King Charles III Tracked Down a $44,000 Royal Heirloom for Queen Camilla’s Personal Jewelry Collection

Throughout their 19-year marriage, King Charles III has gifted his wife, Queen Camilla, countless pieces of jewelry. Although she has a substantial collection, many of her most-worn items that she reaches for time and time again belonged to her great-great-grandmother, Alice Keppel, the mistress of Charles' great-great-grandfather, King Edward VIII. According to London-based jeweler Steven Stone’s online publication, Crisscut Magazine, which was reported on April 9, 2024, Charles finds humor in the connection, so he is on a mission to buy Keppel's entire jewelry collection for Camilla. One of Keppel’s heirloom pieces that Charles tracked down and gave to his wife is the Keppel Tiara, a gold and platinum accessory set with diamonds and synthetic rubies that has reportedly become one of the queen’s favorites. 

According to Zack Stone, leading diamond expert at Steven Stone, Edward bought the Keppel Tiara for his mistress in Paris in the early 1900s. “In the language of precious stones, the combination of rubies and diamonds means enduring love, making it a sentimental gift from King Edward VII to his most celebrated mistress,” Stone said. The jeweler noted that the rubies were likely synthetic because they were new at the time and in high demand. The crown, whose design was inspired by an 18th-century French hair ornament, can also be worn as a necklace. Camilla has only worn the Keppel Tiara in this form.

Even though this jewel is infused with sentimental value and historical meaning, Stone believes that it’s one of the queen’s least valuable possessions, with an estimated value of $44,000.

Charles and Camilla are celebrating their 19th wedding anniversary today, April 9, 2024, and due to the monarch’s recent cancer diagnosis, the celebration will look different this year. According to Town & Country, the duo will be commemorating this milestone privately, returning to their honeymoon destination: Bikrhall, their home on the Balmoral estate in Scotland. The property previously belonged to Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, who is Charles’ grandmother. “It is a special place, particularly because it was made by my grandmother,” Charles previously told Country Life. 

In years past, Charles and Camilla have typically continued carrying out their scheduled royal engagements on their wedding anniversaries, Hello! reported. For example, on their 14th anniversary, the couple visited Belfast, Northern Island to reopen the Hillsborough Castle following its multi-million-dollar renovation. Charles addressed and joked about his relationship milestone with Camilla in his speech, but the focus was on the reopening. “Ladies and gentleman, I’m enormously grateful to you all for coming such a long way to celebrated our wedding anniversary,” he quipped. “It’s incredibly good of you.” Due to the state of Charles’ health, the king is scaling back on his royal duties, which is likely why he is spending his 19th anniversary with Camilla out of the public eye.