It’s all in the family — especially when it comes to the royal family jewels. Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle have been enjoying their late mother-in-law Princess Diana’s personal jewelry that was bequeathed to their respective husbands to give to their wives. And it seems they have been given license to rework her baubles to fit their personal styles!
The two most obvious examples of the reimagining of Princess Di’s jewels have been worn by Meghan Markle. The Duchess of Sussex received a striking diamond engagement ring from Prince Harry in late 2017,a redesign of one of the princess’ most famous sapphire and diamond necklaces. Prince Harry took two diamonds from said choker and incorporated them into the design of Markle’s engagement ring, to ensure that his mother was part of their special moment. Markle gets extra points here because she repurposed a refashioned jewel. And it seems Di would approve of the tweak— after all, when she originally received the huge sapphire rimmed with diamonds, it was in the form of a broach, which she had refashioned into a choker neck piece with seven strands of pearls!
But Princess Diana was also part of another major ring moment for Markle. The Duchess of Sussex wore a mesmerizing aquamarine cocktail ring to the reception for her wedding to Prince Harry (the perfect complement to her slinky Stella McCartney gown). The repurposing here was more symbolic, however. The stunning bauble had originally been a gift to Princess Diana to mark the end of her marriage to Prince Charles.
Duchess Meghan’s sister-in-law Kate Middleton is no stranger to making Princess Diana’s jewels her own either. Much like Markle, the Duchess of Cambridge has repurposed the late Princess of Wales’ signature sapphire set (Meghan’s was the necklace, and Kate, of course, received the ring). Princess Diana wore her wedding present for the Crown Prince Fahd as sapphire drop earrings, which she eventually had made into chunky studs surrounded by ten round diamonds to mark Princes Harry’s birth in 1985. Subsequently, Kate Middleton received the sparklers upon her engagement in 2010, but she had them fashioned into modest drop earrings, which she first wore in July 2011.
And, of course, both Duchess Meghan and Duchess Kate have worn their mother-in-law’s gems as they received them too! See how they’ve paid tribute to the Princess of Wales with their jewelry here!
