On Wednesday, King Charles III carried out one of his most important constitutional duties—presiding over the State Opening of Parliament and reading a speech written by the government of recently installed Prime Minister Keir Starmer—with his wife Queen Camilla at his side. The day had a special significance for the queen, who also celebrated her 77th birthday on July 17.

During the ceremony, Camilla wore the same crown that the late Queen Elizabeth II would wear when she opened the parliament beginning in 1953. The diamond diadem is often called the George IV State Diadem, in honor of the king who commissioned it from jeweler Rundell, Bridge & Rundell in 1820. According to the Royal Collection Trust, it features 1,333 diamonds with a yellow four-carat brilliant set in the center of its front cross, along with two rows of pearls. Camilla paired the diadem with the late queen’s 28-diamond Coronation Necklace.

Their majesties arrived at the Palace of Westminster in the Diamond Jubilee State Coach led by six gray horses. They were followed by a glass coach containing Fiona Petty-Fitzmaurice, Marchioness of Lansdowne and Lady Sarah Keswick, two of the queen’s companions, Master of the Horse Lord Ashton of Hyde, and the Earl of Rosslyn, who serves as Lord Steward.

Though Kate Middleton and Prince William weren’t present at Parliament, they did join in on the virtual birthday celebration, sharing a 2022 photograph of Camilla taken by Kate in the gardens at Ray Mill House, her personal home.