On September 8, 2022, ?Queen Elizabeth II died aged 96 while surrounded by her family at Balmoral Castle, Scotland.
Throughout her life, the monarch famously owned one of the finest and most historically important collection of jewels in the world.
From wedding gifts to items passed through the royal family from her descendants, Queen Elizabeth II's jewellery box included heirloom pieces and the Crown Jewels.? It's believed they were passed down to close family members in the wake of her death.
Sir Hugh Roberts ¨C Surveyor Emeritus of the Queen's Works of Art ¨C and former director of The Royal Collection has written extensively on the subject in his mammoth book The Queen's Diamonds, which has informed this gallery.
Read on to see a selection of brooches that are among the most spectacular and important in the late Queen Elizabeth II's collection ¨C and which of the royal women have worn them to honour the late monarch.
For a daily dose of 9Honey, subscribe to our newsletter here
Camilla, Queen Consort mastered the art of diplomatic dressing while in Germany, accompanying King Charles III on his first state visit as monarch.
Eagle-eyed royalists ?noticed the 75-year-old accessorised with something special on the couple's final day in the country, with the Queen Consort opting to sport Prince Albert's brooch, which is a diamond and sapphire pin beloved by Queen Victoria and often worn by the late Queen Elizabeth II.
There is, however, more than meets the eye when it comes to this sparkler, with its origins steeped in history and politics.?
Pictured here wearing the diamond and sapphire brooch in Berlin in 2015, the late Queen was not the first royal to wear it.
According to the Royal Collection Trust, ?Prince Albert gave Queen Victoria the brooch the night before their wedding in 1840, and she pinned it to her white wedding gown on the big day.
Victoria cherished the brooch for her whole life, and passed it down as an heirloom of the crown for future generations, with every Queen wearing it ever since.
The Queen and Camilla's choice to wear the brooch in Germany is poignant, as Albert was born in Germany in 1819.?
Read on to learn more about the Queen's other brooches.?
For her 18th birthday in 1944, the Queen was gifted this pair of aquamarine clip brooches from her parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.
The monarch wore them proudly in this photo, which was released one day prior to her funeral on September 19, 2022. ?
It was the last official photo the royal family released of the Queen before her funeral.
The brooches hold huge sentimental value for the monarch, who chose to wear them for her first public engagement ¨C the Queen's Speech at the State Opening of Parliament ¨C outside Windsor Castle following the death of her husband, Prince Philip, in 2021.
The art deco design features aquamarines and diamonds in a clip-style popularised by Cartier, but according to the Royal Collection, this was made by Boucheron.
Prior to the opening of parliament, Her Majesty was last seen wearing the clips during her VE Day 75th anniversary address to the nation in 2020.
However, the Queen has previously worn the brooches on a number of occasions, including during a 2005 visit to Malta (pictured).
The monarch also popped the present from her parents on for her Diamond Jubilee message in 2012.
It's been reported that Her Majesty also wore the sentimental jewels for a private birthday lunch with the Obamas in 2016.
The Queen's walking cane wasn't the only accessory of note when she attended a service of thanksgiving to mark the Centenary of the Royal British Legion inside Westminster Abbey in London on October 12.
Pinned to her blue coat was the jewel known as Queen Mary's Russian brooch, as it was given to the-then Princess Mary of Teck as a wedding present in 1893 by Empress Marie Feodorovna of Russia.
The brooch features a large square-cut diamond and a blue square cabochon sugarloaf sapphire set in a scroll frame of diamonds.
The brooch can be worn on its side or vertically, as the Queen has done here.
The jewel came into Queen Elizabeth's collection in 1953.
And it's not the only jewel with origins in Russia, with the Queen's royal jewellery vault containing many pieces with links to Russia ĄŞ including the deposed Romanov dynasty.
Her Majesty has worn the brooch countless times during her reign, often pairing it with blue outfits. But in 2018 the brooch was worn with the Queen's canary-yellow coat when she attended Royal Ascot with Prince Harry and Meghan.
Queen Elizabeth II paid tribute to her late mother through the brooch she wore during day five of Royal Ascot in 2021.
The monarch made her first appearance at the racing event on its final day, donning a mint ensemble and pinning a glittering diamond brooch above her heart.
Designed by Cartier, the Fan Leaf Brooch is one of many jewels Her Majesty inherited from Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother when she died in 2002.
In fact, Queen Elizabeth II even drew inspiration for her royal ascot outfit from her late mother in a surprising 'copycat' moment...
Commissioned for the Queen Mother in 1938, she wore the Fan Leaf Brooch regularly before her death aged 101.
Here she is seen wearing it on her own blue ensemble for another racing event at Cheltenham Racecourse, Gloucestershire in 2000.
Queen Elizabeth II appeared at Trooping the Colour 2021 wearing a sparkling aquamarine art deco brooch which belonged to her own mother.
The Queen Mother, wore the statement jewel through the 1930s and 1940s, when art deco styles were very much in fashion.
Featuring a large emerald-cut aquamarine at the centre, that jewel is surrounded by a symmetrical arrangement of emerald- and oval-cut aquamarines, interspersed with diamonds.
When the Queen Mother died in 2002, Her Majesty inherited the piece but chose not to wear it in public until 2014, when she donned it for Royal Ascot.
Her Majesty also wore the aquamarine brooch for her official Christmas address in 2015.
She pinned the sparkling jewel to a cream-coloured dress and accessorised with her signature three-strand pearl necklace.
Queen Elizabeth II chose to wear a family heirloom for the funeral of her husband of 73 years, Prince Philip.
Her Majesty wore the Richmond brooch, inherited from her grandmother Queen Mary.
The large and ornate diamond brooch features a pearl in its centre.
The Queen wore the Richmond Brooch pinned to her black coat, its hanging pearl drop removed.
The piece of jewellery has been a regular in the Queen's royal wardrobe, choosing it for the opening of New South Wales parliament in 1954, on her very first tour to Australia with the Duke of Edinburgh.
The Richmond brooch was chosen to accompany Her Majesty's royal tour wardrobe in 2002 for the Golden Jubilee visit to New Zealand.
And recently, the Richmond brooch was worn by the Queen at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, now the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in 2018, pictured here.
The brooch was a wedding gift to Queen Mary - while she was still known as Princess Victoria Mary of Teck - and is piece is made of silver and gold.
It was given to Queen Mary by the people of Richmond, where the Teck family had spent a lot of time.
Queen Elizabeth II wears the diamond and pearl brooch here, during an audience with Pope John Paul II at The Vatican, in 2000.
Her Majesty chose a very special brooch to wear to her first in-person engagement for 2021.
Queen Elizabeth wore the Australian Wattle brooch, an apt choice considering the event.
The Queen marked the Centenary of the Royal Australian Air Force at the CWGC Air Forces Memorial, in Runnymede, on March 31.
The memorial was opened by Her Majesty on October 17, 1953.
This brooch was made by Melbourne company William Drummond & Co in 1954 and presented to Queen Elizabeth II on her first visit to Australia in 1954 - also the first visit to the country by a reigning monarch.
The brooch was given to the Queen by Prime Minister Robert Menzies at a State Banquet at Parliament House in Canberra.
It consists of white and yellow diamonds in the form of a sprig of golden wattle and a spray of Australian tea tree blossom.
The brooch is worn by Her Majesty here in Canberra during her final visit to Australia, in 2011.
Undoubtedly the biggest and most expensive of all Queen Elizabeth's brooches is the Cullinan III and IV brooch.
Made by Carrington & Co in 1911, the brooch features two large stones cut from the Cullinan diamond - the world's largest diamond ever found, which was cut into many other smaller, yet still very impressive, stones.
Two of the biggest, the Cullinan I and II, are now set in the Sovereign's Sceptre and the Imperial State Crown.
The two stones that form this brooch - the Cullinan III and IV - weigh 94.4 and 63.6 carats.
They were famously called 'Granny's Chips' during Queen Elizbeth's visit to The Netherlands in 1958, because they are so-called off-cuts from the original.
The two stones are a pear-shaped diamond and a square-cut brilliant.
Queen Elizabeth wears the brooch here in 2012, during her Diamond Jubilee, at a Service Of Thanksgiving at St Paul's Cathedral on June 5.
Another stone cut from the famed Cullinan, this one is a heart-shaped diamond known as the Cullinan V.
Weighing 18.8 carats, the Cullinan V is set in platinum and was made by Garrard in 1911.
It was owned by Queen Mary who passed it to Queen Elizabeth II.
Her Majesty wears this brooch frequently, including here at London Fashion Week in February, 2018.
Cullinan VI is the marquise diamond suspended from the emerald-cut Cullinan VIII.
Both were gifts given to Queen Mary by her husband King Edward VII and later passed into the collection of Queen Elizabeth II.
Her Majesty wears the brooch here in an official portrait taken in 1990.
The brooch was crafted by Garrard.
This extraordinary brooch features the finest pink diamond ever mined, also making it one of the world's rarest.
The central stone - the pink diamond - was given to Princess Elizabeth for her wedding in 1947 by Canadian geologist Dr John Thorburn Williamson and in its rough state weighed 54.5 carats.
The gem was cut and polished to its current 23.6 carat weight and set in this platinum brooch by Cartier along with diamonds in various other shapes, in 1953.
Her Majesty wore the brooch for the 1981 wedding of Prince Charles to Princess Diana and at other formal daytime engagements.
Queen Elizabeth II wears the Williamson brooch here at Royal Ascot on June 15, 2011.