Kate Middleton Rewears a Queen Elizabeth Heirloom Also Worn by Princess Diana

The Princess of Wales also paid tribute to Princess Diana in her Trooping the Colour style on June 14.

The Gist

• In addition to honoring Princess Diana through her Trooping the Colour fashion, Kate Middleton also paid tribute to Queen Elizabeth.
• The Princess of Wales wore the late Queen’s Bahrain Pearl Drop earrings, which she has worn on numerous occasions before.
• The earrings were crafted out of a wedding present the then Princess Elizabeth received when she married Prince Philip in 1947.

For Trooping the Colour today, Kate Middleton wore a much-loved pair of Queen Elizabeth’s earrings that Princess Diana also wore during her royal life.

The Princess of Wales wore the late Queen’s Bahrain Pearl Drop earrings on June 14, as she joined other members of the royal family for the annual birthday parade celebrating the monarch. The future queen’s elegant updo showed off the pair of earrings, which Kate wore as recently as last month to an event celebrating the British Fashion Council on May 13.

According to Tatler, the then Princess Elizabeth created the Bahrain Pearl Drop earrings from seven pearls that she received as a wedding present in 1947 from the Hakim of Bahrain. The earrings are comprised of round diamond studs, from which are suspended round and baguette-cut diamonds in an Art Deco style, plus two of the Bahrain pearls, according to Tatler. As early as 1982—just one year after Diana married into the royal family—she loaned the set of earrings to Diana, who often paired them with the Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot Tiara, which Kate frequently wears up to the present day.

Kate has worn the pair of earrings many times after the Queen’s death to honor her, as “Pearls are one of the very few jewelry items you can wear in mourning and are inextricably linked with Queen Elizabeth and her personal jewelry legacy,” Bethan Holt—who has written books about both Queen Elizabeth and Kate’s fashion—told People. “It’s a symbol of mourning a monarch but also a grandmother or great-grandmother.”

Kate has been the exclusive wearer of the earrings since 2016, and she has worn them numerous times since.

“The power lies in the fact that they aren’t overwhelming,” British jeweler Claudia Bradby told People. “It’s a subtle and slightly restrained look and, of course, the connection to the Queen is incredibly strong.”

In addition to honoring Queen Elizabeth through her choice of earrings, the Princess of Wales also honored Princess Diana by wearing a coatdress by Diana’s favorite designer, Catherine Walker, that echoed a look of Diana’s from the past.