When Her Majesty landed in London on February 7, 1952, she faced what must have felt like an overwhelming new future. She had left Britain as a princess and returned from Kenya a grieving monarch – and what she wore for her first steps on British soil as queen was important. Her dress was black, of course, but attached to it was the flame lily brooch—a subtle nod to her relationship with her beloved father.
From Thursday, that brooch will be on display as part of a new exhibit at Windsor Castle that explores the coronation through portraits, fashion, photographs and jewelry, and includes the dress, the mantle of the estate, the necklace and earrings she wore.
Many of us who have lost someone we love will empathize with the desire to wear a piece of jewelry or clothing that reminds us of them – and the Queen was given this brooch on a tour of southern Africa she shared with her parents made, and which coincided with her 21st birthday.
“The flame lily brooch was the first piece we saw her wearing as a queen in Britain,” says Caroline de Guitaut, the deputy surveyor for The Queen’s Works of Art, “and while the diamond, platinum and white gold setting is undoubtedly stunning is, I imagine it was the sentiment behind it that impelled her to such an occasion.’