15 Times Royals Wore the Same Jewelry and Still Looked Totally Different

The jewels of the British royal household include necklaces, earrings, brooches, precious stones, crowns and tiaras, and swords and scepters that are of great value and that have been passed down from generation to generation, as well as the private collection of Queen Elizabeth II and the jewels of Princess Diana of Wales, inherited by her grandchildren. The collections are managed by a royal jeweler who is in charge of their conservation — they basically have at their disposal a museum of family jewels to choose from when dressing for special occasions!

Bright Side wants to show you some of the special events where Queen Elizabeth II allowed royal ladies to wear the crown jewels.

1. Kate Middleton wore Queen Elizabeth II’s diamond and pearl earrings.

Queen Elizabeth first wore the diamond and pearl earrings to celebrate her silver jubilee in 1977. You can see her wearing those same earing in the first part of our collage. In April 2021, the Duchess of Cambridge paid a birthday tribute to the Queen for her 95^th birthday by wearing Her Majesty’s earrings during a visit to the air cadet center. The visit and the event were held in honor of the Duke of Edinburgh, who was the honorary air commodore-in-chief of the squadron for 63 years.

2. Queen Elizabeth II wore Queen Mary’s fringed tiara as a “borrowed item” on her wedding day.

The Queen Mother circa 1937 and Queen Elizabeth II at her wedding in 1947

Queen Mary’s fringed tiara was created at the request of Queen Elizabeth II’s grandmother in 1919. It was made from diamonds set in gold and silver that were formerly part of a necklace. Mary received it as a wedding gift in 1893. Queen Mary then offered the tiara as a gift to the Queen Mother in 1936, who, in turn, lent it to Elizabeth II to wear at her wedding. The marriage took place at Westminster Abbey in November 1947, and the new royal couple celebrated their platinum wedding anniversary in 2017.

3. Princesses Anne and Beatrice also wore Queen Mary’s tiara at their weddings.

Princess Anne’s wedding in 1973

There’s a beautiful parallel here with the Queen’s wedding. Queen Elizabeth II’s daughter, Princess Anne, wore Queen Mary’s tiara (just like her mother) on her wedding day to Captain Mark Phillips. Not only that, but the event also took place at London’s Westminster Abbey in November 1973. Again, it was the Queen Mother who lent the tiara, as Elizabeth II received it as part of her inheritance from her mother only a few years later, in 2002.

As we mentioned earlier, Elizabeth II is the current owner of the tiara and she lent it to her granddaughter, Princess Beatrice of York, along with her wedding dress. This was all for her wedding in July 2020. Queen Elizabeth first wore the dress to a dinner at the British Embassy in Rome in 1961. The dress was subtly transformed by designer Stewart Parvin for the wedding and was subsequently displayed at Windsor Castle.

4. Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, has on loan the Greville tiara that the Queen Mother used to wear.

The Queen Mother is wearing the tiara in 1990 and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, is wearing it at a Dutch royal family event in Amsterdam in 2013.

What we’re talking about here is a diamond and platinum tiara designed by one of the greatest experts in his field, Lucien Hirtz of the Paris jewelry house Boucheron. It was first designed in 1921 and The Queen Mother received the tiara in 1942 as a bequest from Madame Greville, for whom it is named after, along with other jewelry she received from her. This particular tiara was one of the Queen Mother’s favorite jewels and she wore it in several events throughout her life. Then, Queen Elizabeth II gave it on long-term loan to her daughter-in-law, Duchess Camilla of Cornwall, who wears it constantly during her public appearances. The Queen has never worn this tiara in public.

5. Princess Diana of Wales and the Duchess of Cambridge wore the same tiara.

The Princess of Wales at an event in Washington D.C. in 1985

In 1913, Queen Mary (grandmother of the current monarch) commissioned Garrard to make a copy of the tiara worn by her aunt, the Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Queen Mary’s new lover’s knot tiara was passed down to Queen Elizabeth II back in 1953. Then in 1981, she gave it to the late Princess Diana of Wales, who wore it on several occasions, as it was one of her favorite pieces of jewelry. After the divorce of Diana and Charles of Wales, the tiara was returned to the Queen’s collection. The Duchess of Cambridge, wife of the queen’s grandson, first wore this tiara in 2015 and has been wearing it frequently ever since.

The Duchess of Cambridge in London in 2018

6. Lady Di and the Duchess of Cambridge borrowed a choker from Queen Elizabeth II.

The 4-row Japanese pearl choker was made by Garrard, the first official and most notably important Crown jeweler. They used pearls from the Queen’s collection that were offered by the Japanese government as a gift to the Queen back in 1970. The Queen lent the choker to the Princess of Wales for an official visit to the Netherlands back in 1982. Just one year later, in 1983, she also wore this very same piece on a visit to Bangladesh. Kate Middleton wore the choker in public for the first time during the 70th wedding anniversary celebration of Queen Elizabeth II and Philip of Edinburgh in 2017. Then, in April 2021, she wore it again to attend the funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh.

7. Kate Middleton also wore an elegant pearl and diamond necklace that belonged to the Queen Mother.

The necklace was part of a jewelry set made by Garrard in 1862 that included a tiara, a brooch, and a pair of earrings that belonged to Queen Alexandra of Denmark. Some elements of the set were passed down to Queen Mary, who subsequently gave them to the Queen Mother. She wore the necklace for the first time at the wedding of Queen Elizabeth II in 1947 and then wore it several more times for notorious events throughout her life. Queen Elizabeth II inherited the necklace in 2002 and lent it to the Duchess of Cambridge for the first time for an event at Buckingham Palace in 2018.

8. The Nizam necklace from Hyderabad was also lent to the Duchess of Cambridge.

The Nizam necklace of Hyderabad was first modified by jeweler Cartier back in 1935. It was a wedding gift to Queen Elizabeth from the ruler of Hyderabad, Niẓām ul-Mulk, also known as Asaf Jah. The queen wore the necklace very often after her wedding, but over time, she shifted to wearing it less frequently. In February 2014, the Duchess of Cambridge wore it for the first time during a gala reception at the National Portrait Gallery in London along with a Jenny Packham dress.

9. Princess Anne and her daughter Zara wore the Meander tiara.

The Meander tiara was another gift received by the Queen on her wedding day from her mother-in-law, Princess Alice of Greece and Denmark. Princess Anne wore the tiara at several royal events, especially during her youth, and later on, in 1972, she received the tiara as a gift from her mother. In 2011, Princess Anne’s daughter, Zara Tindall, carried on with this beautiful family tradition, wearing the tiara on her wedding day just like her ancestors did.

10. The tiara worn by Kate Middleton at her wedding was also worn by Princess Margaret and Princess Anne.

The Queen’s sister, Princess Margaret, wearing the tiara in 1950, and the Duchess of Cambridge on her wedding day in 2011

The Halo tiara was made by Cartier in 1936. King George VI had it made especially for the Queen Mother because he wanted to give it to her as an anniversary gift. A few years later, in 1944, she then gave it to her daughter, Elizabeth II, as a birthday present. The queen often lent the tiara to her sister Margaret, who wore it constantly during her youth. In fact, you can even spot her wearing this very tiara during the queen’s coronation in 1953. Later, the piece was worn by the queen’s daughter, Princess Anne, who also seemed to like it, since she wore it frequently. Finally, in 2011, Kate Middleton wore the tiara for her royal wedding to Prince William at Westminster Abbey.

Princess Anne during a visit to New Zealand in 1970

11. The Queen lent Princess Diana this diamond and platinum necklace.

The King Khalid necklace is named after the king of Saudi Arabia who gave this beautiful piece to Elizabeth II during a state visit to his kingdom back in 1979. This particular jewel is one of the pieces that the Queen wears the most since it was given to her in the 1980s. Princess Diana of Wales also wore the necklace a couple of times. In the picture, you can see how she paired it with a red maternity dress for a visit to the Barbican Centre in London in 1982.

12. The Queen also lent the Greville ruby necklace to the Duchess of Cambridge.

The Greville ruby necklace was crafted with rubies and diamonds by Boucheron for Margaret Greville in 1907. The piece was one of the many jewels that Mrs. Greville left to the Queen Mother in 1942, including the tiara we mentioned earlier. King George VI and the Queen Mother gave the necklace to Elizabeth II as a wedding gift. In 2017, the Duchess of Cambridge wore the necklace during a Spanish state visit to Buckingham Palace.

13. The Queen shared a 300-diamond necklace with the Countess of Wessex.

This necklace was offered by King Faisal of Saudi Arabia as a gift to Queen Elizabeth in 1967, which is why it’s named after him. The necklace was designed in the 1950s by Harry Winston and it required over 300 diamonds to be made. The necklace became one of Elizabeth II’s favorite pieces of jewelry to wear to state events. She lent this particular piece to her daughter-in-law, the Countess of Wessex, who wore the necklace along with a tiara from the Queen during the wedding of the Duke of Luxembourg and Countess Stephanie de Lannoy in 2012.

14. The tiara worn by Meghan Markle at her wedding belonged to Queen Mary.

The tiara worn by Meghan Markle during her 2018 wedding was commissioned by Queen Mary in 1932. On her wedding day, Queen Mary received a 10-diamond flower brooch as a gift from Lincoln County, she then asked for a tiara to show off the brooch. The center of the tiara carries the brooch, which is removable, and on several occasions, Queen Mary wore other brooches in its place.

15. Queen Elizabeth II’s Vladimir tiara was part of her inheritance from her grandmother.

Queen Mary wearing the Vladimir tiara with emeralds, and Queen Elizabeth II wearing the same tiara with pearls, set in 1958

The Vladimir tiara belonged to Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia. It was a design reworked by the Russian imperial court jeweler Bolin in about 1874. Queen Mary bought it in 1921 and commissioned the official Crown jeweler Garrard to restore it so that she could wear it again. It is a fairly particular tiara, as the pearls can actually be removed. Queen Mary had a collection of emeralds adapted for the tiara in 1924 so now the design has changed slightly from what its original intent was. Later on, in 1953, Queen Elizabeth II inherited the jewelry set and has worn it frequently during her long reign.

Queen Elizabeth II wearing the Vladimir tiara with emeralds during a diplomatic event at Buckingham Palace in 2019

Which jewels of the royal ladies do you like the most and why? What is the most precious object that has been in your family for generations?