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Kate Middleton brought a special piece of Queen Elizabeth with her to Jordan for Crown Prince Hussein’s royal wedding to Rajwa Alseif.
For the evening banquet, the Princess of Wales accessorized her sparkly rose gold-colored gown by Jenny Packham with Queen Elizabeth’s Greville Chandelier earrings, marking the first time she’s worn them publicly.
The late monarch, who died in September 2022, received the diamond and platinum earrings as a wedding gift from her parents King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, in 1947 when she and Prince Philip tied the knot. The Queen Mother inherited the dazzling royal jewels from her friend, Dame Margaret Greville, in 1942, five years before she passed them on to her daughter.
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#RoyalWeddingJordan Princess Catherine The Princess of Wales looked STUNNING at the Royal Banquet and represented the RF and the country wonderfully please like and retweet #PrincessCatherineofWales #PrincessofWales #PrincessCatherine #KateMiddleton #KatetheGreat #TeamWales pic.twitter.com/goq6TyJjYZ
— Lee Hood (@Mofoman360) June 2, 2023
Earlier in the day, Kate donned a blush pink long-sleeve maxi gown by Elie Saab with a different pair of diamond earrings for the Islamic marriage ceremony.
The Greville Chandelier earrings were made in London by Cartier over the course of a decade. Initially, in 1918, they were “a simple pair of brilliant drop earrings,” as per The Court Jeweler. Then, in 1922, 12 additional diamonds were used to lengthen them before they were finally completed — in their current form — in 1929 after 10 more diamonds were added.
According to the Royal Collection Trust, each earring features “a lexicon of modern diamond cuts” — consisting of a trio of pair-shaped diamond pendants, plus diamonds in emerald, trapeze, half-moon, square, baguette and baton cuts — ultimately creating the effect of a modern girandole or chandelier earring.
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Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, wore a pink #JennyPackham gown paire with the Lover’s Knot tiara at a state banquet in Jordan celebrating the wedding of Crown Prince Hussein of Jordan and Rajwa Al Saif. https://t.co/ihWOpDApVn pic.twitter.com/ejumtSMqsK
— Vogue Runway (@VogueRunway) June 2, 2023
The Court Jeweler added that the earrings quickly became a “favourite gala jewels of the princess, especially after she ascended to the throne in 1952,” in which they “frequently” accompanied the Queen “on state visits to foreign countries such as the Netherlands and Denmark .”
Queen Elizabeth even wore the jewels to a dinner at the Fairmont Royal York hotel in Toronto in July 2010 while on a tour of Canada. She paired them with “a gown festooned with crystal maple leaves,” the Court Jeweler notes.
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Elsewhere for the Jordan royal wedding, Kate, 41, donned another special piece — Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot tiara — marking the first time she’s worn the glittering headpiece — or any tiara — overseas.
Prior to the Thursday wedding, the Princess of Wales had only worn the diamond and pearl tiara — a favorite of Princess Diana — for UK events. It’s been among her collection of jewels since her wedding in 2011.