How Kate Middleton paid a touching tribute to Princess Diana on her return to Commonwealth Day celebrations with a host of historic jewels

The Princess of Wales accompanied Prince William, King Charles, Queen Camilla, Princess Anne, and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester to the Wesminster Abbey service

👉 Click Here to read in detail 👈

Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, wore a set of jewels with touching nods to Princess Diana as she made her return to Commonwealth Day celebrations at Westminster Abbey

Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Kate Middleton has worn a truly sentimental set of jewellery to the Commonwealth Day celebrations at Westminster Abbey – packed full of touching nods to Princess Diana. The Princess of Wales made a triumphant return to the service of appreciation after her cancer treatment left her unable to attend last year.

The mother of two joined King Charles, Queen Camilla, Prince William, Princess Anne, and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester for the festivities, wearing a scarlet Catherine Walker dress adorned with an oversized bow. The outfit is a favourite of the Princess, who previously wore the dress for her Together At Christmas carol service in 2021, which saw her perform a piece on the piano to the delight of the gathered crowds. Catherine paired the piece with a matching Gina Foster hat and heels, keeping warm in dark red leggings.

The Princess of Wales joined King Charles, Queen Camilla, Princess Anne, and Prince William at the service

AARON CHOWN/Getty Images

But it was Kate’s earrings that truly caught the eye as she arrived at Wesminster Abbey with the Prince of Wales. For the occasion, the Princess chose the Collingwood drop pearl earrings, jewels beloved by her late mother-in-law, Princess Diana. Prince William’s mother owned the earrings before she became the Princess of Wales, having been gifted them as a wedding present by Collingwood jewellers, a favoured house of the Spencer family.

Princess Diana wore the earrings soon after her wedding, showcasing them at a dinner held at Claridge’s for King Khalid of Saudi Arabia in June 1981. The late Princess of Wales also chose the Collingwood pearls for a trip to watch Starlight Express in 1984 and paired them with Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot tiara during a dinner at the British Embassy in Washington D.C, the day after her iconic dance with John Travolta in the White House.

Catherine chose a pearl choker previously belonging to Queen Elizabeth II, one that the Princess had previously worn to Prince Philip's funeral

Samir Hussein

Catherine paired the choker with the Collingwood pearl earrings treasured by Princess Diana

Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Kate Middleton would go on to treasure the Collingwood earrings, making her debut in them in 2017 for a state banquet at Buckingham Palace in honour of the Spanish royals. On that occasion, Catherine, like Princess Diana, paired them with the Lover’s Knot tiara – a combination to which she also turned for the Dutch state banquet and the Diplomatic Corps reception in 2018. Perhaps most famously, the Princess of Wales wore the pearl earrings for her majestic 40th birthday portrait in 2021.

Those were not the only jewels that Kate Middleton wore for Commonwealth Day – nor the only nod to Princess Diana in her outfit. The Garrard pearl choker adorning the Princess of Wales’s neck was a truly sentimental choice – previously owned by Queen Elizabeth II and crafted by Garrard from pearls reportedly gifted to the Queen by the Japanese government in the 1970s to mark her state visit to the nation.

The Prince and Princess of Wales were in high spirits at the Commonwealth Day celebrations

AARON CHOWN/Getty Images

The royal couple joined the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester at Westminster Abbey

AARON CHOWN/Getty Images

The late Queen rarely wore the necklace, but fans caught a glimpse of the four strands of pearls during a visit to Bangladesh in 1983. Elizabeth II loaned the jewels to Princess Diana in 1982, when the late Princess of Wales welcomed Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands to a banquet at Buckingham Palace.

Kate Middleton has worn the choker to some of her most major royal engagements. In 2017, she chose it for a party held in honour of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip’s diamond wedding anniversary, and in a truly poignant gesture, the then Duchess of Cambridge wore the pearls for Prince Philip’s funeral in April 2021.

Another Princess Diana reference in Catherine’s Commonwealth Day outfit? Her iconic sapphire engagement ring. Kate has not consistently worn the ‘big blue’ jewel over the past few months, occasionally swapping it out for an eternity band.

Princess Lilian of Sweden: The British model who waited 30 years to marry her Prince Charming

By Tatler

Read More

It is the same ring that King Charles gave to Princess Diana to commemorate their engagement, a 12-carat opal-cut sapphire (surrounded by 14 round-cut diamonds). After her untimely death, Diana’s engagement ring was passed down to her sons, and Prince William used it to propose to Catherine in Africa.

‘It's my mother's engagement ring, so I thought it was quite nice because obviously, she's not going to be around to share in any of the fun and excitement of all this,’ said the Prince during his engagement interview. ‘This is my way of keeping her sort of close to it all.’ He also told reporters of the emotional significance of the piece, explaining that: ‘It's very special to me. As Kate's very special to me now, it was right to put the two together.’

Kate Middleton curtseys alongside Prince William

WPA Pool/Getty Images

A truly dazzling set of jewels for the Princess of Wales as she makes her return to Commonwealth celebrations. The royals were greeted at Westminster Abbey by the Dean of Westminster and serandated with a performance by the Shree Muktajeevan Swamibapa Pipe Band – a community of musicians hailing from the world’s first Hindu eco-temple, Shree Swaminarayan Mandir in Kingsbury.

Over 2,000 guests joined King Charles and the royal family for the celebrations, including Commonwealth Secretary-General, Baroness Scotland, and the Commonwealth Secretary-General Elect, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey. Over 700 school children and Commonwealth Games athletes took their seats in Westminster Abbey, led by Sir Chris Hoy and Shanice Beckford-Norton.

The service of appreciation is hosting a plethora of musical performances, including a combination of percussion, acrobatics, and dancing from her Masai Cultural Arts team. The first Master of The King’s music, Errollyn Wallen, is showcasing her collaboration with Samoan soprano Aivale Cole, titled ‘Way of My Dreaming Heart’. Belize-born Wallen is perhaps best known for her sensitive re-working of ‘Jerusalem’, commissioned by the BBC for the Last Night of the Proms in 2020.

Like Catherine, King Charles was unable to attend last year's Commonwealth Day celebrations at Westminster Abbey due to his cancer treatment

AARON CHOWN/Getty Images

Also performing will be Braimah and Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, who will perform Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s ‘Deep River’, arranged for violin and piano by their sibling, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, who shot to fame after performing at the royal wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in 2018. Legendary British singer Joan Armatrading performed her song ‘Love and Affection’, in keeping with the day’s theme of togetherness.

Elsewhere in the celebrations, King Charles will officially start the countdown to the 2026 Commonwealth Games, set to be held in Glasgow, by launching the Commonwealth Sport King’s Baton Relay from Buckingham Palace. Baroness Scotland will then host both King Charles and Queen Camilla at Marlborough House for the annual Commonwealth Day Reception, where they will hear a commemorative song written by Andrew Lloyd Webber in honour of the inaugural Commonwealth Peace Prize, which was awarded on 3 March to Rev Dr James Movel Wuye and Imam Dr Muhammad Nurayn Ashafa for their work promoting inter-faith unity between Muslims and Christians.

👉 Click Here to read in detail 👈

Miatamil

Listed here the latest Trending News