OCT 23 2018
Kate Middleton has been photographed wearing tiaras and brooches before, but she debuted “new” royal jewelry today. The Duchess of Cambridge wore a diamond and pearl necklace that is over a century old and has been passed down through the royal family for generations to a state banquet at Buckingham Palace.
Kate Middleton wore the Lover’s Knot tiara with Queen Alexandra’s Wedding Necklace, according to a Kensington Palace spokesperson. They were initially noticed on the Duchess via the glass of a Bentley, gently perched around her head and neck.
The stunning piece of jewelry was given to Princess Alexandra of Denmark as a wedding gift in 1863 by Prince Albert, the future King Edward VII, as part of a set created by Garrard.
According to Order of Splendour, the beautiful item contains “eight large pearls surrounded by diamonds and connected by diamond festoons with drop pearls hanging from the central clusters.”
Queen Elizabeth II’s mother, the Queen Mother, was a huge lover of the piece of jewelry. In fact, she is said to have worn it during a state dinner honoring the Netherlands in 1982. Because tonight’s state supper honors Dutch royals King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima, it appears Kate is merely following tradition.
The Queen Mother, for example, matched the necklace to the ring that would later become Camilla’s engagement ring:
It was eventually passed down to Queen Elizabeth, who gave it to her daughter-in-law Princess Diana as a wedding present. Diana wore it frequently throughout her tenure as Princess of Wales, to the point where it became one of the most iconic tiaras in the British royal family.
A pair of earrings and a brooch are included in the parure (the technical name for a set of jewels meant to be worn together). There was also a tiara at one point, but it is no longer available.
In 2015, 2016, and 2017, she wore it to diplomatic events, showing that she, like her late mother-in-law, had a special fondness for the jewel.
From Queen Alexandra to her son King George V’s wife, Queen Mary; to her son King George VI’s wife, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (AKA the Queen Mother); and finally to her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, the necklace has been handed down through the centuries. According to Her Majesty’s Jewel Vault, the present royal received the item in 2002, although she hasn’t been spotted wearing it in public.
