Kate Middleton’s Year in Heirloom Jewelry: Something Old, Something New, Something Straight From the Royal Vaults

Kate Middleton arrived at Buckingham Palace for a December 3 state visit wearing one of the most treasured tiaras in the royal collection, one that hadn’t been worn publicly in nearly 20 years. Her choice made a statement—one in line with Kate’s approach to jewelry in 2025. Throughout the year, the princess used official occasions to debut spectacular pieces that were both old and new, often with an emphasis on symbolism.

When writer Suzy Menkes attempted to catalog the royal jewelry collection for her 1985 book The Royal Jewels, she called this tiara the Regal Indian Circlet, and the name has stuck. In December, the Princess of Wales paired it with a prussian blue Jenny Packham gown covered in sequins, looking more like a fairy tale sprite than a constitutional monarch.

And though it looks ethereal, the tiara, which once belonged to Queen Victoria, Queen Alexandra, and the Queen Mother, is heavy with royal history. According to royal jeweler Garrard, Prince Albert commissioned the tiara as a gift for Victoria in 1853, and it was originally inset with opals. Victoria designated it for the set often called the Crown Jewels—a collection that also includes the crown and sceptre King Charles III wielded on his coronation. After Victoria’s death, her daughter-in-law Queen Alexandra had the opals replaced by rubies that her husband had brought back from an 1875 tour of India, per Menkes. (Alexandra apparently thought opals were unlucky.) It was last spotted on the head of Queen Elizabeth II in 2005. By pulling it out of the vault, Kate was electing for the first time to wear an heirloom piece specifically earmarked for queens and queen consorts—a subtle reference to the moment in the not-so-far future when her husband Prince William will be king.

After Kate was diagnosed with cancer in early 2024, she took an extended break from her role as a senior royal. Though she returned to work full-time in 2025, she’s done fewer engagements than she used to, prioritizing events with the biggest significance for British patriotism—and giving her plenty of opportunities to break out jewelry that might be too distracting for lower-wattage engagements.

During these engagements, she’s often returned to a few pieces with special diplomatic history. On Commonwealth Day in March, Kate wore a four-strand pearl choker with an elaborate clasp. This necklace, often called the Japanese pearl choker, has been in Kate’s wardrobe since at least 2022. According to Lauren Kiehna of jewelry website The Court Jeweler, the late Queen Elizabeth II commissioned the necklace in the 1970s after receiving the pearls as a gift from the Japanese government.

In 2025, Kate frequently wore the Bahrain pearl drop earrings, another favorite of the late queen. When then Princess Elizabeth married Prince Philip in 1947, the Hakim of Bahrain gave her a selection of pearls—“obtained locally,” as a Foreign Office official later noted—and sent them to London to be made into earrings. The pearls hang as drops from a platinum frame and an Art Deco–style arrangement of round and baguette diamonds.