Camilla Parker Bowles, now the Duchess of Cornwall, did indeed transform a diamond and emerald necklace that once belonged to Princess Diana into a brooch. This was seen as a significant gesture in the royal family, repurposing the jewelry in a different form while still acknowledging its historical significance.
The Royal Family heirloom is more than 150 years old and was passed down to Princess Diana by the Queen Mother in 1981 to mark her marriage to Prince Charles.
Diana famously wore the dazzling emerald and diamond pendant as a necklace for a gala performance at the Vienna Burgh Theatre in April 1986.
The late Princess paired the stunning necklace with matching emerald earrings and a sequined green dress by one of her favourite designers Catherine Walker.
But as the pendant technically belongs to The Queen, it has since been added to the Duchess of Cornwall’s collection.
Camilla, 71, has since designed Diana’s necklace into a brooch and recently wore it to a Buckingham Palace reception celebrating Prince Charles’ 50th anniversary as the Prince of Wales.
However royal fans said Camilla’s choice of jewellery was in “poor taste”.
Shortly after the event, one unhappy fan wrote on social media: “Not really too comfortable with that… to be honest!”
Another fumed: “Has she no shame?”
But Camilla isn’t the only one to have altered Diana’s jewellery to suit her own tastes.
Last month, Fabulous Digital revealed that Kate Middleton had actually REMOVED diamonds from Princess Diana’s iconic sapphire earrings.
Although the Duchess of Cambridge has kept the design of Diana’s engagement ring the same, Kate Middleton has altered the clasp detail of her late mother-in-law’s stunning sapphire earrings.
When the late Princess owned them, the dangly earrings had a stud fastening which featuring its own circular saphire diamond detail.
However, Kate Middleton has removed the stud fastening and diamonds, opting to wear the jewels as delicate teardrop earrings.
In contrast, Meghan Markle “blinged up” her engagement ring – which included two of Diana’s diamonds – with a much thinner, diamond-studded micro-pave gold band.
In a special “letter of wishes” included in her will, Princess Diana wrote: “I would like to allocate all my jewellery to the share to be held by my sons, so that their wives may, in due course, have it or use it. I leave the exact division of the jewellery to your discretion.”
