The late Queen, who would have celebrated her 98th birthday tomorrow, possessed an astonishing depth and variety of pieces collected over the years through purchases, gifts, and inheritances. She often loaned items to Catherine, Princess of Wales, for special occasions, highlighting the strong relationship between them during the Queen's lifetime. Since Elizabeth's death, Kate has continued to honor the monarch by wearing some of her most precious treasures.
Queen Elizabeth gave the world its first look at an emerald in 1989, arriving for dinner at Clares wearing a tassel necklace paired with complimentary jewelry from the royal wardrobe. Since the dinner took place during a state visit by the President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nayan, it is believed that Elizabeth's necklace was a gift from the Sheikh. The necklace formed part of a four-piece set that also included a pair of earrings, a bracelet, and a ring.
The Princess of Wales wore the earrings and bracelet to a 2022 dinner hosted by Patrick Allen, Governor-General of Jamaica, at King's House in Kingston. The event was scheduled during a royal tour of the Caribbean to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee. The couple married at St George's Chapel, Windsor, in 1863, and the then Prince of Wales presented Alexandra with a set of diamonds and pearls. In addition to the luxurious necklace, the collection consisted of pearl and diamond earrings, a brooch with a detachable pendant, and a diamond tiara.
The tiara, later known as the Rundle, was the only piece Alexandra did not wear on her wedding day. After the Queen's death in 1925, the headpiece passed to her daughter, Princess Victoria, but its fate remains uncertain. The other accessories were inherited by Queen Mary, Alexandra's daughter-in-law, who presented the necklace to the Queen Mother. The necklace and earrings were inherited by Queen Elizabeth, and she wore them on evening occasions.
Most recently, Kate chose the necklace for a state banquet with King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and Queen Maxima at Buckingham Palace in 2018. Designed by Elizabeth herself, this piece features an elegant tiered pearl arrangement completed with a diamond clasp. Throughout her reign, the Queen wore this necklace countless times, showing off her elegant allure around the world. In 2020, she wore it over an emerald green dress while addressing the nation amid the COVID-19 pandemic during her inspiring television speech. Her Majesty praised a generation of Britons as strong as any and said, "We should take comfort that although we still have more to endure, better days will return."
The Princess of Wales wore Elizabeth's pearls to the Governor General's Luncheon shortly after the Queen's death in September 2022 and again at the 2023 Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall.
The Princess of Wales debuted the Greville chandelier earrings at the wedding of Jordanian Crown Prince Hussein and Princess Raja in 2023. Originally owned by Lady Margaret Greville, the socialite daughter of a successful brewer, the jewels were given to Elizabeth as a wedding gift from her parents, King George V and Queen Mary. When Margaret died in 1942, she left a stunning bequest of jewels to Elizabeth, the queen consort, who later became the Queen Mother. Queen Elizabeth wrote to her mother-in-law, Queen Mary, "I must tell you that Lady Greville has left me her jewels, but I will keep that quiet too for the present. She has left them to me with her loving thoughts, dear old thing, and I feel very touched. I don't suppose I'll see what it's made of for a long time, what with slow lawyers and death duties and such, but I know it has some good stuff. Apart from everything else, it's exciting when something is left out, and I admire beautiful stones with all my heart. I can't help but think that most women do."
Margaret had the earrings changed twice, adding 12 diamonds in 1922, followed by a further 10 diamonds in 1929. The design features a mix of diamond cuts, such as half-moon, trapezium, square, baguette, and emerald. When the King and Queen gave the earrings to their daughter, Elizabeth, in 1947, she was unable to wear them because she did not have pierced ears. However, four years later, she had her ears pierced and was seen wearing the Greville chandelier earrings countless times over the following years.
