Princess Kate looked ready for a Ralph Lauren Christmas in a new green velvet gown at the 2025 Royal Variety Performance, but it was her enormous diamond chandelier earrings that truly stole the show. The Prince and Princess of Wales made their sixth appearance at the annual event, which supports the Royal Variety Charity, and for the occasion, Kate brought out all the stops in historic jewels with ties to a number of other royal women.
Nilesh Rakholia, Founder of Abelini, says that the Princess of Wales delivered a message of "royal continuity" by wearing Queen Elizabeth's Greville Chandelier Earrings to the November 19 performance. The jewels were part of a set that was handed down to the late Queen Mother after their original owner, Margaret Greville, died, and they were then gifted to Queen Elizabeth.
Also part of the Greville collection? The emerald and diamond tiara that Queen Camilla wore to Tuesday night's Diplomatic Corps Reception. Known as the Greville Emerald Kokoshnik, the tiara was famously worn by Princess Eugenie on her 2018 wedding day, with The Queen becoming only the second royal to wear the piece in public.
As for the earrings, which Princess Kate also wore to a banquet during July's French state visit, Rakholia says they are "composed of 16 diamonds across multiple cuts—including baguette, baton, emerald, pear, half-moon and square—which is why they are often described as a 'lexicon of modern diamond cutting.'"
Queen Elizabeth frequently wore the earrings after receiving them as a wedding gift from her parents in 1947—and Kate notably chose to wear the diamonds on the night before the late Queen and Prince Philip's November 20 wedding anniversary.
Maxwell Stone of Steven Stone Jewelers added that the alte Queen most recently wore the earrings during a 2010 visit to Toronto, adding, "it’s touching that Kate has brought them back into the spotlight, having debuted them at Crown Prince Hussein of Jordan’s wedding in June 2023."
Rakholia says that a "comparable bespoke pair today" could "exceed £1 million, particularly if assessed for auction rather than insurance." However, the jewelry expert notes that due to the earrings' history, "their true value may be considered beyond pricing.”
Stone agreed with the million-plus evaluation, noting, "our experts estimate the sparkling earrings to be worth £1.6 million," or roughly $2 million USD.
Princess Kate paired her historic diamond earrings with an equally sentimental bracelet, wearing the late Queen's Diamond Quatrefoil Bracelet, which originally belonged to the Queen Mother, and before, that Queen Mary.
According to Rakholia, the "exceptionally intricate" design "features a wide paneled structure with borders of pavé diamonds framing a repeating quatrefoil motif, each quatrefoil set with five individual stones."
Pairing her Talbot Runhof gown with such memorable royal jewels is a move that Rakholia calls "quietly symbolic." He says that the earrings and bracelet "create a visual narrative of continuity and symbolism—worn not as museum pieces, but as living elements within a modern royal identity."
