Royal Family ‘Probably’ Laughed at Kim Kardashian Buying Princess Diana’s Necklace, Expert Claims

The Kardashian family jewels. Kim Kardashian made headlines earlier this month when she bought Princess Diana’s iconic Attallah cross — and royal expert Valentine Lowe is telling Us Weekly how the royal family might’ve reacted to the sale. “I think they probably laugh at it. Laugh about it over the breakfast table and move on,” the journalist exclusively told Us on Wednesday, January 25, while promoting his book Courtiers: Intrigue, Ambition and the Power Players Behind the House of Windsor. “[They] certainly wouldn't be annoyed, I [don’t] think.” Prince WIliam, Kate Middleton and Kim Kardashian. Shutterstock(2) Kardashian, 42, purchased the piece via Sotheby’s auction Royal and Noble sale. According to TMZ, the reality TV star paid $200,000 for the jewel, which features circular-cut diamonds and square-cut amethysts. The pendant was previously purchased by Naim Attallah, who lent it to the then-Princess of Wales in 1987. According to Sotheby’s, the necklace was one of Diana's “favorite” accessories. “Through Attallah’s friendship with Princess Diana, he loaned it to her several times over a number of years,” the luxury marketplace wrote via Instagram earlier this month. “It is understood that the cross was only ever worn by the Princess and following her death, it was never seen in public again until now.” (Diana died at age 36 in a car crash in Paris in 1997.) Princess Diana at Garrards Jewellery Shop, 1987. Shutterstock While the royal family may have found Kardashian’s purchase amusing, the institution has made headlines for more serious matters recently. With the release of Prince Harry’s memoir, Spare, on January 10, tensions between the Duke of Sussex, 38, and his family have only become more pronounced. In the tell-all, Harry makes claims about the U.K. media and high-ranking royal officials, including his brother, Prince William. In one chapter, the former military pilot alleged that William, 40, mocked his mental health struggles ahead of their falling out. “I was an agoraphobe. Which was nearly impossible given my public role. After one speech, which couldn’t be avoided or canceled, and during which I’d nearly fainted, Willy came up to me backstage. Laughing,” Harry claimed. “‘Harold! Look at you! You’re drenched.'” The BetterUp CIO continued: “Him of all people. He’d been present for my very first panic attack. … He’d told me that day or soon after that I needed help. And now he was teasing me? I couldn’t imagine how he could be so insensitive.” Despite his allegations about the Prince of Wales — including a passage in which he claimed William physically fought him after throwing shade at Meghan Markle — Harry claimed he wants to reconcile with his brother and father, King Charles III. During his ITV interview earlier this month, the Archewell cofounder said: "I would like to get my father back. I would like to have my brother back,” However, Lowe told Us that William might not share his brother’s desire to make amends. “Laying your family's dirty linen out there in public, it's a painful thing to do. And I'm not sure William will ever forgive him,” the One Man and His Dig author revealed. Harry and Meghan, 41, — who share son Archie, 3, and daughter Lilibet, 19 months — have been candid about their experiences as senior members of the royal family since stepping down from their working roles in 2020. Lowe told Us that a comment that the Duchess of Sussex made during the pair’s March 2021 CBS interview provided the inspiration for Courtiers. “She said, ‘There are two different things. There's the members of the royal family, and there are people who work for them. They're two separate things.’ And when she said that, she was effectively pointing the finger of blame at the courtiers. And I just thought, ‘This is really interesting,’ because everyone refers to them, they kind talk about them; but they never examine who they are [and] what they do.” Courtiers: Intrigue, Ambition and the Power Players Behind the House of Windsor hit shelves on Thursday, January 24. With reporting by Christina Garibaldi