Queen Camilla appeared to send the King a discreet message of solidarity through her jewellery during their nine-day Caribbean tour, which unfolded amid renewed calls for historic slavery reparations.
The Queen, 79, attended Antigua’s Independence Day Parade wearing the same diamond drop earrings she chose for the 2023 coronation of Their Majesties.
Camilla has previously worn the unidentified gold earrings on several occasions, including Royal Ascot in 2022, although their provenance remains unclear.
Tatler reported that the earrings may once have formed part of the Queen Mother’s Coronation Riviere. Wearing them during one of the royal family’s most politically sensitive tours therefore carried a powerful sense of continuity and tradition.
The choice is the latest reminder of the quiet influence wielded by royal jewellery—and why certain treasures from the family vault appear more regularly than others.
The Princess of Wales, for example, has worn the substantial Cambridge Lover’s Knot Tiara, a favourite of Princess Diana, 15 times over the past decade.
By contrast, Kate has worn the Cartier Halo Tiara only once since marrying Prince William. The piece was similarly seldom seen on its previous owner, the Queen Mother, who received it from George VI just weeks before he became king.
These priceless jewels have remained within the Royal Family for generations, offering rare glimpses into the history, relationships and symbolism of the world’s most famous monarchy.
The Princess of Wales has worn the substantial Cambridge Lover’s Knot Tiara, once adored by Princess Diana, 15 times in the past decade
Queen Camilla wearing the Kent Amethyst during the King and Queen’s US State Visit on April 28, 2026
Japanese pearl choker
Elizabeth first wore the choker during her 1983 state visit to Bangladesh
Queen Elizabeth II visited Japan for the first time on an official trip in 1975, when she was presented with a set of lustrous Akoya pearls.
She later asked court jeweller Garrard to transform the pearls into a choker, adding a diamond-set clasp at the front rather than the back. According to Garrard’s chief creative officer, Sara Prentice, the unusual detail gave the necklace “a beautiful focal point”.
Elizabeth was known for her fondness for pearls but rarely wore chokers during her reign. The four-row design consequently stood out in her vast jewellery collection and soon became one of her preferred pieces.
The Queen unveiled the choker during her 1983 state visit to Bangladesh and wore it at several major royal engagements over the next 70 years, including a dinner celebrating former prime minister Margaret Thatcher’s 70th birthday.
Princess Diana, however, wore the necklace before Elizabeth II. The Queen lent it to Diana for her first state banquet, held for Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands at Hampton Court Palace in 1982.
Elizabeth first loaned the striking jewel to Kate, then the Duchess of Cambridge, in 2017 for celebrations marking her and Prince Philip’s 70th wedding anniversary.
In a deeply personal tribute, Kate later wore the choker to the funerals of both Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth in 2021 and 2022.
Greville chandelier earrings
Kate wore the Greville earrings, created by Cartier for philanthropist and society hostess Margaret Greville, to the BAFTA Awards earlier this year
Cartier spent 11 years, from 1918 to 1929, creating these celebrated chandelier earrings for Margaret Greville, a society hostess and philanthropist. The design incorporates virtually every major diamond cut.
They began as a pair of drop earrings, but Greville had 12 additional diamonds added in 1922.
The shoulder-grazing earrings were altered once more in 1929, when she commissioned a further ten stones. Their elaborate design combines half-moon, trapeze, square, baguette, baton and emerald-cut diamonds.
When Greville died in 1942, she left an extraordinary collection of jewels to the Queen Mother. The earrings later passed to Elizabeth II as a wedding gift in 1947.
Elizabeth could not wear the dazzling Cartier pieces on her wedding day, however, because her ears had not been pierced and the earrings had previously been converted into clip-ons.
She had her ears pierced at 25, before becoming Queen in 1951, and finally wore the spectacular earrings the following year at the Royal Variety Performance.
The Greville earrings are now associated with Kate’s collection. The future Queen notably wore them to this year’s BAFTA Awards, shortly after the dramatic arrest of former Prince Andrew.
Kate returned to the BAFTA red carpet in February, two years after revealing that she had been diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer.
The ceremony took place while the Royal Family faced intense scrutiny over the former Duke of York’s links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Against that backdrop, Kate’s appearance was described as a “masterclass in understated power dressing” and a “quietly strategic reminder of stability”.
Fashion expert Lisa Talbot told Our News Outlet that Kate’s decision to wear the century-old jewels carried particular weight. “In a moment where the Royal Family is under intense scrutiny, her appearance felt quietly strategic, a reminder of stability, grace and the composure expected of a future Queen,” she said.
Bahrain Pearl Drop Earrings
Kate has worn the pearl earrings repeatedly since Queen Elizabeth II’s death in 2022, including at her funeral, reflecting both personal respect and royal tradition
The Bahrain pearl drop earrings were presented to Princess Elizabeth in 1947 as a wedding gift from the Hakim of Bahrain.
Each earring features a diamond stud, a series of Art Deco-style diamonds and a Bahrain pearl suspended at the bottom. Over time, the jewels have come to represent continuity within the Royal Family.
Diana was the first person to wear the earrings after the Queen, borrowing them as early as 1982, one year after her own royal wedding.
She frequently wore them with Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot Tiara, which is now strongly associated with the Princess of Wales, who continues to select it for formal state occasions.
Kate has worn the pearl earrings on several occasions since Queen Elizabeth II died in 2022, combining a personal tribute with a visible nod to royal heritage.
The future Queen most recently selected the heirlooms for Trooping the Colour. Royal jewellery expert Bethan Holt has noted that pearls are “inextricably linked with Queen Elizabeth and her personal jewellery legacy”.
The appearance was widely seen as a deliberate reference to both Diana and the late Queen, reinforcing Kate’s position as a link between the monarchy’s past and its future.
Kate has worn the earrings at least six times, including the Remembrance Sunday services in 2016, 2019 and 2025, Royal Ascot in 2017 and Trooping the Colour in 2019.
She also chose the elegant pearls for Prince Philip’s funeral, wearing them alongside another jewel loaned to her by the Queen.
Maple Leaf Brooch
The late Queen inherited the brooch in 2002 after her mother’s death and regularly wore it during Canadian visits or at events connected with the country
The Canadian maple leaf brooch is another jewel inextricably linked with Queen Elizabeth II.
Asprey created the diamond brooch as a gift from King George VI to the Queen Mother before their state visit to Canada in 1939.
During the Second World War, the Queen Mother wore the brooch frequently. She pinned it to her hat while visiting areas damaged by bombing and wore it on her shoulder during a visit to an ammunition factory.
Her daughter, then Princess Elizabeth, wore the piece during her first visit to Canada in 1951, standing in for her ill father.
Elizabeth II inherited the brooch in 2002 following her mother’s death and often wore it at Canadian engagements or events associated with the country.
Queen Camilla and the Princess of Wales have both since been photographed wearing the historic brooch during visits to Canada.
Kate paired it with a red maple-leaf hat during her first official Canadian tour in 2011, shortly after her marriage to Prince William.
She also wore the brooch on a simple red Preen dress for a 2016 reception at Government House in Victoria.
Queen Mary’s Fringe Tiara
Princess Beatrice borrowed the tiara for her intimate Windsor wedding to Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020
On the morning of her wedding to Philip Mountbatten in 2002, Princess Elizabeth suffered an unexpected wardrobe problem.
She had accidentally interfered with the clasp of her tiara, unaware that the jewel could also be worn as a necklace.
Fortunately, royal jeweller Garrard was available to repair it, securing the spring with tape.
The Queen Mother is said to have remained composed, telling her daughter: “We have two hours and there are other tiaras.”
The tiara in question was Queen Mary’s Fringe, which Queen Mary had given to her daughter-in-law, the Queen Mother.
Made by Collingwood, the diamond jewel had originally been Queen Mary’s wedding gift from Queen Victoria.
Queen Mary initially wore the convertible piece in several forms, including as a head ornament and necklace, before having it dismantled to create a new fringe tiara.
In 1919, she commissioned Garrard to make a kokoshnik-inspired design featuring 47 graduated brilliant diamonds, rose-set tapering bars and 46 narrower spikes. The elements could also be removed to create a necklace.
Queen Mary’s Fringe Tiara has become the wedding tiara worn most often by Windsor brides.
Queen Elizabeth’s daughter, Princess Anne, selected the glittering piece for her first wedding in 1973.
She married British equestrian Mark Phillips at Westminster Abbey in a lavish ceremony attended by 2,000 guests.
Princess Beatrice later borrowed the tiara for her much smaller Windsor wedding to Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
For the ceremony, she also wore her grandmother’s vintage Norman Hartnell wedding dress, which was remodelled by Angela Kelly and Stewart Parvin.
Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot Tiara
Diana wearing the Lover’s Knot Tiara, made by royal jewellers Garrard in 1914
This celebrated heirloom has travelled through several generations of the Royal Family, passing from Queen Mary to Queen Elizabeth II, then to Princess Diana and, ultimately, to her daughter-in-law.
Since first wearing the Cambridge Lover’s Knot in 2015, the Princess of Wales has made it one of her signature jewels, selecting it 14 times in ten years.
Garrard created the tiara for Queen Mary in 1914, following her own design and using pearls and diamonds already in her collection.
It was modelled on a tiara owned by Queen Mary’s grandmother, Princess Augusta of Hesse, who married the first Duke of Cambridge, the seventh son of King George III, in 1818.
The jewel has a distinctly French character, with a neoclassical arrangement of 19 openwork diamond arches surrounding an oriental pearl drop suspended from a diamond lover’s knot bow.
To create the bespoke piece, Queen Mary used elements from existing jewels, including her dismantled Some Ladies of England Tiara, pearls from the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara and stones from several of her favourite brooches.
She later removed the upper row of pearls and returned them to her brooches.
Queen Mary left the tiara to Elizabeth in her will. The future Queen wore it regularly, including at an evening engagement in 1955.
In 1981, Elizabeth gave the tiara to Diana as a wedding present. Diana wore it for the first time at the State Opening of Parliament that November.
Following Diana’s death in 1997, the tiara remained secured in a Buckingham Palace vault until it was given to Kate, then the Duchess of Cambridge, in 2015.
Kate debuted the family heirloom on December 8, 2015, at the Queen’s annual Diplomatic Reception, in an emotional tribute to her late mother-in-law.
Since then, the mother of three has worn it 14 times, including at the wedding of Jordan’s Crown Prince Hussein and Princess Rajwa in 2023, King Charles’s first state banquet in 2022 and during US President Donald Trump’s state visit last year.
Despite its considerable weight, the tiara was also a favourite of Princess Diana, who wore it at the 1981 State Opening of Parliament soon after her marriage to Charles.
The Edinburgh Wedding Bracelet
The late Queen’s Edinburgh Wedding Bracelet was a gift from her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh
She also lent the elaborate bracelet to the Princess of Wales, who wore it to the 70th EE British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Albert Hall in 2017
The Edinburgh Wedding Bracelet was given to Queen Elizabeth by her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh.
When Philip designed his bride’s engagement ring, he reused diamonds from the Diamond and Aquamarine Tiara that had belonged to his mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg.
The ring featured a three-carat round brilliant diamond surrounded by smaller pavé-set stones, leaving enough diamonds for further pieces—including the bracelet made by London jeweller Philip Antrobus Ltd.
Queen Elizabeth wore the bracelet on numerous occasions, including the opening of Canada’s parliament in Ottawa in 1957 and the State Opening of Parliament in 1999.
She also lent the ornate jewel to the Princess of Wales, most notably for the 70th EE British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Albert Hall in 2017.
The Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara
The late Queen wearing the dazzling Greville earrings and the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara
Kate is not the only royal to use jewellery as a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II’s legacy.
Queen Camilla honoured the late monarch by wearing the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara at a reception and dinner in October 2023.
The elegant tiara dates to 1893, when it was presented to Mary of Teck to mark her marriage to Prince George, Duke of York, who later became King George V.
Its name comes from the committee of young women who collected subscriptions to fund its creation.
The design combines festoon and fleur-de-lis motifs, with diamonds set in silver and gold. It originally included 14 pearls and can be worn as a tiara, coronet or necklace.
Queen Mary wore the jewel on numerous occasions, including the 1902 coronation of her father-in-law, King Edward VII.
Mary later gave the beloved tiara to her granddaughter Elizabeth when she married Prince Philip. Elizabeth reportedly called it “Granny’s tiara”, and it became a defining part of her jewellery wardrobe both as Princess and Queen.
