King Charles and Queen Camilla are unable to lead the commemorations this year as they prepare for their historic and highly-anticipated state visit to the US.
For the Anzac Day event on Saturday, the Princess of Wales looked dignified in a navy blue coat with white lapels, channelling a look once worn by Princess Diana. But it was her accessories that caught the eye: Catherine accessorised with diamond and sapphire drop earrings that belonged to her late mother-in-law, alongside a stunning pear tanzanite pendant first seen in 2015.
The tanzanite, from G. Collins and Sons, is part of an earrings and necklace set that is understood to have been a gift from Prince William. The jewels were first spotted in March 2015 at a National Service of Commemoration marking 13 years of military operations in Afghanistan.
The Princess of Wales represented King Charles III at the Wreath Laying Ceremony and Parade at the Cenotaph
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The Princess of Wales has worn the set – or part of it – on several occasions in the years since, including on the high-profile state visit to Canada in 2016 and the visit by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama to Kensington Palace that same year. In another military-related outing, the Princess of Wales wore the tanzanite gems to the 2017 unveiling of a memorial to those who served in Iraq, Gulf and Afghanistan campaigns.
The tanzanite necklace proved the perfect match to the Princess of Wales’ earrings, a diamond set previously owned by Diana, Princess of Wales.
Each earring features two large sapphires, surrounded by diamonds and separated by yet more diamonds to form two drops. Thought to have been given to Princess Diana as a wedding present, they were a go-to in her jewellery box: the late Princess of Wales wore them for several special occasions, including on tour in Melbourne (when she wore them to dance that famous dance with John Travolta) and to the attend the Council of Fashion Designers Awards in New York in 1995. In fact, she loved them so much that she even chose to wear them on the cover of British Vogue in honour of her 33rd birthday in 1994.