Kate Middleton, the United Kingdom’s new Princess of Wales, has made several dazzling public appearances since entering the royal family in 2011 while wearing a variety of the monarchy’s well-known jewels.

The princess has a wide variety of priceless accessories at her disposal, including her engagement ring, tiaras, necklaces, brooches, bracelets, and earrings. Instead, she has not yet won over everyone with her decisions over where and when to wear them.

This month, comments made by former fashion editor Suzy Menkes from the time of King Charles III’s coronation came to light. Suzy Menkes called Kate “sadness” for demonstrating that she had to put on her jewelry under duress.

The Princess of Wales is a little unhappy about jewelry, Menkes said in a May 5 interview on the podcast Creative Conversations. When necessary, she adopts the look she typically wears.

She said, “I think she looks stunning in a certain sort of clothing or robes…then she pulls a face and says, ‘Do I have to put on this?'” “I’m making this all up, it’s probably stupid, but she doesn’t seem to love jewelry and be delighted to wear it,” he said.

The criticism triggered a social media uproar from the royal’s admirers who disapproved of Menkes.

Newsweek examines a selection of Kate’s key royal jewelry in light of this current issue.

moments up to now.

Engagement Ring

With the official announcement of her engagement to Prince William in November 2010, Kate received her first piece of major royal jewelry. The engagement ring chosen by the prince’s mother, Princess Diana, in 1981 had originally been an heirloom ring with which the prince had proposed.

The hoop was fashioned by the crown jeweler Garrard and features a big oval sapphire that is surrounded by useful diamonds. Diana continued to wear the hoop even after she separated from Prince Charles (now King Charles III), who she had been married to since 1981 because it had long been an important part of her public identity.

Nowadays, Kate is rarely seen without the hoop, therefore she frequently wears diamond and sapphire pendants and earrings to balance out her most important accessory.

Royal Wedding ceremony

Famously, Kate made her first appearance wearing a tiara on the day of her royal wedding on April 29, 2011, at Westminster Abbey.

Queen Elizabeth II loaned the princess a tiara for the situation which had some very important associations. It was created by Cartier and presented to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother by her husband, King George VI, in 1936. The piece was given to the monarch and queen’s oldest child, Queen Elizabeth II, as her first tiara on the occasion of her 18th birthday.

Elizabeth lent the gem to her sister, Princess Margaret, as well as to her daughter, Princess Anne, and as a result, Kate, her granddaughter-in-law, was given her very first tiara.

Together with the tiara, Kate’s parents gave her a pair of diamond earrings that were meant to resemble little unfastened acorns hung in the middle of a diamond loop. A portion of Kate Middleton’s family crest is made up of acorns.

Nationwide Portrait Gallery Gala

In 2014, Kate appeared at a National Portrait Gallery gala in London wearing the Nizam of Hyderabad necklace, one of Queen Elizabeth II’s most priceless privately held pieces of jewelry. It was presented to the monarch in 1947 as a result of a marriage.

The necklace was created by Cartier and was worn by the queen throughout her reign. Except for the monarch, Kate is the only member of the queen’s inner circle to have worn the item in public. The princess wore it a second time in 2019 during a diplomatic reception at Buckingham Palace.

State Luncheon Celebration for the Chinese President

Kate looked stunning for her first state dinner as a member of the royal family while wearing accessories that Queen Elizabeth had lent to her.

The princess donned what is known as the “lotus blossom tiara” for the state banquet at Buckingham Palace for President Xi Jinping of China in 2015. The tiara was made in the 1920s with diamonds presented to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother as a marriage present. The tiara was lent to Princess Margaret during her lifetime before being given to Queen Elizabeth II in 2002.

Kate was loaned a diamond bracelet and two diamond drop earrings that were part of Elizabeth’s 1947 engagement gift from Prince Philip to mark their union.

The princess also wore her sapphire and diamond engagement ring, along with a second diamond bracelet.

Jamaican weddings at night

Kate has worn several antique royal jewels, but she has also unveiled some chic pieces that were kept in the Buckingham Palace vaults.

The princess donned a pair of tassel-shaped, emerald, and diamond earrings in March 2022 while attending a night reception and traveling to Jamaica. She was given the earrings and bracelet by Queen Elizabeth after she had gifted them to her in the 1980s.

In 2011, the queen wore the earrings and a necklace of the same design to a dinner in London given by President Barack Obama.

King or Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral

Kate has consistently honored other individuals, places, and events by wearing jewelry in the manner of Queen Elizabeth. On September 8, 2022, the monarch passed away at the age of 96. Kate honored her late grandmother-in-law by dressing in a variety of clothes that were borrowed from her collection for the royal funeral.

Kate wore a modern four-strand pearl necklace with a diamond clasp for the burial. This necklace was loaned to Princess Diana and was previously worn by the late queen beginning in the 1980s.

Only a year prior, Kate wore the necklace to the funeral of Prince Philip at Windsor Castle.

The princess paired the necklace with a pair of diamond and pearl drop earrings that the queen reportedly ordered after receiving the pearls as a wedding gift from the monarch of Bahrain in 2007.

1947.

State Luncheon with the South African President

King Charles III’s first state ceremonial banquet at Buckingham Palace since taking the throne occurred in November 2022, and it was one of Kate’s most contemporary bright jewelry moments.

The princess wore the pearl and diamond tiara that was constructed in the 1910s for Queen Mary for the event, which was organized in honor of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. The tiara was first worn by Queen Elizabeth II during the early years of her reign and then made famous by Princess Diana, who received it as a wedding gift.

The well-known piece was embellished by Kate with a new diamond brooch and a pearl bracelet that had formerly belonged to Diana. The item was initially spotted on Kate for the Remembrance Sunday service in London that same month and listed for sale at a jeweler in the city’s capital the previous year for £14,500 ($17,229).