The significance behind the Queen's VE Day outfit

Prince William and Kate Middleton celebrated VE Day this weekend by sharing throwback pictures of the Queen, and then of course, the Queen herself addressed the nation in what was possibly her most emotional speech yet.

It marked 75 years since her beloved father King George IV spoke on the day victory was declared, and she ensured he was remembered throughout her address.

During her speech, she was surrounded by pictures of the late King, one of which was him in his uniform, and another showed the whole family on the balcony at Buckingham Palace on VE Day.

And just like she did with her Coronavirus address, the Queen wore significant pieces of jewellery.

This time she wore two Boucheron aquamarine and diamond brooches, which were a present from her parents for her 18th birthday in 1944.

A photo posted by on

They are of an art deco design and feature round, oval and baguette cut diamonds and aquamarines, and while she wore them as two separate pieces, they can be combined to curate the one statement brooch.

She wore three pearl necklaces too, one of which is thought to be a gift from her grandfather, King George V, which she loved so much that she had a similar one made, to wear with it.

The third necklace is said to be a gift from the Emir of Qatar.

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.