Princess Kate skipped this year's Diplomatic Corps reception, but even though fans didn't get to see the royal in a tiara on November 18, Queen Camilla treated the world to a very unexpected emerald moment. The Queen wore the Greville Emerald Kokoshnik, the same tiara Princess Eugenie wore on her 2018 wedding day—and its sudden appearance amid the scandals surrounding the York family hardly seems coincidental.
Prior to Tuesday night's reception, Princess Eugenie had been the only member of the Royal Family to ever wear the tiara publicly. According to royal jewelry expert Lauren Kiehna of The Court Jeweller, the piece was created for Dame Margaret Greville and was passed down to the Queen Mother in 1942. Queen Elizabeth inherited the tiara after her mother's death in 2002, but neither the late Queen nor her mother ever wore it publicly.
The tiara only saw the light of day when Princess Eugenie married Jack Brooksbank at St George's Castle in 2018, and the piece has been sitting in the royal vaults ever since. It was widely assumed in royal circles that Queen Camilla would soon be wearing the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara after it was removed from the Edwardians exhibit at The King's Gallery last week—making The Queen's choice of the Greville tiara even more surprising.
Queen Camilla is seen at the Diplomatic Corps Reception at Windsor Castle on November 18.
Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank are seen at their 2018 wedding.
Queen Camilla is seen with King Charles at the Diplomatic Corps Reception on November 18.
It's a choice that Kiehna called "jaw-dropping" and as my friend Lauren Parkinson put it, might just be the "plot twist of the century" in the Andrew Mountbatten Windsor scandal.
Wearing a tiara so closely associated with Princess Eugenie in the wake of her father's title-stripping and subsequent eviction from Royal Lodge seems to be a sign of support for the 35-year-old royal. Eugenie also stepped out for a mentoring event on behalf of The King's Foundation last week, with her uncle's charity sharing photos from the event on social media.
Majesty magazine editor-in-chief Ingrid Seward recently told the Sun that The King "is determined to embrace his nieces." She added, "I think that Charles feels quite responsible for these two girls, because it’s been a hideous time for them. Really hideous."
Although it seems like a subtle gesture from Camilla, choosing to wear this particular tiara during such a difficult time for Princess Eugenie says it all.
