Kate Middleton wore a pair of sentimental earrings gifted to her from Prince William as she stepped out for a royal visit earlier this week. The Princess of Wales delivered a master class in monochrome power dressing during her busy day of engagements at RAF Coningsby on Thursday. While Middleton met with junior recruits and toured a rapid response fighter jet in her position as Royal Honorary Air Commodore of the station, she showcased an outfit that bore a striking resemblance to one of Princess Diana’s most noteworthy looks.
Middleton opted to wear a set of sapphire and diamond drop earrings, which appeared remarkably similar to a pair owned by Princess Diana. The late Princess of Wales often wore the sapphire cabochon and diamond cluster earrings for royal engagements, wearing them as both double drops and studs over the years. Outings included a 1986 trip to Japan and a 1995 visit to New York, when she paired the earrings with a matching sapphire choker. The jewels became an iconic piece in the princess’s collection.
Perhaps that is why Prince William gifted his future wife a similar pair to mark their wedding in 2011—a poignant gift, especially considering how Middleton is known to value the symbolic meaning of her earrings. Be it her Wimbledon debut in the earrings in 2011, a trip to a Stoke-on-Trent pottery factory while pregnant in 2015, or a visit to Dundee for the opening of the V&A museum in 2019, the Princess of Wales has treasured the jewels throughout her royal career.
Princess Diana wore a Prince of Wales check suit by Catherine Walker on a trip to Paddington in 1988.
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Boden Boxy Double-Breasted Blazer
Blue Nile Sapphire and Micropavé Diamond Stud Earrings
It wasn’t the only nod Middleton gave to her mother-in-law during the outing. Donning a gray Bella Freud suit (with a Prince of Wales check pattern that may well have been a nod to her husband, Prince William), Middleton continued to turn to one of her royal favorites. She had previously selected the suit for an outing to a textiles manufacturer. But that might not be the only reason that the outfit looked familiar. After all, the Princess of Wales appeared to have taken style inspiration from Prince William’s mother, the late Princess Diana.
On a trip to Paddington Station in honor of the Red Cross on May 3, 1988, the then Princess of Wales wore a Catherine Walker suit, also cut from a Prince of Wales check pattern. While this number was navy, and paired with a white satin turtleneck rather than Middleton’s choice of a gray sweater, the resemblance between the two royal women’s wardrobes is uncanny.