18 Times the Royal Family Used Jewelry To Send a Subtle Message

As royals, Kate Middleton, Queen Elizabeth, and the rest of the family, are extremely careful when it comes to speaking out or offering their opinion on something or someone. After all, international relationships depend on them not putting a foot wrong forward — but that doesn't mean they don't speak loud and clear … through their jewelry. A diamond may be a diamond, except when it's worn as a way to get a message across — whether subtly or bluntly.

Any piece of art is loaded with meaning and symbolism, and jewels are no different, especially jewelry worn by royals. Sometimes, the meaning is embedded in the design itself as royals are known to use particular types of plants, fruits, or animals as emblematic of a royal house, a family, or even a person. Gems have meaning, too, whether it's a calming turquoise, or a blood red ruby.

Meaning can even be embedded within the history of the piece: Who commissioned this piece? Who wore it most? Where did it come from? What does it mean that the Duchess of Cambridge wears a tiara that only three other royal women have ever worn? Tiaras, rings, earrings, necklaces, and brooches — royal jewels generally have a story to tell, and it's fascinating to read into it.

So to find out what it means that Princess Beatrice got to wear the Queen's own wedding tiara, understand why Meghan Markle makes personal statements through pendants, and figure out why Princess Eugenie was one-upping Kate with her engagement ring. Here are the times the royal family used jewelry to send a message.

The Queen's Turquoise Brooch

When Prince Charles — and we later learned, Prince William — fell ill because of the worldwide health problem, the entire royal family went into lockdown, including Queen Elizabeth. But that didn't stop her from delivering a message about unity, hope, and resilience in a video address. Queen Elizabeth used a historic turquoise brooch, which had belonged her grandmother, Queen Mary. It was Queen Mary who modeled how the royal family should respond to national crises after her hands-on work during the 1918 global flu and World War I.

Kate Middleton's Tiara

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Sure, Kate wore two different tiaras before the Cambridge Lovers' Knot, but there's no question that spectacular arched diamond and pearl piece is now her go-to. It's as closely associated with her now as it was with Princess Diana, but the tiara dates back much further, to Queen Elizabeth's grandmother, Queen Mary. It was then passed down to the current queen, who wore it when she was young. At this point, it's basically a crown, one worn only by queen consorts and queen regents. A powerful statement of, well, power.

The Queen's Ruby Tiara

When the Queen wore the jaw-dropping, drippity droppety Burmese Ruby Tiara to host President Donald Trump at a state dinner at Buckingham Palace, she came as close to breaking the internet as any queen can. That's because the tiara was made from rubies gifted to her from the royal family in Myanmar (formerly Burma), where it is said that rubies ward off evil. Make of that what y'all will, but the internet pretty much figured that Queen Elizabeth was trolling him. To be fair, she's worn the piece for portraits and for other events.

Meghan's Aquamarine Ring

Prince Harry has always figured out ways to honor and highlight his mother, Princess Diana, in subtle ways, and both he and Meghan wanted to include her in their wedding day. One of the ways was through jewelry. The Duchess of Sussex wore a gorgeous, icy aquamarine cocktail ring, which Harry inherited from his mom. With a single wave of her hand, Meghan let the world know that Diana was with them in spirit.

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Meghan's Butterfly Earrings

Meghan and Harry announced that they were expecting a child just as their tour to Australia and New Zealand was getting under way. Then, in a sweet touch that many thought was a way of making Princess Diana part of the news, Meghan wore a pair of butterfly-shaped earrings that had belonged to Diana during her first public appearance in Sydney. Our hearts!

The Queen's Flower Basket Brooch

When Prince Charles was born, then-Princess Elizabeth wore a sweet brooch portraying a basket full of flowers for his first official portraits. Fast forward 65 years, and Queen Elizabeth wore the same multicolored piece for the christening of her Charles' first grandson — and future king — Prince George in 2013. The Queen often uses jewelry to underscore the continuity and stability of the crown, and this is one of the biggest examples.

Prince Charles' Ring Combo

Male royals and members of the British aristocracy do not traditionally wear wedding bands, though their wives do. Not sure what that's about, other than, ya know, signaling they're totally above it all and available. Breaking with that tradition, sort of, Prince Charles does wear a wedding band, but y'all, it's tucked under his signet — and he wears it on his pinky. Like, way tucked in there. We're not sure whether he did this when he was married to Princess Diana, but he certainly does it now that he's married to Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.

Prince Harry's Wedding Band

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Unlike his brother Prince William, who does not wear a wedding band — or his dad, who wears one tucked under his pinky ring, Harry wears his loud and proud. In doing so, he's going against royal and aristocratic tradition. He also chose a modern vibe for his ring, which is made out of platinum and has a textured surface.

Kate's Rose Gold & Pearl Ring

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Here's an early use of jewelry as a message by a royal-to-be. Though photographers never got close enough to get a good shot of it, we know that Kate was wearing a rose gold and pearl ring at her graduation from St. Andrews University. We also know that it was given to her by then-boyfriend, Prince William. Basically, it's like she was saying that their love was no college fling or fluke — and she was right.

Princess Beatrice's Wedding Tiara

Nothing says, "my favorite granddaughter" like the Queen letting Princess Beatrice borrow, not just one of her gowns to wear as a wedding dress, but her own wedding tiara to top off the look. The Fringe Tiara is simple yet dramatic, and most importantly, it marked the beginning of the Queen's long, long, long marriage — so maybe she was also wishing Beatrice as successful a marriage.

The Queen's Maple Leaf Brooch

The royals excel at fashion diplomacy, as they like to wear outfits that honor the country they're engaging with at a certain event or on a overseas visit. Jewelry plays a major role in that. The Queen has an army of brooches at the ready for those occasions, and she lends them to other royal women. We've seen her and Kate wear this lovely maple leaf brooch, for example, several times on visits to Commonwealth member Canada — or as in this picture, the Queen's visit to Canada House in London. It's a simple way of displaying an extra bit of courtesy and thoughtfulness.

Princess Michael of Kent

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Certainly the least subtle use of royal jewelry ever belongs to Princess Michael of Kent, who is married to one of the Queen's cousins. She wore this "blackamoor" brooch, which depicts a black figure dressed in finery — a type of jewelry popular in Europe in the 1700s, featuring mostly black slaves. She wore it the Queen's annual Christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace in 2017, which Meghan was attending for the first time. While some poeple were quick to explain it away, because Princess Michael is an art historian, we can only say that that only makes it worse — especially because the woman has made plenty of racist comments in the past.

Meghan's Evil Eye Necklace Charm

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This may not exactly qualify as a subtle message. In one of her earliest appearances after stepping down as a working royal, Meghan jumped on a Zoom call with the SmartWorks charity and wore a gold coin-shaped necklace pendant with a blue topaz evil eye at the center. Meant to ward off negative vibes, it was likely a reference to the bullying by the tabloid press and criticism that she and Harry leave before and after leaving royal life behind.

Kate's Brooch From the Queen

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OK, it's not a conventional piece of jewelry, but a significant one: A few years ago, the Queen made Kate Middleton part of the Royal Family Order of Queen Elizabeth, an honor that the monarch bestows on family members who have performed extraordinary services for her. Kate wore the jewel — a portrait of the queen on an oval piece of glass surrounded by diamonds and rubies and set on a yellow ribbon — to a state banquet honoring the Dutch royals in 2018. For Kate to receive the honor just seven years into her marriage shows how much Queen Elizabeth values the future queen consort and mother of the heirs to the throne.

Meghan's Zodiac Necklaces

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After Meghan and Harry stepped away from royal life, some thought they'd be back eventually. After all, they figured, they'd miss the posh lifestyle, and they didn't have major money. But even early on, the couple made moves that proved they would not likely be returning to the Firm — like when Meghan did a video interview to promote her voice-over work on a Disney documentary. She not only wore her hair flowy and unadorned, and rocked an open white shirt, but she wore a pair of necklaces whose pendants were etched with Harry and Archie's zodiac signs, Virgo and Taurus, respectively. Something tells us this wouldn't have flown if she was still working for the Queen, who is the head of the Church of England.

Princess Eugenie's Engagement Ring

Princess Eugenie's ring was one of the most breathtaking royal engagement rings in a long time. It features a pink padparadscha sapphire, the rarest and priciest of all sapphires — much rarer than, say, Kate Middleton's sapphire center stone. Now, one could say that her then-fiance got it for her because it was pretty, or because pink is her favorite color, but what's really at play in the choice of gem? We think it may have to do with status. Though Eugenie is a princess, it's fair to say that she and her sister have been pushed a bit to the side when it comes to the royal limelight — something that even caused a lasting feud between their dad, Prince Andrew, and heir to the throne Prince Charles. With her enormous $100,000 engagement ring, Eugenie may have been saying that she is just as worthy as anyone else.

Princess Diana's Family Tiara

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When Diana wore her family's tiara, called the Spencer tiara, on her wedding day, it was not surprising. The Spencers, after all, are aristocrats, and it's tradition for a female member to wear the heirloom as brides. But when she continued to wear it once married, it seemed odd. After all, Diana had her choice of royal diadems. The word is that she considered the Cambridge Lovers' Knot tiara — which eventually became her signature piece — to be too heavy. But considering that there are plenty of lightweight royal tiaras, that seems unlikely. Our money is one her wearing the Spencer tiara as a rebel move, once it became clear that her marriage was crumbling and that she the royals just her to basically shut up and take it.

Meghan's Archie & Harry Necklace

Meghan often sends messages with her clothing and accessories, and her jewelry is no different. But her messages don't usually have to do with projecting power, or with her royal status, but rather more personal. When she attended the US Open in 2019, the new mom wore a necklace whose mini dog tag pendants had the initials H and A for Harry and Archie.