Queen Camilla pays touching tribute to this royal with subtle Cheltenham move

Queen Camilla looked stunning yesterday as she attended the Cheltenham Festival for "Style Wednesday".

Camilla oozed elegance in a green long coat by Anne Valentine, which she paired with a vibrant floral scarf and her signature faux fur hat from Lock & Co (£375).

The Queen also donned her much loved Russell & Bromley Dressage knee-high black suede boots (£475) and the Demellier Mini Venice bag in Forest Grain (£370).

She accessorised her look with a pair of black leather gloves and gold earrings. But it was the Queen's brooch that caught the attention of many royal watchers as it paid tribute to a former King of England.

The eye-catching piece is shaped like a horseshoe and features diamond-set letters that spell out the name Minoru – alongside three round-cut rubies and four round-cut sapphires.

Minoru was one of King Edward VII’s most successful thoroughbred racehorses and his win at Epsom in 1909 made him the first reigning monarch to win the Derby.

To celebrate his horse’s grand victories, Edward VII had several jewel-studded scarf-pins made. Jewellery experts hailed Camilla's "historic" and "sentimental" piece and estimated it to cost around £12,000.

Diamond expert Maxwell Stone, of jewellers Steven Stone, said: "Featuring diamonds, rubies and sapphires, Camilla’s brooch is certainly an impressive piece. The diamond-set letters spell out ‘Minoru’, which was one of King Edward VII’s most successful racehorses – making it a particularly sentimental jewel."

He added: "Though how the brooch fell into Camilla’s possession is unknown, press clippings from the time period of Minoru’s victories in the early 1900’s state that King Edward VII commissioned several jewel-studded scarf pins, which makes the Queen Consort’s brooch an incredibly historic piece.

"Camilla’s not the first member of the royal family to pay homage to her love of horses through jewellery, with Princess Anne frequently accessorizing with a gold horse brooch. In tribute to her great grandmother, Princess Charlotte also recently wore a brooch in the shape of a horse shoe to Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral.

"With all of this in mind, I’d estimate Camilla’s brooch to be worth approximately £11,700 ($15,000)."