Queen wears sapphire tiara for rare official portrait

Monarch is wearing jewels given to her by her father in photograph

(Chris Jackson/Getty/Government of Canada)

A rare official portrait of Queen Elizabeth II has been released, showing the monarch wearing blue sapphire jewellery and a matching tiara.

The Queen’s new portrait was captured last year at Windsor Castle by photographer Chris Jackson, who has worked as a royal photographer for Getty Images for over 17 years.

In the picture, the 94-year-old is dressed in an ivory ensemble, wearing her Canadian insignia on her left shoulder, as Sovereign of the Order of Canada and the Order of Military Merit.

She is also wearing an array of blue sapphire jewellery, a couple of pieces of which were a gift from her father, King George VI, for her wedding to the Duke of Edinburgh in 1947.

Mr Jackson explained on Instagram that the diamond and blue sapphire necklace and earrings set worn by the Queen for the picture is known as “The King George VI Victorian Suite”, after her father.

The jewels for the necklace and earrings date back to the mid-19th century, while the matching tiara and bracelet were added to the jewellery set more than a century later in 1963, the photographer said.

The Queen wore The King George VI Victorian Suite jewellery while visiting Canada three decades ago during a royal tour.

On the official Instagram account for culture, arts and heritage in Canada, it explains that the Order of Canada, of which the Queen is Sovereign, is the country’s “highest civilian honour”.

The Order of Military Merit, on the other hand, is an honour bestowed upon individuals in the Canadian Armed Forces who have shown “distinctive merit an exceptional service”.

In July this year, Princess Beatrice was lent a dress by the Queen for her low-key wedding to property developer Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi.

Princess Beatrice recently said it was an “honour” to wear her grandmother’s gown, which was worn by the Queen on several occasions in the 1960s, including to the 1962 world premiere of Lawrence of Arabia at the Odeon Leicester Square.