On September 16th, Princess Kate Middleton made a quiet but powerful fashion statement at the funeral of Katharine, Duchess of Kent. Wearing a traditional black dress with a veil, the Princess of Wales stunned with Queen Elizabeth’s iconic four-strand pearl choker with a sparkling diamond clasp. This isn’t just any accessory, it’s an important piece that once graced he late Queen herself at a 1983 state banquet in Bangladesh. Meanwhile, Kate Middleton has made it her go-to accessory to honor royal funerals, having it worn at both Prince Philip’s funeral in 2021 and Queen Elizabeth’s in 2022.
In the royal playbook, pearls seem to be the ultimate mourning piece. Fashion writer Bethan Holt once explained that pearls are “inextricably linked with Queen Elizabeth” and represent both elegance and loss. The late Queen herself had a fascination for pearls that started during her childhood, when King George VI added two pearls to her chain each birthday. The tradition goes back even further to Queen Victoria, who set the standard by gifting pearls to her daughters and granddaughters so that they would own a complete necklace by adulthood.
The funeral itself carried its own portion of royal history. Katharine, Duchess of Kent (wife of Queen Elizabeth’s cousin, the Duke of Kent), passed away on September 4th at age 92 in Kensington Palace. Her Catholic funeral at Westminster Cathedral marked the first of its kind for a royal in modern history, and it was also the first royal funeral at the cathedral since its construction in 1903. King Charles attended the event, but Queen Camilla bowed out due to illness.