An ode to Queen Elizabeth ❤️
's own love of pearl jewellery as well as a royal mourning tradition which dates back over a century.
Often referred to as ‘mourning jewellery’, these colourless gems add a sophisticated but unshowy finishing touch to funereal black and are thought to resemble tears. The Queen, too, was rarely seen without her signature three-strand pearl necklace and wore pearls to Princess Diana, Princess Margaret and King George VI's funerals. But the association between pearl jewellery and mourning actually dates back to Queen Victoria's reign.
So it was only fitting that Catherine, Princess of Wales, wore the Queen’s four-string pearl and diamond choker to the late monarch's funeral. Originally gifted to the Queen from Japan in the 1970s, the Queen herself had worn the multi-strand necklace for a state visit to Bangladesh in 1983. She loaned the striking piece to Kate in 2017, having also allowed Princess Diana to wear it in the past.
It's actually not the first time during the nation's 10 days of mourning that Kate has donned pearls. On 14 September, she wore the Queen’s Pearl and Diamond Leaf Brooch to attend a service at Westminster Hall. On the same day, in a touching tribute to Princess Diana, she wore her late mother-in-law's pearl and diamond earrings.