The Princess of Wales Kate Middleton has seemingly made a subtle tribute to Queen Elizabeth II through her choice of jewellery.
On Tuesday, the Princess was photographed alongside her husband Prince William as they made their way towards Buckingham Palace to receive the Queen’s coffin.
In photos captured of Kate by the DailyMail, she could be seen wearing all black with a simple necklace consisting of three strands of pearls.
The choice appeared to be a tribute to the late monarch, who was known to favour her own three-strand pearl necklace. According to People, while the Queen had a number of pearl necklaces, her favourite was a three-strand pearl necklace that she had made from graduated pearls and a diamond clasp shortly after her accession to the throne.
As for where the Queen’s love for pearls began, it is thought to have started early on in the monarch’s life due to a tradition that first began with her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, who is reported to have given each of her daughters and granddaughters a pearl every year on their birthday so that they would have a strand by the time they turned 18.
Arseiny Budrevich, the founder of Budrevich Fine Jewellery Studio, says that Queen Elizabeth loved pearls because they “represent the aristocratic virtues of liberality, magnificence, and generosity.”
“Pearls have been associated with class, elegance, and sophistication since the Ptolemaic dynasty in ancient Egypt, where the Royal family wore pearls to show their status,” he told The Express.
“This tradition was then passed down through the holy Roman empire to the French monarchs who carried it into fashion in the middle ages, where it was subsequently dispersed through Europe. This is when the British empire picked up the style.”
Kate and Prince William joined King Charles, Queen Consort Camilla, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, and other senior royals at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday evening to see the Queen’s coffin arrive at her London home.
The flag-draped coffin was brought from RAF Northolt along streets lined with well-wishers and drove through the palace gates through a sea of mourners.
Following the monarch’s death at Balmoral Castle, after a 70-year reign, her body was taken to Edinburgh, where it lay in state at St Giles’ Cathedral, before her coffin was flown south.
There was no footage broadcast from inside Buckingham Palace’s quadrangle as the late monarch’s children, grandchildren and their spouses privately received her coffin on the steps of the grand entrance
