Last night I got up in the middle of the night (Australia) to watch some of the Royal Ascot races, the racing station usually doesn't show much of the Queen but between the horses there was just a quick glimpse of HM driving down the racecourse in her carriage & another getting out of the carriage & I have to say I was so excited to recognise the Crown Ruby brooch! I nearly forgot about the races. This is one of the three important brooches the Queen Mother used to wear that so far hadn`t been seen yet worn by the Queen. (The other two, the large diamond brooch with sapphire drops, given to the Q.M. for her wedding & worn to Prince Edward`s wedding & the lily brooch with emerald leaves, her 25th wedding anniversary present from the King)Hopefully these will also turn up soon. Anyway it was fantastic to see the ruby brooch, apparently it belonged to Queen Victoria, when set with opals, was left by her to the Crown & wasn`t changed to rubies until, 1926 the rest of the parure changed in 1902. After that Queen Mary wore it for a while until she handed the whole Crown Ruby parure to Queen Elizabeth (later Queen Mother), who used it for the rest of her life. : : : : : : : : : : : : :