Great to see them !
Franck
From early 1943 Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother began to wear a large diamond thistle brooch on the brim of her hats. Often it was teamed with her diamond maple leaf brooch worn on her dress.
My earliest photo is dated 4 March 1943.
In black and white photos the glitter of the brooch is not evident; however, when the Duchess of Cornwall wore the brooch in New Zealand it was revealed in all its glory.
The combination of the maple leaf brooch and the thistle brooch became one of HM's most favoured accessories during the war.
I cannot find any mention of the brooch or photos before early 1943.
I suspect that the diamond thistle was one of the items QEQM inherited from Mrs Greville. I think it is highly unlikely that the King (or even QEQM) would have commissioned such a large jewel in the middle of the war. But, because the thistle is the national symbol of Scotland, the appearance of a new brooch was seen as a sign of patriotism.
When the brooch was first worn by the Duchess of Cornwall few were aware of its origin. Even though I knew it had been worn by QEQM during the war, after I began to look for more evidence, I was surprised at how frequently it was worn.
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