How the Queen keeps Prince Charles close to her heart as she returns to work

The Queen has returned to duties from her new permanent home in Windsor, and her choice of accessory has an emotional connection

The Queen wore the Flower Basket Brooch this week
(Image credit: Steve Parsons - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

The Queen welcomed a luxury goods company to her new permanent home at Windsor as she returned to royal duties this week. While examining the decorated teapots and trinkets, Her Majesty wore her Flower Basket brooch, the gift given to her to celebrate the birth of Prince Charles.

  • The Queen got into the spirit of working from home this week, inviting a luxury goods company to Windsor to showcase their trinkets and decorative tea sets.
  • While inspecting the goods, Her Majesty was wearing a floral dress complemented with one of her favorite pieces of jewelry, the Flower Basket Brooch given to her after the birth of Charles.
  • In other royal news, heartbreaking reason Prince William wouldn't marry Kate Middleton for years.

The Queen, in her usual colorful fashion, got into the feeling of spring this week as she returned to duties, working from home at Windsor Castle.

This is one of the Queen’s first public engagements ahead of the planned Prince Philip memorial service on Tuesday (March 29).

Her Majesty wore a bright floral dress as she welcomed Halcyon Days to present a collection of their luxury hand-decorated teapots and enamelled trinket boxes.

the Queen had work-from-home duties this week at Windsor Castle

(Image credit: Steve Parsons - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Complementing her dress, the Queen also wore her Flower Basket brooch.

The Flower Basket brooch is understood to be one of the Queen’s favorite pieces, and it’s not just because it fits in with the favorite secrets of Her Majesty’s style, which includes bold colors.

The brooch displays a bright basket of gem-studded flowers set with diamonds, sapphires, rubies and emeralds.

Flower Basket Brooch, a gift to Queen Elizabeth II from her parents

(Image credit: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)

The real reason the brooch could be one of her favorites is that the beautiful piece was given to Her Majesty as a present to mark the birth of her first child, Prince Charles, in 1948.

The brooch was gifted to her by her parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.

Her Majesty—who was, at the time, Princess Elizabeth—wore the brooch for the first official photographs with her son.

Princess Elizabeth with Prince Charles, 1948

(Image credit: Wikimedia Commons)

The Queen has worn the brooch on many occasions since, proving the sentimentality of the piece is important to her.

In 2013, she touchingly chose the brooch for the christening of Prince Charles’s first grandchild, Prince George.

Queen Elizabeth wearing the Flower Basket Brooch at Prince George's christening

(Image credit: ANDREW COWIE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Amazingly, you can actually get your hands on your own version of Her Majesty’s favorite brooch. Well, sort of.

The Royal Collection, one of the largest and most widely distributed art collections in the world, offers a pastel flower basket brooch inspired by the Queen’s Flower Basket brooch.


Pastel Flower Basket Brooch, £55 ($72) | Royal Collection Shop
£55 at royalcollectionshop.co.uk

Pastel Flower Basket Brooch, £55 ($72) | Royal Collection Shop

Collect your own piece of royal-inspired jewelry with this quaint replica brooch.

The item costs approximately $72 (£55) and the description reads, “This beautiful brooch is an elegant arrangement of pastel flowers in a basket. Wonderfully set with crystals of the highest quality, into white gold plated metal, this statement piece would be a delightful addition to any jewelry box.”

Jack Slater
Freelance writer

Jack Slater is not the Last Action Hero, but that's what comes up first when you Google him. Preferring a much more sedentary life, Jack gets his thrills by covering news, entertainment, celebrity, film and culture for woman&home, and other digital publications.

Having written for various print and online publications—ranging from national syndicates to niche magazines—Jack has written about nearly everything there is to write about, covering LGBTQ+ news, celebrity features, TV and film scoops, reviewing the latest theatre shows lighting up London’s West End and the most pressing of SEO based stories.