Why Duchess Meghan and Princess Kate Wore Colorless Jewels to the Queen’s Funeral
The symbolic meaning dates to Queen Victoria's reign.
Looking at the pictures from Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral, you might notice that Duchess Meghan and Princess Kate’s mourning outfits had more in common than than the choice of black coats and black hats.
Meghan was wearing pearl earrings while Kate accessorized with pearl drop earrings and a pearl and diamond choker.
Besides the sentimental value of the pieces in question (Meghan’s earrings were gifted to her by the late monarch, while Kate’s choker belonged to the queen) there’s a special reason why both royal women wore colorless jewels.
The wearing colorless jewels in times of mourning is a tradition that began back when Queen Victoria reigned. When her beloved husband Prince Albert died in 1861, the monarch went into a period of mourning that would last for the next 40 years, up until the day she herself died.
Related: See Prince George and Princess Charlotte Walk in Queen Elizabeth II’s Funeral Procession
This four-decade period of mourning entailed black attire and subdued, colorless jewelry to symbolize Victoria's deep grief, and the royal tradition of wearing pearls and diamonds to funerals has persisted ever since. (Pearls have an additional symbolic resonance because they resemble teardrops.)
Today in Westminster Abbey, the pearl and diamond earrings that winked from below Kate’s black veil were also from the queen’s jewelry box. They were a wedding gift to the then-Princess Elizabeth from Hakim of Bahrain in 1947.
The pearl choker worn by Kate was crafted by Garrard out of pearls that were gifted to the queen by the Japanese government in the '70s.
At a reception in Buckingham Palace yesterday Kate wore the queen’s signature three strand pearl necklace and a three strand pearl bracelet that belonged to Princess Diana.
Related: See William and Kate's First Solo Outing as the Prince and Princess of Wales
During the mourning period for the queen, Kate has also been seen wearing her late mother-in-law’s Collingwood pearl earrings.
