Kate Middletonis honoringQueen Elizabethin the most stylish of ways.

“Pearls are one of the very few jewelry items you can wear in mourning and are inextricably linked withQueen Elizabethand her personal jewelry legacy,“Bethan Holt, author ofThe Queen: 70 Years of Majestic Style, tells PEOPLE. “It’s a symbol of mourning a monarch but also a grandmother or great-grandmother.”

Kate Middleton at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth - Sept, 19, 2022.Karwai Tang/WireImage

Catherine, Princess of Wales during the State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey on September 19, 2022 in London, England.

Princess Elizabeth.Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty

Queen Elizabeth

In Windsor two days after the Queen died, Kate greeted the crowds alongsidePrince William,Prince HarryandMeghan Markle, her first official engagement during the mourning period. Dressed head-to-toe in black, she wore her favorite pearl drop earrings fromAnnoushka, a style that she’s worn many times over the last decade.

Prince William and Kate Middleton in Windsor after the Queen’s death.Chris Jackson - WPA Pool/Getty

WINDSOR, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 10: Prince William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales speak with members of the public on the Long walk at Windsor Castle on September 10, 2022 in Windsor, England. Crowds have gathered and tributes left at the gates of Windsor Castle to Queen Elizabeth II, who died at Balmoral Castle on 8 September, 2022. (Photo by Chris Jackson - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Four days later when Kate followed the procession of the coffin to Westminster Hall, she wore her first piece of jewelry from the Queen’s personal collection:the Diamond and Pearl Leaf Brooch, which features three large pearls at the centre of a diamond pavé leaf and that the Queen wore on her 73rd birthday in Seoul.

Kate also gave a nod to Princess Diana wearing her Collingwood Pearl Drop Earrings and her late mother-in-law’s three-row pearl bracelet for the sombre occasion.

Kate Middleton and Prince William.Ben Stansall - WPA Pool/Getty

Catherine, Princess of Wales and Prince William, Prince of Wales leave after a service for the reception of Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin at Westminster Hall, on September 14, 2022 in London, United Kingdom.

Over the next two days, Kate’s jewelry once again paid tribute to the Queen asshe wore a pair of pearl earringsthat the Queen herself once wore to her Silver Jubilee in 1977. At a Buckingham Palace lunch on Sept. 17 to host governors-general of the Commonwealth nation ahead of the Queen’s funeral,Kate wore the ultimate pearl tribute to the Queen: a three-strand pearl necklace that was the Queen’s signature piece and potentially the very same she wore daily.

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Kate Middleton and the Queen, both in pearls.Stefan Rousseau - WPA Pool/Getty; Kirsty O’Connor-WPA Pool/Getty

LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 17: Prince William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales during a lunch held for governors-general of the Commonwealth nations at Buckingham Palace on September 17, 2022 in London, England. Foreign dignitaries, heads of state and other VIPs are among the thousands who have visited Westminster Hall to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state prior to her funeral on Monday. The 96-year-old monarch died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland on September 8, 2022, and is succeeded by her eldest son, King Charles III. (Photo by Stefan Rousseau - WPA Pool/Getty Images); MAIDENHEAD, ENGLAND - JULY 15: Queen Elizabeth II smiles during a visit to officially open the new building at Thames Hospice on July 15, 2022 in Maidenhead, England. (Photo by Kirsty O’Connor-WPA Pool/Getty Images)

On the eve of the Queen’s funeral, Kate chose another item from Diana’s box of vintage pearls: the South-Sea Pearl Earrings which feature a diamond encrusted horseshoe, a go-to of Diana’s from the 1990s and perhaps a nod to the Queen’s love of horses.

“I think they all honored her in their own personal way. Kate already had some of the Queen’s jewels on loan, so she was able to wear them in that way,” says Holt.

Prince William and Kate Middleton take their seats with son Prince George and daughter Princess Charlotte at Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral.Getty

queen funeral

Kate finished off the look with the Queen’s Bahrain Pearl Drop Earrings which the Queen had previously loaned to her.

source: people.com