Yahoo Lifestyle Kate Middleton’s New Gold and Garnet Earrings Have a Powerful Story to Tell
The fact that they pay homage to her birthstone is just the beginning.
It’s no secret that the royals send messages with their clothes, and that their outfits are often laden with symbolism. During her visit to Wales with husband Prince William this week, Kate Middleton’s look was no exception.
From her red double-breasted Alexander McQueen coat (no doubt a nod to the Red Dragon on the Welsh flag) to the daffodil she wore affixed to it (the daffodil is the Welsh national flower), the Princess of Wales’ outfit during her visit on February 26 was a very obvious homage to Wales itself. After all, she is the Princess of Wales, and March 1 marks St. David’s Day, the Welsh national holiday. (During the visit, William and Kate even made Welsh cakes during their first stop of the busy Wednesday.)
If her coat was an homage to Wales, her choice of earrings might have been a small tribute to herself, possibly paying homage to the resilience she’s shown as she was diagnosed with cancer, underwent chemotherapy, and is now in remission—all which happened within a year’s time. Tatler noted that Kate wore gold and garnet earrings, which the outlet wrote have “threefold significance for Kate Middleton, who often uses her earrings as symbolic gestures during major public engagements.”
In addition to garnet having a red tone, which could, again, be a nod to the Welsh flag, garnet is Kate’s birthstone, as she was born on January 9. Garnets are said to symbolize love, protection, and new beginnings, according to Tatler, so the pair of earrings tell a meaningful story.
The earrings were also a tribute to Wales, as they were made by Welsh jeweler Spells of Love, founded in 2016 by Hayley Jones. Supporting local businesses was a key theme of William and Kate’s visit to Pontypridd Wednesday, as the couple were supporting communities that were impacted by the severe flooding of Storm Darragh last December.
It’s not the first time Kate has worn a pair of earrings from Spells of Love, either. Earlier this year, while visiting Wales solo, she wore the brand while visiting children’s hospice Tŷ Hafan in January. It was one of the many times Kate has used jewelry to make a statement without saying a word.
“She’s so good at sending those thoughtful messages, and I love that about her,” Catherine Zoraida—whose gold fern drop earrings Kate wore during an emotional visit to Southport, England last October—told People. “She’s so thoughtful and caring in every way.”
And speaking of birthstones, Meghan Markle, too, is a fan of wearing them. Tatler reported that soon after the birth of her and Prince Harry’s first child, Prince Archie, in 2019, she started wearing an eternity ring featuring emerald, sapphire, and peridot birthstones, representing Archie’s May birth, Harry’s September birth, and Meghan’s August birth, respectively.
Read the original article on InStyle
