While we’ve already discussed the significance of pearls during royal mourning periods, Kate Middleton’s latest sartorial choice is an even deeper homage to the late Queen Elizabeth.
On Saturday, September 17, the Princess of Wales joined her husband, Prince William, and other members of the royal family for a lunch reception with dignitaries at Buckingham Palace wearing a black dress with a three-strand pearl necklace previously owned by Queen Elizabeth. While the pearl and diamond earrings worn by Middleton were also from the Queen’s collection, this necklace was a particular favorite.
“She wasn’t interested in material things at all,” the Queen’s former assistant private secretary, Sam Cohen, recently told People. “She wore the same pearl necklace every day.”
For comparison, here is a photo of Queen Elizabeth taken just this April during a visit with the President of Switzerland at Windsor Castle.