At today’s Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey in London, the ladies of the British royal family wore some lovely jewels—and one of them made quite the statement with her choice of jewelry for the occasion.
Following the Queen’s decision not to travel to London for the service, due to ongoing mobility challenges, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall led the royal party at the service.
Camilla wore a purple ensemble, accessorized by a favorite pair of bejeweled pansy brooches.
The brooches appear to be set with diamonds, amethysts, and topazes or citrines. Camilla paired them with her go-to earrings, which feature a diamond floral button-style stud and a pearl drop.
She also wore a stack of bracelets on her right wrist, including a Van Cleef & Arpels Magic Alhambra bracelet.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrived together for the service. Kate wore a sapphire blue ensemble for the occasion.
Fittingly, Kate accessorized with diamonds and sapphires. She wore a pair of sapphire cluster drop earrings that have been favorites since the early years of her marriage, plus a coordinating pendant necklace that was debuted more recently.
Here’s a closer view of the earrings from today’s outing.
And here’s an excellent view of the pendant, also from today’s service.
Over the years, many have persistently speculated (or even outright claimed) that Kate’s sapphires are reworked pieces from the collection of the late Diana, Princess of Wales. People have mainly pointed to this pair of earrings (worn here with the sapphire and pearl choker in 1991) as the jewels that they believe have been reworked for Kate.
In my opinion, as I have written in the past, there’s simply no way that the earrings were remade into Kate’s sapphire set. The sapphires in these earrings are smooth cabochon stones. The sapphires in Kate’s set are faceted. They can’t be the same stones.
But although the sapphires don’t have a clear Diana connection, they do have another sentimental resonance. The earrings and necklace were worn in October 2020 at Buckingham Palace for William and Kate’s meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and his wife, Olena.
Here’s a closer view of Kate wearing the jewels during the 2020 audience. If you ask me, her decision to wear them again for today’s Commonwealth Day service is another clear gesture of support for the President and for the people of Ukraine.
There was one more royal lady at today’s service as well: Princess Alexandra, the Queen’s cousin. She wore pearl and diamond cluster earrings, a favorite pearl choker necklace with a geometric diamond clasp, and a lovely diamond brooch for the occasion.
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