This afternoon the royal family gathered in Windsor for the funeral of Prince Philip, who died last week at age 99. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the funeral’s attendees were limited to 30, though the key members of ‘The Firm’ (a term Prince Philip reportedly coined himself) were all there, including Prince Harry, Prince William, and Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge.
To mark the sad occasion, the Duchess wore a fitted black coat dress, likely by her long-time favorite designer Alexander McQueen, and a tasteful black headpiece. Most noticeably, she also wore a beautiful set of pearl drop earrings and intricate pearl and diamond clasp necklace, both of which carry a special significance.
Eagle-eyed royal fans may recognize the jewels from Kate’s attendance at Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II’s 70th wedding anniversary dinner in 2017.
At the event—which Middleton attended with her husband, Prince William, and her brother-in-law Prince Harry—Kate wore the same jewels, which were on loan from Queen Elizabeth II’s private collection. The choice to wear these specific pieces again for the late Duke’s funeral provided a poignant nod to the Queen and Prince Philip’s enduring love story, as well as paying her respect to the monarch, who is no doubt heartbroken following the death of her beloved husband.
The Duchess has long been known to make subtle public statements via her choice of jewels. Back in January, many took her continual wearing of pearl earrings to be a quiet nod to fellow pearl enthusiast Kamala Harris, who had just been inaugurated as the United States’ first female, first African-American, and first Asian-American Vice President. On other occasions, she’s worn necklaces with delicate engravings of the letters G, C, and L, for her children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
There’s certainly no doubting that Middleton put particular thought into her outfit today. Not only is the whole world watching as the royal family pays tribute to their much-loved patriarch, but they are also watching the first public reunion between Prince Harry and Prince William following the former’s bombshell Oprah exposé last month. You can read more of our coverage of the funeral here.
