All the times Kate borrowed pieces from the Queen’s jewelry box

<p>Given the size of the Queen’s jewelry collection—more than a dozen tiaras plus scores of brooches, necklaces and bracelets—it’s easy for items to vanish into a forgotten corner for years, if not decades. Recently, however, the monarch has loaned such pieces to royal wives along with some items that she herself still wears. Sharing in that bounty is Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, who has noticeably increased her jewel wattage as of late. </p><p>Here, we round up all the times Kate has stepped out in jewels on loan from Her Majesty. <br><em>– By Patricia Treble</em></p>
The Duchess, while on tour in Norway and Sweden, donned a pair of Queen Elizabeth's diamond pendant earrings. The jewels were first spotted on Her Majesty in 2012 at the State Opening of Parliament. The Duchess was first spotted donning them for the Place2Be Awards in November. <p>Photo: &copy; Getty Images
<h3>Diamond pendant earrings</h3> <p>As far as royal jewelry watchers know, these large diamond earrings—a cluster of diamonds from which is suspended a line of four diamonds that swings within a frame of more diamonds—were first worn in public by the Queen at the State Opening of Parliament in 2012. Their provenance is unknown. Since 2016, Kate has worn the gems on multiple occasions, most recently to a gala at Kensington Palace on Nov. 7 2017. </p> Photo: © Getty Images
<h3>Ruby-and-diamond bandeau necklace</h3> <p>This intricate floral necklace was bought from Boucheron in 1907 by Mrs. Ronald Greville, who willed her jewelry to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother on her death in 1942. Given to the Queen by her parents as a wedding gift, the long necklace was shortened by the monarch yet its size still made it a difficult piece to wear and by the 1980s, it was put away. On July 12 it reappeared around the neck of Kate at the Spanish state visit banquet.</p> Photo: © Getty Images
<h3>Nizam of Hyderabad necklace</h3> <p>The Nizam of Hyderabad, then one of the richest men in the world, gave the Queen the ultimate wedding gift: anything she wanted at Cartier. She opted for diamonds, choosing an ornate floral tiara and matching necklace, which includes a detachable double pendant drop. While the tiara was dismantled—except for three floral brooches built into the tiara—she continued to wear the necklace, especially in official portraits. In 2014, Kate donned it for the National Portrait Gallery’s annual gala.</p> Photo: © Getty Images
<h3>Pearl and triple leaf brooch</h3> <p> Of all of the jewels that Kate's borrowed, this brooch is the most mysterious. Aside from one public wearing of the large brooch on a royal visit to South Korea in 1999, there's no record found by royal jewelry bloggers (who track everything) of it being worn again in public. That is until Kate wore in July 2017 to mark the 100th anniversary of Passchendaele in Ypres, Belgium.</p> Photo: © Rex Shutterstock / Getty Images
<h3>Lover’s knot tiara</h3> <p>Queen Mary so loved her grandmother’s tiara—in which pearls swing from diamond arches capped by lover’s knots—that she had a copy created in 1913. She left it to her own granddaughter, Elizabeth II, who wore it frequently in the 1950s, then vanished until worn by Princess Diana in 1981. Diana wore it often, though she complained it was heavy and noisy when its large pearl drops were swinging. In 2015, it reappeared yet again, this time with the velvet band at the bottom of the tiara frame matched to Kate’s brunette hair colour.</p> Photo: © Getty Images
<h3>Bahrain pearl drop earrings</h3> <p>The ruler of Bahrain gave Elizabeth several large pearls as a wedding present in 1947. Two round pearls were used on the bottom of these dangling earrings that feature trios of round and baguette diamonds suspended from even more round diamonds. Like many of the Queen’s jewels, the earrings were put away after the 1950s, only to reappear recently, worn first by Sophie, Countess of Wessex and later by the Queen and then Kate.</p> Photo: © Getty Images
<h3>Small diamond and pearl earrings</h3> <p>The Queen has several pairs of discreet diamond-and-pearl earrings that she wears in the daytime. However, for the Silver Jubilee celebrations in 1977, she donned earrings with a distinctly larger drop pearl. After that, no one’s seen them in public. Then, in 2012, Anna Nowok, an eagle-eyed royal watcher who tracks Sophie’s fashions noticed that the Countess of Wessex had worn them to a royal wedding in Luxembourg, then at more public events. In 2016, Kate borrowed them for two overseas trips, first in Canada, then to the Netherlands.</p> Photo: © Getty Images
<h3>Prince Philip’s diamond bracelet</h3> <p>When Prince Philip proposed to Elizabeth, he was a Royal Navy officer without much money. So, his mother gave him a tiara that jewelry firm Philip Antrobus Ltd., turned into his fiancée’s wedding ring. The rest of the diamonds were transformed into a wide geometric bracelet made of three symmetrical sections, each with a large diamond in the centre, linked by more diamonds. The Queen has worn the bracelet regularly since then, and, in 2015, loaned it to Kate for a state banquet.</p> Photo: © Getty Images
<h3>Maple Leaf brooch</h3> <p> Bought by King George VI for his wife, Elizabeth at the start of their historic Canadian tour in 1939, this diamond Cartier brooch in the natural shape of a maple leaf became a firm favourite of the Queen during the Second World War. She loaned the brooch to her daughter Elizabeth on her first visit to Canada in 1951, starting a tradition that still continues. In addition to wearing it at Canada-related events, the current Queen loaned it to Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall in 2009 and then again to Kate, who wore it on Canada Day in 2011 and again in British Columbia last year.</p> Photo: © Getty Images
<h3>New Zealand fern brooch</h3> <p>The iconic silver fern of New Zealand was transformed into a platinum-and-diamond brooch and given to the Queen by the women of Auckland during her first visit to New Zealand in 1953. Frequently worn by the Queen on Kiwi-related events, including a rugby event in London in 2008, as well as in official portraits, it was pinned to Kate’s coatdress when she arrived in New Zealand’s capital, Wellington, in 2014.</p> Photo: © Getty Images
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