![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://uknews.evprotec.com/the-real-reason-kate-wears-cheap-jewellery/&media=https://uknews.evprotec.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/YNLNQSVTQ5DIXOOCHRWI3AURYA.jpg&description=Kate Middleton has been labelled a "disappointment" in her approach to jewellery by former Vogue editor Suzy Menkes. Photos / Getty Images Ever since she arrived at St James's Palace in November 2010 with the late Princess Diana's engagement ring on her finger, the Princess of Wales has been afforded rare access to the historic jewellery in the royal vaults. For her wedding, she borrowed the Cartier Halo tiara. For the late Queen and Duke of Edinburgh's funerals, she wore the monarch's pearl choker. She has also worn the Nizam of Hyderabad necklace, an emerald choker that Diana once wore as a headpiece, the Cambridge Lover's Knot tiara and the Lotus Flower tiara. It sounds like a lot – and the collective value of those pieces is many millions of pounds. But over the course of 11 years as a working royal, it's a relatively modest selection. Perhaps that's why Suzy Menkes, veteran fashion editor, Vogue contributor and author of The Royal Jewels , believes that Kate doesn't embrace the privilege as much as she should. On many occasions we've seen the Princess enjoy wearing the kind of costume jewellery pieces that the rest of us might buy on the high street. She teamed a pair of £17.99 ($37.49) Zara chandelier earrings with an Alexander McQueen gown at the Baftas in January. She popped on a pair of £45 Milina earrings to watch the Wimbledon men's final this month. The Princess's jewellery box holds gems from Accessorize, Anthropologie, H&M and J.Crew, as well as smaller brands such as Soru and Simone Rocha. Sézane is a particular favourite – Kate has at least eight pairs of earrings from the French brand. Some of the reasons for this preference for costume jewellery are obvious: we're in the midst of a cost of living crisis; it would read a bit brash to wear a £300,000 pair of diamond earrings to visit a hospice or a baby bank. And in wearing jewellery that – while not always 'cheap' – is more accessible to the likes of you and I, she appears more relatable. The Prince){kind=link}
Catherine has been described as ‘a disappointment’ for wearing high street jewellery – but is it all part of her strategy
Ever since she arrived at St James’s Palace in November 2010 with the late Princess Diana’s engagement ring on her finger, the Princess of Wales has been afforded rare access to the historic jewellery in the royal vaults.
For her wedding, she borrowed the Cartier Halo tiara. For the late Queen and Duke of Edinburgh’s funerals, she wore the monarch’s pearl choker. She has also worn the Nizam of Hyderabad necklace, an emerald choker that Diana once wore as a headpiece, the Cambridge Lover’s Knot tiara and the Lotus Flower tiara.
It sounds like a lot – and the collective value of those pieces is many millions of pounds. But over the course of 11 years as a working royal, it’s a relatively modest selection. Perhaps that’s why Suzy Menkes, veteran fashion editor, Vogue contributor and author of The Royal Jewels, believes that Kate doesn’t embrace the privilege as much as she should.
“The Princess of Wales is a bit of a disappointment about jewellery, isn’t she?” Menkes remarked, in a conversation with Vogue jewellery editor Carol Woolton on the podcast If Jewels Could Talk. “She gives the impression that she only puts it on when she absolutely has to. I imagine her looking beautiful in one of those dresses or gowns … and then sort of pulling a face [as if to say] ‘do I have to wear this?’ …She doesn’t give any sense of adoring jewellery and being pleased to put it on.”