King Charles III's New Diamond Jewel Explained

King Charles and Queen Camilla led the British royals at their ceremonial best on Tuesday night, as they hosted a state banquet at Buckingham Palace in honor of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako of Japan.

The centerpiece of the imperial couple's state visit to Britain, the palace staff laid out the royal collection's historic gold plate, crystal glassware and candelabras for the banquet, with Queen Camilla matching the splendor of the event by wearing a collection of the late Queen Elizabeth II's historic jewels.

Camilla wore the late queen's Burmese ruby floral tiara with a festoon diamond necklace created by King George VI, paired with a white evening gown designed by Fiona Clare.

One accessory worn by the queen was brand new to her, sending royal watchers into a frenzy on social media.

Pinned to her chest, Camilla sported a brand new diamond encrusted portrait of her husband, mounted on a blue silk ribbon. This was the first public outing of King Charles III's Royal Family Order.

But what is a Royal Family Order and who gets to wear one? Newsweek explores more here.

What Is a Royal Family Order?

A Royal Family Order is a badge or brooch worn on a silk ribbon which is presented by the monarch to female members of the royal family.

The orders exist in several European monarchies, but in Britain the tradition was started by King George IV in the early 1800s.

The order takes the form of a painted portrait of the sovereign in miniature, surrounded by a border of diamonds and surmounted by a crown. Each monarch chooses their portrait at the beginning of their reign and they also select the color ribbon that it is worn with.

The order denotes female members of the royal family who are close in relation or who render services to the monarch in the course of their public duty.

King Charles III's Royal Family Order

At the Japanese state banquet, Queen Camilla was seen for the first time wearing the Royal Family Order of King Charles III.

Since his accession in September 2022, speculation about whether the new king would create his own order, which portrait he would use and which color ribbon he would choose, has circulated.

The order as it was unveiled features a portrait of Charles painted by celebrated miniature artist Elizabeth Meek, based on a photograph taken in 2023 by Hugo Burnand.

Historically, the orders have been painted on ivory, with an exception being the one presented to Princess Kate by Queen Elizabeth which was the first to be painted onto glass.

King Charles' order has been painted onto polymin, a type of plastic used by artists.

The portrait, as worn by Camilla, is surrounded by a border of diamonds with a reported weight of 10.41 carats, being designed by the crown jeweler, Mark Appleby.

The ribbon color chosen is pale blue, following the color selected by Charles' grandfather, King George VI. The ribbon was arranged by royal milliner Philip Treacy.

Who Wears the Royal Family Order?

Royal Family Orders are presented to female members of the royal family by the monarch and are worn for state occasions for the bearers lifetime.

Who exactly is presented with the order is at the discretion of the king or queen, being a member of the royal family does not automatically mean someone is given the honor.

So far, only Queen Camilla has been seen wearing her husband's order. At the Japanese state banquet, the two other senior royal ladies present (the Duchesses of Edinburgh and Gloucester) wore only the orders of Queen Elizabeth II.

Queen Elizabeth II awarded 15 royal family orders during her lifetime. The recipients included her mother, Queen Elizabeth; her sister, Princess Margaret; daughter, Princess Anne; and daughter-in-law, Queen Camilla.

The last known order presented by the late queen was to Princess Kate in 2017, six years after her marriage to Prince William.

Elizabeth notably did not present orders to all of her female family members, with no official reasons for their presentation or non-presentation being given. For example, Princess Diana was given the order but Sarah "Fergie" Ferguson was not.

Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie and Meghan Markle are also not believed to have been given the order.

We will not know who King Charles awards his order to until they are seen being worn. The presentation is not announced beforehand by the palace.

James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

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