Kate Middleton is slowly getting back to work, and this week, that meant attending a state visit with Prince William to welcome the emir of Qatar and his wife. For the occasion, she wore a burgundy outfit along with a piece of jewelry that came from the collection of her late mother-in-law, Princess Diana, but she wasn’t the only royal lady Kate paid tribute to with the accessory.
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Kate wore an iconic necklace to the visit.
As multiple news outlets including Town & Country reported, along with her Chanel bag and Alexander McQueen coat, Kate also accessorized her outfit with a four-strand pearl choker necklace. This isn’t the first time Kate has been spotted wearing it; she also wore it to both Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip’s funerals, among other events over the years.
The necklace originally belonged to Queen Elizabeth.
The necklace was made by Garrard & Co. out of pearls given to Queen Elizabeth as a gift from Japan in the 1970s and includes a diamond clasp in the center.
But though the necklace technically belonged to the late queen, she wasn’t the one who made it a truly memorable piece.
Princess Diana wore the necklace early in her marriage to Charles.
Queen Elizabeth famously loaned Princess Diana the choker in November 1982, when she wore it to one of her very first royal engagements just a little over a year after her wedding to Charles. She wore it to a state visit when she greeted Queen Beatrix of Holland, showing it off at a banquet at Hampton Court Palace.
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Kate also wore earrings with a royal history.
Kate also wore another piece from Queen Elizabeth’s jewelry collection: the Bahrain Pearl Drop Earrings. According to the court jeweller, the pearls in the earrings were a wedding gift to Elizabeth from the Hakim of Bahrain when she married Philip. Elizabeth wore the earrings often, and so did Diana, but in more recent years, Kate has been spotted wearing them on multiple occasions.
Will and Kate posted about the state visit on Instagram.
Alongside photos from the event, they wrote, “Great to welcome the Emir of Qatar, His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bint Hamad bin Suhaim Al Thani to the UK today.”
It’s good to see Kate back at work — and for her to have more opportunities to show off her royal style.
