QUEEN Camilla is celebrating her 77th birthday today, and is likely to be gifted some exquisite jewellery from the late Queen’s £533million collection, according to an expert.
Grant Harrold, who was King Charles’ butler from 2004 to 2011, said the monarch is likely to give Camilla something sparkly – or something for her dogs.
Speaking on behalf of Spin Genie, he said: “The funny thing is that what do you even give to someone in the royal family? Or a Queen? I expect Charles will give her something practical that she wants, a piece of jewellery — or something for her dogs.
“A couple of days after her birthday, it might be that we notice Camilla wearing a different piece of jewellery, which may have been a birthday gift.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if she was given something from the late Queen’s collection of jewellery. That does happen from time to time.”
King Charles certainly has a vast treasure trove to select from as he inherited around £533million in jewellery pieces, according to Guardian.
The publication identified more than 90 pieces that were part of the late Queen’s personal collection, including diamonds, emeralds, rubies, amethysts, aquamarines and strings of pearls.
The royal family’s wills are kept secret, so it can’t be known for sure exactly what King Charles inherited after the Queen’s death in September 2022.
In a deal struck up by the then prime minister John Major, private inheritances from one monarch to another are also immune from inheritance tax.
Of course, it’s hard to know the full value of each jewellery piece today as the royal and historical connection would likely increase them exponentially.
We saw this with the auctioning of jewellery belonging to the late Princess Margaret.
Although her pieces were worth much less than the Queen’s sparkling collection, they sold for an average of 18 times the auction house’s top-end value.
Using the theory that the Queen’s jewels could fetch at least 10 times their basic value, making up the £533million estimated worth.
Speaking on behalf of Slingo, former royal butler Paul Burrell said King Charles will ‘spoil’ Camilla but her birthday will be celebrated ‘privately’ with a party at Clarence House.
He claimed: “I think privately, the King will give her a party at Clarence House or Birkhall and they’ll have people go up to Scotland.
“I don’t think there’ll be any public celebrations because it’s not a milestone birthday.
“Everything will be behind closed doors. Maybe they’ll go back to the Ritz again because that was a milestone when they first stepped out together.
“They like dining out, but why dine out when you have a fantastic chef at home?
“Dining out for the Royals isn’t easy. They have to have a private dining room.
“And their favourite places are the Ritz and Claridges because they can provide the security, the lockdown they need and that purple corridor, that special place that they can move to and from without too much interaction with the public or the press.
ONE of the most expensive pieces in the late Queen’s collection - which is now expected to belong to King Charles - is the Williamson brooch, which is said to be worth a jaw-dropping £50million.
It is shaped like a flower and features what is often regarded as the finest pink diamond ever discovered.
It was unearthed in Tanzania (previously known as Tanganyika) in 1947, and the eccentric mine owner John Williamson gave the uncut stone to Queen Elizabeth as a wedding present.
She commissioned Cartier to make it into a platinum brooch alongside more than 200 small diamonds, which were also given to her from Williamson.
We saw the late monarch wearing the Williamson brooch to a number of events, including the wedding of Charles and Edward.
She also wore it when she met with the then US president Barack Obama and his wife Michelle.
“Because when they get dined out, they like it to be private.
“So that’s why those two places can offer them security and accommodations, which will be a smooth passage for them.
“Because they just can’t walk into any old restaurant, could they? No, it will be exactly far too difficult for them.
“It will be uncomfortable for them and it will be uncomfortable for the people dining with them.”
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