The Princess of Wales has a range of jewellery that previously belonged to her late mother-in-law, Diana, including the Collingwood pearl drop earrings.
In the lead-up to Diana’s wedding to Prince Charles, Collingwood & Co., who were a prestigious British jeweller favoured by the Spencer family, presented the earrings as a gift to the bride-to-be.
The Collingwood Pearl Earrings feature a diamond-set stud, which are suspended with additional diamonds and a bell cap set with three small diamonds. A teardrop-shaped pearl suspends from the diamonds.
Initially, Collingwood had loaned Diana a set of diamond jewellery, including a necklace and matching earrings, during her engagement. The jeweller expressed a desire to gift the entire set for her wedding. However, the Palace considered the gesture too extravagant, and instead, the pearl drop earrings were chosen as the official gift.
This pair of earrings became a favourite of Diana’s, wearing them often for official state occasions and red-carpet events.
Notable appearances of the earrings seen on Diana include a visit to the Royal College of Organists in July 1983 and a dinner at the British Embassy in DC in 1985. She also wore the earrings with her ‘revenge dress’ to a 1994 dinner at the Serpentine Gallery, which was interpreted as having been worn by Diana “in revenge” for the televised admission of adultery by her husband Charles.
She frequently paired the earrings with the Lover’s Knot Tiara – a pairing that has been favoured by Catherine.
Following Diana’s death, the earrings were passed down to her sons, William and Harry. Royal watchers would eventually see William give the earrings to his wife, Catherine Middleton to wear.
However, it wasn’t until 2017 (6 years after their wedding), when Catherine brought the earrings out for an appearance at the Spanish State Banquet at Buckingham Palace.
Since then over the years, Catherine has frequently worn the earrings at official engagements, including Garter Day, Remembrance events and Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee.
The earrings also made an appearance in one of the photographs taken to mark The Princess’ 40th Birthday in 2022.
