Camilla wears the family jewels

The “ice” that Queen Elizabeth II lent Prince Charles’ wife Camilla this past Saturday wasn’t chipped off the cold shoulder she has reportedly given her daughter-in-law in the past.

According to the Daily Mail, the Queen lent the Duchess of Cornwall a stunning graduated diamond necklace from the Royal Collection to wear to a private celebration in honor of her sixtieth birthday.

Interaction betweens the Queen and the Duchess, positive and negative, have been heavily scrutinized by the press. While the Queen did invite Camilla to the fiftieth anniversary of her coronation in 2003, she did not stand beside Charles and Camilla at their 2005 nuptials. Without question, the generous act of loaning Camilla her jewelry was one of warmth and affection. Score one for Camilla.

It was speculated that the Queen didn’t attend the bash so it would remain “low-key” and informal. That’s according to royal standards, of course, because wearing a penguin suit or draping royal jewels around one’s neck just screams formal to a mere commoner like me.