The Queen always wears this for Trooping The Colour

(Image credit: 2019 Max Mumby/Indigo)
Penny Goldstone
By Penny Goldstone
published

This year's Trooping the Colour celebrations were very different, due of course to the pandemic and social distancing. But there was another small yet quite significant change, which involved the Queen's outfit.

For the first time in years, she wore a diamond leek brooch, as a nod to the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, who marched in the parade this year, and are currently standing guard at Windsor Castle.

Normally, Queen Elizabeth II wears the Brigade of Guards’ Badge without fail every year, for the past 26 years (the only exception was 1988, when she wore a different one).

The Guards' Brooch is an oval diamond frame showcasing the badges of the five household regiments. These include a leek for the Welsh Guards, a thistle for the Scots Guards’, St George’s Cross for the Coldstream Guard, a shamrock for the Irish one and the Grenadier Guards' badge.

These five symbols are topped by a crown, and the oval frame bears the words 'QUINQUE JUNCTA IN UNO', meaning 'five joined as one'.

According to The Court Jeweller blog, the piece of jewellery was likely made from a pendant that belonged to the Queen's aunt, Princess Mary, given to her in 1922.

So if you look back at every picture of Her Majesty during the ceremony in the past couple of decades, you'll notice that particular brooch, and we're sure she'll go back to wearing it next year.

Penny Goldstone
Penny Goldstone

Penny Goldstone is the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire, covering everything from catwalk trends to royal fashion and the latest high street and Instagram must-haves.

Penny grew up in France and studied languages and law at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris before moving to the UK for her MA in multimedia journalism at Bournemouth University. She moved to the UK permanently and has never looked back (though she does go back regularly to stock up on cheese and wine).

Although she's always loved fashion - she used to create scrapbooks of her favourite trends and looks, including Sienna Miller and Kate Moss' boho phase - her first job was at MoneySavingExpert.com, sourcing the best deals for everything from restaurants to designer sales.

However she quit after two years to follow her true passion, fashion journalism, and after many years of internships and freelance stints at magazines including Red, Cosmopolitan, Stylist and Good Housekeeping, landed her dream job as the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire UK.

Her favourite part of the job is discovering new brands and meeting designers, and travelling the world to attend events and fashion shows. Seeing her first Chanel runway IRL at Paris Fashion Week was a true pinch-me moment.

Latest