CLOSE TO HER HEART

AS A woman who dons priceless jewels every day of her life — the Queen is said to wear almost as much jewellery in private as she does in public — Her Majesty knows that brooches and earrings are the sparkling touches needed to complete every outfit.

The Cullinan V brooch, which she is pictured wearing while presenting the prizes at the Royal Windsor Horse Show in 1962, is a favourite from her collection.

The unusual heart- shaped diamond, of 18.8 carats, is one of six numbered stones cut from the Cullinan diamond, the biggest in the world, and given to Queen Mary, the Queen’s grandmother, by the people of South Africa in 1910.

As was the fashion of the time, she wore the brooch as part of a ‘ stomacher’, a V- shaped piece of decorative cloth worn over the chest.

When Queen Mary died in 1953, the piece formed part of the Queen’s inheritance.

She has worn it throughout her reign, most recently to the Epsom Derby.