Princess Charlotte and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge wearing antique earrings borrowed from the Queen for the 2017 Trooping of the Colors Photo Mark Cuthbert/Getty
Royalty
Kate Middleton’s Amazing Antique Earrings
They were borrowed from the Queen
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, wearing the Cambridge Lover’s Knot Tiara for a state banquet in 2016 with the antique diamond pendant earrings borrowed from the Queen. Photo Getty
The internet is lighting up with the latest little jewel Prince Harry reportedly presented to Meghan Markle. If you haven’t heard, it’s a ring, but not the ring we are waiting for. (Find out about it on Harper’s Bazaar UK.)
It’s a different royal jewelry moment, I can’t stop obsessing about. The antique diamond pendant earrings Kate Middleton wore over the weekend to the June 17, 2017, Trooping of the Colors, an event celebrating the Queen’s birthday.
I have repeated it like a broken record, the Duchess of Cambridge does not dip into the impressive jewelry that is available to her too often. Instead, she prefers to wear her own contemporary collection of earrings that ranges from costume pieces to Asprey studs and pendant styles.
When she does wear the Queen’s jewels, I have finally figured out, it’s always for official occasions. This is the opposite approach of Princess Diana who seemed to wear the good stuff almost every night. Nevertheless, I am learning to adjust to Kate’s jewelry ways.
At the Trooping of the Colors, when the entire royal family gathers together on the balcony at Buckingham Palace to watch the pageantry of the parade, Kate looked sensational in a millennial pink Alexander McQueen dress and a Jane Taylor hat. Her sartorial splendor blew the fashion press away. As far as I am concerned, the attire and elaborate updo created the perfect canvas for the earrings.
At the June 17, 2017, Trooping of the Colors, on the balcony at Buckingham Palace, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, wearing the Queen’s antique diamond pendant earrings with Princess Charlotte and Prince George. Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage
The only thing we know for certain about the jewels is that they come from the Queen’s collection and Kate has worn them at least once before. She paired the earrings with the Cambridge Lover’s Knot Tiara for a state banquet last year.
The earrings look as though they probably were made around 1830. In other words, they could be late Georgian or early Victorian. They do not appear in the best book on the monarch’s collection, The Queen’s Jewels by Leslie Field, because they are not from the more important part of the Queen’s collection. They are closer to a People’s Princess type of jewel. The style fits right in with the antique earring revival going on now.
“It’s a very sought after style,” says Stephanie Windsor who curates an antique selection of jewelry at Barneys. “I have a pair similar, if smaller in size, in my assortment at Barneys in Beverly Hills. They are easy to wear earrings with a lot of personality in the chunkiness of the old diamond cuts.”
Prince Harry, if you are reading this, perhaps some diamonds for Ms. Markle’s next gift. Barneys ships internationally.
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