The priceless jewelry worn in the Queen’s final portrait proved that family always came first for Her Majesty

On the eve of her state funeral, one final portrait of the Queen was shared by the Palace. The photograph, taken by Ranald Mackechnie, was shot in May ahead of her Platinum Jubilee celebrations and shows the late monarch posing at her Windsor Castle home. With a warm smile, the Queen is dressed in a dove blue dress, wearing her beloved three-strand pearl necklace and favorite pearl earrings. woman&home spoke with leading jewelry experts to take a deeper dive into the meaning of her jewels...

• All three pieces of jewelry worn in the final portrait of the Queen have a personal, family connection.
• The pieces include a pair of aquamarine clips that were gifted to the Queen on her 18th birthday and earrings belonging to her Grandmother.
• In other royal news, first look of Queen Elizabeth II’s ledger stone with inscription for Prince Philip and her parents, ‘they’re finally reunited’.

She was the Head of State for 70 years, but the late Queen Elizabeth II was also the head of a family – and she always made it clear how important her family was.

Nothing captures this more than the sentimental details behind what would become her final ever portrait, released on the day before her State Funeral.

In the portrait, taken during the historic Platinum Jubilee celebrations, the Queen is wearing various pieces of jewelry which have a personal, priceless significance.

To start with, the stunning aquamarine clips that adorned her pale blue dress have been in the Queen’s jewelry box since years before she took the throne.

They were a birthday gift to then-Princess Elizabeth in 1944 from her father, King George VI.

When the clips were included in a 2006 exhibition of the Queen’s dresses and jewels at Buckingham Palace, a press release described them as “a pair of Boucheron aquamarine and diamond clip brooches given to Princess Elizabeth by her father, King George VI, for her 18th birthday.”

The Queen has worn the clips connected as a single brooch, but she generally wears them as separate clips.

They were a firm favorite, worn everywhere from visits to the Rambert Dance Company to a 2016 meeting with Barack Obama and, most poignantly, in what would become her final ever portrait.

Leading jewelry expert, Maxwell Stone of Steven Stone, commented, “Queen Elizabeth had an impeccable wardrobe that included some impressive jewellery. The late monarch was rarely seen without some of her favourite jewelry pieces - a three-strand pearl necklace and a pair of pearl earrings.”

“All pieces… worn in her final portrait have a family connection – the necklace was a gift from her father, King George VI, the earrings were a gift from her Grandmother, Queen Mary. It’s incredibly touching that she continued to wear the pieces throughout her adult life and suggests that they were of great sentimental value to her.”

The experts go on to describe the earrings in more detail, explaining, “Given to the queen as a wedding present by her beloved grandmother Queen Mary in 1947, the rubover set round pearl earrings were at the heart of her personal jewelry collection and travelled with her all over the world—featuring a single 12mm pearl with a small diamond on top.”

“They were her earrings of choice when it came to daytime engagements.”

The final piece highlighted in the portrait was the Queen’s signature pearls.

The Queen received the complete three-strand pearl necklace worn in the picture from her father, King George VI for her coronation in 1937.

Noting that one single pearl is worth around $3,000, the experts estimate the value of the pearl necklace alone could range anywhere from $700,000 to up to $1.1M.