The Victoria and Albert Museum has just opened a blockbuster exhibition, Cartier, exploring the beloved French jeweller. While the exhibition includes countless historic pieces, one particular item was a sentimental favourite of the late Queen Elizabeth II. 

The Williamson Brooch is a stunning diamond brooch fashioned after a jonquil flower. The stem is set with baguette diamonds, the leaves are made of brilliant diamonds, and the centre of the flower is a bright 23.6 carat pink diamond. 

The then-Princess Elizabeth received a 54.5 carat pink diamond as a wedding gift in 1947 from the Canadian royalist and geologist Dr. John Thoburn Wililamson. He also provided the other diamonds used in the brooch. 

She first had the pink diamond cut down into the brilliant 23.6 carat stone we see today. And in 1953, the stone was brought to Cartier’s London store at 175 New Bond Street to create a new piece. 

The young Queen Elizabeth quickly began wearing her new commission. It can be seen in a set of 1954 portraits with Her Majesty with a young Prince Charles and Princess Anne at Buckingham Palace. 

Queen Elizabeth chose the brooch for one of the biggest events of the twentieth century, the Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer’s 1981 wedding. 

Fittingly, the late Queen also wore the Williamson Brooch on her last visit to Canada in 2010.