Kate Wears Diana’s Pearls (and a New Brooch!) at Westminster Abbey

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attended the Anzac Day service together at Westminster Abbey in London. Anzac Day commemorates Australian and New Zealand casualties and veterans of conflicts. The date of the commemoration is significant: it marks the anniversary of the landings in the Dardanelles on April 25, 1915, that would signal the start of the Gallipoli campaign during World War I.

For the service, Kate wore an ivory coat dress by Alexander McQueen with black accessories.

This McQueen coat dress has been in her collection for several years. Notable appearances include the christening of Princess Charlotte in Norfolk in July 2015. She wore her Mappin & Webb Empress necklace and earrings on this occasion.

She’s also worn the outfit for another military remembrance moment. In the summer of 2017, she wore the coat dress in Belgium for the commemorations of the centenary of the Battle of Passchendaele. She wore her crystal and faux pearl Balenciaga earrings on that occasion, as well as the coordinating Five Pearl Brooch.

This time around, Kate paired the coat dress with a new halo-style hat from Jane Taylor London. She picked up the color of the black satin bow with her choice of shoes and handbag for the occasion.

Kate accessorized with a familiar pair of earrings: the Collingwood Pearl Drop Earrings.

The diamond and pearl earrings come from the collection of her late mother-in-law, Diana, Princess of Wales. Here, Diana wears the earrings with Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot Tiara.

Kate has been wearing the earrings for many years. She generally reserves them for important daytime occasions and evening gala events. Here, she wears them in Windsor on Garter Day in June 2019.

And here, like Diana before her, she pairs the earrings with the Lover’s Knot Tiara for the Dutch state banquet at Buckingham Palace in October 2018. She’s also wearing Queen Alexandra’s Wedding Necklace here.

She has also worn the earrings for military remembrance occasions, including the annual Remembrance Sunday commemorations in London. Here, she wears the earrings with the Queen’s Diamond and Pearl Leaf Brooch for another event during the Passchendaele commemorations in Ypres in July 2017.

On Monday morning, Kate also wore a paper poppy, a symbol of remembrance. We’re familiar with the poppies distributed by the Royal British Legion each November ahead of Remembrance Day in Britain, but this poppy is a slightly different one. It’s a Flanders Poppy, distributed by the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services’ Association. The association was founded in 1916 by soldiers returning from the Gallipoli Campaign. You’ll see the RSA’s logo on the poppy’s tag.

Kate also used a new piece of jewelry to secure her poppy: a small diamond leaf ornament. I agree with those who have said that this little jewel is likely from Robinson Pelham, a firm that has provided jewelry to members of the Middleton family for years.

The leafy design of the ornament is almost identical to the design of the tiara and hair ornament made by the firm and worn by Kate’s sister, Pippa Middleton, for her wedding to James Matthews in May 2017.

Here’s a closer view of the ornament that Pippa used to secure her veil on her wedding day. You’ll be able to compare the leaf design of this piece and Kate’s small brooch easily.

Here’s one more closer look at Kate’s jewel and poppy from this morning’s service. There’s also a little extra symbolic resonance in the combination. The tiara worn by Pippa on her wedding day is called the Maidenhair Fern Tiara. Ferns are, of course, important symbols for New Zealand. The silver fern is more commonly used as a national symbol, but the maidenhair fern is also native to the country.

And, of course, Kate also wore her usual trio of rings—her diamond and sapphire engagement ring, gold wedding band, and diamond eternity band—on her left hand.