue silk bow has been created by Camilla’s favorite milliner, Philip Treacy. No detail has been left to chance. Even the color of the ribbon, that pale blue, was personally selected by the king and is based on the ribbon used by his great-grandfather, King George V – George VI’s color was pink and Elizabeth II’s was chartreuse yellow. ―. The diamonds have been taken from the collection of loose stones included in the royal collection and weigh 10.41 carats.
But the queen consort not only carried her husband’s portrait last night. Under the Order of Charles, Camila also wore the one given to her by her late mother-in-law, Isabel II, created in 1952, when she ascended the throne – and this one was painted on ivory. She received it on her 60th birthday, in 2007.
In addition, she wore a Burmese tiara of rubies and diamonds on her head with a very special story. It was one of only two tiaras that Elizabeth II designed for her. In 1973, the then sovereign commissioned the Garrard jewelry chain to destroy two of the wedding gifts she had received and asked it to turn them into a single magnificent piece, which is the one Camila wore at the banquet with Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako.
The insignia of the Family Orders are worn on formal evening occasions by female members of the Royal Family and are a sign of the wearer’s importance within the royal household. The Queen Mother often wore the orders of her daughter and her late husband, George VI, while Elizabeth II wore the Order of George VI and that of George V together.
Camilla is also not the only queen consort to wear her husband’s miniature portrait. On April 25, the Danish royal house released the first official gala portrait of the new kings of Denmark, Frederick the Order of Dannebrog. For generations, there has also been a tradition for the women of the Danish royal family to wear a miniature portrait of the sovereign. In fact, during her years as Princess Mary she already wore one with the image of Margaret of Denmark.
