The Queen’s subtle symbol of love: Her Majesty wears heirloom heart-shaped diamond brooch that once belonged to her grandmother Queen Mary in Prince Philip’s birthday photograph
- Buckingham Palace released a new photo of the Queen and Prince Philip
- Her Majesty wore the heart-shaped Cullinan V diamond brooch for the shoot
- The stunning 18.8carat heirloom once belonged to her grandmother Queen Mary
The Queen paid subtle tribute to her enduring love for husband Prince Philip by wearing a heart-shaped diamond brooch for his official birthday portrait.
The Queen, 94, donned the glittering Cullinan V brooch for the photo taken in the quadrangle of Windsor Castle to mark the Duke of Edinburgh’s 99th birthday today.
The centrepiece of the brooch is an 18.8 carat hear-shaped diamond, which was cut from the largest diamond ever found, the 3,106 carat Cullinan.
The Queen paid subtle tribute to her enduring love for husband Prince Philip by wearing a heart-shaped diamond brooch for his official birthday portrait (pictured)
The centrepiece of the brooch (left on the Queen today and right in a file image) is an 18.8 carat hear-shaped diamond, which was cut from the largest diamond ever found, the Cullinan
The heirloom once belonged to her grandmother, Queen Mary, wife of King George V, and is a treasured by the Queen.
She has worn it on a number of official engagements, including to London Fashion Week in 2018, when she sat on the front row alongside Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour.
On this occasion it might have served as a way to acknowledge the love that is at the foundation of her 73-year marriage to the Duke of Edinburgh.
The brooch is one of a number of pieces cut from the Cullinan diamond, which was mined in Pretoria, South Africa in 1905. At the time it was three times larger than any stone discovered before.
The Queen has worn the brooch on a number of official engagements, including to a Buckingham Palace garden party in May 2016 (pictured)
All that glitters: The history of the Cullinan diamond and brooches
The brooch once belonged to Queen Mary, pictured, wife of King George V, and is a treasured by the Queen
When the Cullinan diamond was mined in 1905, it looked nothing more than a worthless crystal – so much so that the manager of the Premier mine near Pretoria, South Africa, threw it out as rubbish.
It was only on closer inspection that staff were persuaded the piece of rock could be a genuine diamond. In fact it turned out to be three times larger than anything discovered before.
Weighing 3,106 carats in its rough state and measuring 4in by 2.5in by 2.12in, the Cullinan – named after the chairman of the mining company, Thomas Cullinan – was also exceptional for its blue-white colour and purity.
Soon after it was found, it was sent to Buckingham Palace for inspection by King Edward VII.
For two years the stone remained a public wonder, but it was hard to find a buyer as there were doubts a stone so big could ever be cut.
Eventually, the Prime Minister of the Transvaal – then a British colony – suggested his government should acquire the Cullinan and present it to Edward VII as a token of loyalty. In 1907 the uncut stone was brought to Sandringham House in Norfolk.
The brooch features gems cut from the Cullinan diamond, pictured, which was mined in 1905. The total weight of the gems cut from the Cullinan was 1,055.8 carats
Cutting the stone was entrusted to the celebrated firm of IJ Asscher of Amsterdam. It was too large to be cut into a single gem, so cleaving – or sawing – was necessary.
The first blow broke the knife and the diamond remained intact. A second attempt split it in two.
Eight months of grinding and polishing followed, with the result of nine principal numbered stones, 96 small brilliants and nine carats of unpolished fragments.
The total weight of the gems cut from the Cullinan was 1,055.8 carats.
The total weight of the gems cut from the Cullinan was 1,055.8 carats.
In 1909 the two largest gems – the biggest colourless and flawless cut diamonds in the world – were formally presented to King Edward VII at Windsor Castle and were eventually set at the head of the Sovereign’s Sceptre and in the Imperial State Crown.
The other seven were mounted for Queen Alexandra and Queen Mary – the King’s wife and daughter-in-law – to create some of the most dazzling pieces of jewellery in the royal collection.
The seven stones are contained in five pieces of jewellery. A brooch containing two stones – the 94.4 carat Cullinan III and 63.3 carat Cullinan IV; a second heart-shaped brooch containing Cullinan V, which weighs 18.8 carats; the Delhi Durbar necklace from which Cullinan VII hangs in a pendant; a third brooch containing Cullinan VI and Cullinan VIII; and a platinum ring featuring the smallest of the nine stones, 4.4 carat Cullinan IX.
The Queen wore the brooch to sit front row alongside Anna Wintour at London Fashion Week in 2018 (pictured)