Elizabeth II

The Newgrange brooch, worn at a Dublin concert during the 2011 state visit Elizabeth II's visit to the Republic of Ireland in May 2011 was the first by a British monarch in more than a century, and the first since Ireland became a republic. For an evening concert in Dublin she wore a silver brooch given to her the day before by her host, President Mary McAleese, who had commissioned it from the Irish designer Declan Killen. Its engraved spirals are inspired by the triple spiral carved on the entrance stone at Newgrange. Wearing a host's gift in public is courtesy; wearing an emblem of Ireland's prehistoric past on that visit made the courtesy visible to everyone watching.