Kate Middleton Wore Princess Diana’s 1996 Met Gala Earrings

The Royals love nothing more than a good reference to their family’s past. Someone is always wearing a coat that is the official color of a late prince’s livery, or a necklace that has been passed down for generations. It helps, of course, that there are hundreds of years of the British monarchy to pick and choose from, to the point where Kate Middleton can pretty much wear anything and it can be seen as a reference to Queen Victoria or King George. For Thursday’s Trooping of Color parade, however, the Duchess opted to take a piece from more recent history, wearing a pair of earrings that once belonged to her late mother-in-law, Princess Diana.

The Royal Family gathered together (without Meghan Markle and Prince Harry) to join in on the parade which honors the Queen’s birthday. For the occasion, Kate wore an ivory Alexander McQueen coat dress with a matching navy and ivory hat made by Philip Treacy. The standout of her look, however, were inarguably the diamond and sapphire earrings that dangled from her ears.

The earrings formerly belonged to Diana, who wore them to the Met Gala back in 1996 with a matching layered pearl choker and a navy slip dress. The jewelry seemed to be a favorite of the late Princess, who wore them on many other occasions as well, including a trip to the White House, and an opera performance at the Munich Opera House. The earrings have the added bonus of matching Kate’s sapphire and diamond ring, another piece that used to belong to Diana. Created by British jeweler Garrard, Prince Charles used the ring to propose to Diana in 1981 and 29 years later, in 2010, William got down on one knee and gave it to Kate, who has been wearing it ever since.