When Catherine, the Princess of Wales, visited northern Italy last week—her first solo international trip since her 2024 cancer diagnosis—the jewelry she chose told a story her clothes alone couldn’t.
Princess Catherine arrived in Reggio Emilia on May 13 wearing a bright blue pantsuit, along with a Monica Vinader pearl necklace hung with three gold and pavé diamond charms from Asprey London’s Woodland collection: an acorn, an oak leaf, and a mushroom.
Acorn and oak motifs appear on the Middleton family coat of arms, a heraldic distinction conferred on Kate’s father, Michael, before her 2011 marriage to Prince William. She has woven those symbols into her wardrobe on several occasions, most notably in the Robinson Pelham earrings her parents commissioned for her wedding day.
The Asprey charms are not new to the princess’ rotation. She wore them during a 2014 royal tour of Australia and has brought them out consistently in the years since, typically for engagements that carry personal weight. Wearing them on her first trip abroad post-recovery felt like a continuation of that pattern.
On her second day in Reggio Emilia, Kate wore another piece of jewelry honoring her family when she visited a preschool: a cotton bracelet from Italian brand Atelier Molayem bearing three small gold beads engraved with the initials of her children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. It sat on the same wrist as her Cartier Ballon Bleu watch, which retails for considerably more than the bracelet’s €10.
Besides the charms around her neck, Kate had another Asprey item with her in Italy, carrying the brand’s 167 Micro Mini handbag in blue pebble grain leather. The new bag has a trapezium silhouette inspired by classic ocean liners and is named for Asprey’s historic New Bond Street address.
Reports ahead of the princess’ Italy trip suggested palace staff viewed it as a meaningful pivot point in her return to public life—the beginning of a more active international schedule. Her jewelry, as usual, told its own version of her story.
Top: The Princess of Wales visiting Reggio Emilia in Italy (photo: Claudio Furlan/LaPresse/Abaca/Sipa USA)
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