Catherine Parr

In this portrait of Catherine Parr, painted most likely in the summer of 1544 and attributed to Master John, Henry’s sixth wife wears some of her most sumptuous jewels. The beads hanging from her waist feature antique faces, a trend at the time. And she wears a fabulous ouche, a favourite piece of hers, as she is painted more than once wearing it. But the grandest piece in the portrait is an opulent crown brooch pinned to her dress, a piece she commissioned herself. Hailing from a non-royal family, Catherine used this piece to convey to her subjects that she was now queen and the most important woman in the kingdom. She had several pieces that were royal themed; one of her pieces was another crown brooch with miniatures of both her and her royal husband, the King.

Catherine’s spectacular crown brooch passed into the hands of Henry’s daughter Mary I and was later owned and worn by both Elizabeth I and Anne of Denmark until James VI had it broken down and reused.

Source:

Queens of bling: the importance of jewellery to Henry VIII's six wives, Dr. Nicola Tallis