Vintage Pearls for the Princess of Wales’s Prison Visit

On Tuesday, the Princess of Wales wore vintage to an unexpected place—a prison in Cheshire, where visited women and children in a mother and baby unit.

Princess Catherine arrived at HMP Styal, a prison for female adults and young offenders, in Cheshire on Tuesday. Her visit to the facility was made in connection with her role as patron of Action for Children, a charity working toward a goal of a safe and happy childhood for every child and young person, providing them with the foundations they need to thrive.

Inside the prison, Catherine “met specialist staff supporting new mothers, and visited a nursery for babies who will have to spend their first formative months inside a jail,” per the BBC. She toured a project designed to develop strong and healthy relationships between mothers and babies, even in the most challenging of environments, and spoke with inmates who have given birth while incarcerated. The project aims to help these mothers build strong connections to their newborns in hopes of both fostering positive family relationships and reducing recidivism.

For her visit to the prison, the princess wore a brown ensemble, including the same tartan coat she wore recently at the Royal Marsden, and a new pair of earrings.

The earrings, per UFO No More, were sourced from Katherine James Jewellery. Each earring features five cream-colored pearls set in yellow gold.

Here’s a view of the earrings from the Katherine James website, which describes them as “excellent quality vintage earrings.” They add, “They look a bit like a coral reef, and you could almost imagine Nemo swimming between the pearls.”

This shot of the earrings shows the way that the backing is arranged. The earrings have Omega backings, a design option that adds extra security. The earring has a post to place through an ear piercing, but the fastener also has a clip that allows the jewel to sit more evenly and securely on the ear. The backing can also help to ease the weight of heavier earrings, and this particular pair is described on the retailer’s website as “decadently hefty.”

For the visit, Kate again swapped out her sapphire and diamond engagement ring for her new diamond and sapphire eternity band. As she has done for several events recently, she stacked the band with her wedding ring, her diamond eternity band, and a second diamond-set band.