Meghan Markle may have skipped the traditional mourning veil for Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral on Monday, but she still incorporated a touching tribute to the late monarch into her appearance.
Paired with her black cape dress and matching wide-brimmed hat, the 41-year-old Duchess of Sussex wore a pair of pearl and diamond earrings that the Queen had gifted her in honor of their first solo outing together in 2018.
A smaller version of the Queen Mary’s Button Earrings that the royal king wore almost every day, the pair reportedly came straight from Her Majesty’s personal jewelry collection.
Markle also wore the special set on Wednesday, when the Queen’s casket was transported from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, pairing the pearls with a black Givenchy coat and a Stephen Jones hat with a birdcage veil.
Besides being sentimental, the earrings were a fitting choice for the dreary activities of the week, as pearls are traditionally worn by royals in times of mourning; Markle’s sister-in-law, Kate Middleton, has been wearing several pearl pieces from the Queen’s collection in recent days.
“The royal tradition of wearing pearls for mourning dates back to Queen Victoria, who was so overwhelmed with grief when Prince Albert died that she wore nothing but black for the rest of her life,” Maxwell Stone of British jeweler Steven Stone told the newspaper. to Vidak For Congress. Style.
“Occasionally, her black ensembles were broken with jewelry — though it was always black, colorless, or pearly,” he continued. “The pearls were thought to represent tears – establishing a tradition that continues to this day.”
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The Duchess arrived at Monday’s funeral alone as her husband, Prince Harry, took part in the procession of the Queen’s casket from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey, later rejoining the other members of the royal family before the service began.