The outfit worn by Kate Middleton to the funeral of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II was a nod to a very special day spent with her late grandmother-in-law. The new Princess of Wales wore a black Alexander McQueen coat dress to the state funeral, which she finished off with a wide-brimmed veiled hat.
The Royal family is known for incorporating sentimental meaning into their clothing choices, but even the most eagle-eyed of royal watchers may have missed the significance of Kate's outfit. The princess has previously worn a white version of the same coat dress before, for another very important event in the history of the monarchy.
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Back in June, members of the Royal family came forward to show support for the Queen as she celebrated her historic Platinum Jubilee, marking 70 years on the throne. During the Trooping the Colour events, Kate could be seen wearing a white version of the tailored coat dress as she stood beside the Queen on the balcony at Buckingham Palace.
For the funeral on Monday, September 19, Kate paired her black Alexander McQueen dress with a four-row Japanese pearl choker necklace that had also belonged to Her Majesty, the Queen.
Queen Elizabeth is understood to have first loaned the necklace to Kate in 2017.
She would go on to wear the special piece of jewellery for the Queen and Prince Philip’s diamond wedding anniversary, as well as for the funeral of Prince Philip in April 2021.
The piece was also worn by former Princess of Wales, Princess Diana, during a 1982 state visit from Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, and also gave a nod to Kate having recently taken on her late mother-in-law's former title.
The princess paired the choker with the Queen’s Bahrain pearl drop earrings. These were made from a cache of seven pearls, which the late monarch received as a wedding gift from Hakim of Bahrain in 1947, back when she was still Princess Elizabeth.
Back in June, Kate accessorised her white version of the coat dress with a navy and white Philip Treacy fascinator plus a pair of diamond and sapphire drop earrings that had previously belonged to Princess Diana.
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