Camilla, the queen consort, is honoring the late Queen Elizabeth II and the monarchy's history at the coronation of King Charles III.
As she arrived to Westminster Abbey in London May 6, Camilla donned a white Bruce Oldfield couture gown adorned with gold details, coordinating with the king’s robes. Accompanying her outfit, Camilla wore the same diamond necklace Elizabeth wore to her own coronation back in June 2, 1953.
The necklace dates back well before Elizabeth’s coronation, though. The piece of jewelry — dubbed the Coronation Necklace — was originally made by Garrard and was initially given to Queen Victoria in 1858. The necklace has 25 cushion diamonds and a 22-carat diamond pendant at the center, per the Royal Collection Trust.
This special piece of jewelry has thus been worn at every coronation since.
Charles and Camilla also honored Elizabeth and her father, King George VI, through another key piece of their ensembles at the coronation.
At the ceremony, the king and queen consort were set to wear two sets of robes: the Robes of State and Robes of Estate, which are worn when arriving to Westminster Abbey and when departing the coronation, respectively, per the palace.
Buckingham Palace reported that Camilla would be donning a Robe of State that was originally worn by Elizabeth for her own coronation in 1953. Her Robes of Estate would be brand new, made by Ede and Ravenscroft and designed and hand embroidered by the Royal School of Needlework, which she was named patron of in 2017.
Both Charles’ Robe of State and Robes of Estate belonged to his grandfather, the late queen's father. Both robes were worn at George's coronation ceremony May 12, 1937.
At the coronation ceremony, Camilla will also wear Queen Mary's Crown, an accessory that is made of more than 2,200 diamonds.
This marks the first time a consort will use an existing crown at the ceremony. The decision was made "in the interests of sustainability and efficiency," according to Buckingham Palace, as a new crown being commissioned by the consort is standard.