The unexpected link between Princess Charlotte and Queen Mary’s eldest daughter, Princess Isabella. So did you catch it?

Princess Kate and her daughter Princess Charlotte shared a ‘twinning’ fashion moment at last week’s Trooping the Colour wearing coordinating aqua ensembles accessorised with positionally matching brooches.

But on that day, the British princess unknowingly also shared a unique royal style connection with another young Princess who lives just over 1,200km away.

Princess Charlotte attended the annual King’s birthday parade celebration on June 14 wearing a light aqua dress affixed with a special brooch pinned to her left side. 

The petite diamond and pearl horseshoe shaped pin was beautiful and appropriate for a 10-year-old – but it also holds great sentimental and historical value.

Princess Charlotte’s brooch was given to her as a gift from her late great grandmother Queen Elizabeth II.

Aside from its recent appearance at Trooping the Colour, the only other time the daughter of Princess Kate and Prince William has worn the meaningful jewel was at the 2022 state funeral for Queen Elizabeth.

The family heirloom originally belonged to the Queen Mother, who reportedly received the brooch as a gift from her mother-in-law. The Queen Mother is famously pictured wearing the distinct pearl and diamond piece in 1929 portrait. 

The Queen Mother later passed the bejewelled accessory along to her own daughter, Elizabeth.

Princess Kate and her daughter Princess Charlotte were ‘twinning’ at last week’s Trooping the Colour wearing coordinating aqua ensembles with positionally matching brooches

Princess Charlotte’s brooch was immediately recognised as the horseshoe shaped pin that previously belonged to the late Queen Elizabeth II and the Queen Mother

At Queen Elizabeth II’s 2022 State Funeral, Princess Charlotte’s wearing of the historically significant brooch was interpreted as a tribute to the late monarch the decision for Princess Charlotte to wear the historically significant brooch was interpreted as a tribute to the late monarch. Queen Elizabeth II was previously given the brooch by her mother, the Queen Mother, who wore it in this 1929 portrait

The identifiable horseshoe shape is said to be a nod to the royal family’s love of horse riding, which is also a passion held by the late Queen.

Although the jewel had previously been passed from one generation to the next, the former monarch changed the pattern. Bypassing her own daughter, her four granddaughters, and even future queen Princess Kate, Queen Elizabeth instead opted to gift the pin ornament to her great granddaughter, Princess Charlotte.

This break with tradition saw the historic brooch handed over by a reigning 20th century Queen to a 21st century-born princess. 

This unique circumstance is what created an unexpected link between the British and Danish royal princesses.

In the Northern European country of Denmark, Princess Isabella is similarly in possession of a petite diamond and pearl brooch with deep historical roots, which was given to her by a former 20th century reigning Queen.

Queen Mary and King Frederik’s eldest daughter Princess Isabella, 18, was gifted the Queen Alexandrine Conch Pearl Brooch way back after she was born in 2007.

The brooch is comprised of two pearls, surrounded by three diamonds and several square diamonds, with a detachable pear-shaped blush pink conch pearl suspended at the bottom.

The jewel is believed to have entered the royal family’s collection after being given as a wedding gift in 1898 when Queen Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin married the future King Christian X of Denmark.

Princess Isabella of Denmark has worn the Queen Alexandrine Conch Pearl Brooch on numerous occasions, including at her 2022 confirmation (pictured) 

Princess Isabella of Denmark has worn the historically significant brooch several times since it was gifted to her by her grandmother, Queen Margrethe II. She is seen wearing it in 2022 alongside her mother Queen Mary (left) and more recently in April 2025 at Queen Margrethe’s 85th birthday celebration alongside her sister, Princess Josephine (right)

Queen Margrethe II was the previous owner of the Queen Alexandrine Conch Pearl Brooch. One of the last times she wore it before gifting it to her granddaughter Princess Isabella was during a gala dinner during a 2003 Luxembourg State Visit 

After decades of wearing the brooch, she passed it along in 1940 to her newborn granddaughter, Margrethe. The then-future Queen proudly wore the beautiful piece on numerous formal occasions – including to a 2003 Luxembourg State Visit gala dinner.

Queen Margrethe II kept with tradition by skipping the next generation and gifting the brooch on as a christening gift to her granddaughter, Princess Isabella.

This sets the brooch apart from many other significant Danish royal family jewels, which have been handed along by Queen Margrethe to her daughter-in-law, Queen Mary.

Princess Isabella has subsequently worn the pretty brooch to several important occasions in recent years, most memorably at her 2022 confirmation.

More recently, the teen princess brought out the brooch while attending her grandmother Queen Margrethe’s 85th birthday celebration in April at Fredensborg Palace.

There’s a symmetry that ties the historically significant brooches held by the young princesses in the British and Danish royal families. 

Both princesses were presented with their heirloom brooch by a reigning 20th century Queens.

Both monarchs skipped passing it along to the immediate next generation and instead presented it to their 2000s-born princesses – one a granddaughter and the other a great granddaughter. 

It’s a special connection between Princess Charlotte and Princess Isabella that they two alone uniquely share.

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