Amid the myriad of glittering ballgowns and historic tiaras, the mini portrait of King Charles decorating the outfits of senior royals such as Queen Camilla was easy to miss at the state banquet on Tuesday night.
The likes of Princess Kate and Princess Anne descended on Windsor Castle to join President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte for the French state visit.
Queen Camilla looked resplendent in a Fiona Clare bridal white gown with long sleeves and delicate embroidery, adding a pop of colour with Queen Elizabeth’s Sapphire Parure. The set consists of the late monarch's sapphire and diamond necklace and earrings, which were a wedding present from her father King George VI in 1947.
Queen Elizabeth later purchased a sapphire necklace in 1983 to create a matching tiara, which Camilla also wore for the evening. Her final colourful accessories came in the form of a red sash and the Royal Family Order on a pastel green bow, which she first debuted in 2024.
© Getty ImagesFollowing a tradition that started 200 years ago, royal orders are given to senior women of the royal family in recognition of their service to the monarch. Last year, Camilla was the only royal to wear the miniature portrait of her husband to the state banquet for Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako of Japan alongside the same ivory dress, but her royal relatives followed suit this week.
© PA Images / Alamy Stock PhotoThe monarch was captured in the uniform of the admiral of the fleet on a minuscule 4cm x 3cm image using a magnifying glass, and the final result was mounted on a diamond-encrusted oval frame.
Artist Elizabeth Meek, who has been awarded an MBE, was chosen following her work on a portrait of Charles at Highgrove in 2005.
© Getty ImagesThe creative was contacted just weeks before the Japanese state visit by a royal aide, and opened up about spending 100 hours perfecting the intricate and "very stressful" design.
"I did it in four weeks. My husband insisted I took a day off a week because I worked every day from morning till night. It was really stressful," she told The Times.
© Getty ImagesOpening up about the process, she added: "I drew it first very accurately with pencil. And I had to make sure I placed each medal, because there were rather a lot of them, exactly, because if I got one wrong, the whole lot would go wrong."
