The creative jewelry trick which proves Kate Middleton is a natural royal - and reintroduced a $345,000 forgotten 'incredibly historic piece'

Kate Middleton has proven herself a natural when it comes to being a royal, in part thanks to her innovative ways of modernizing pieces of jewelry. Like the Queen Mother and Princess Diana before her, Kate has been known to mix up the ways of wearing the many trinkets and treasures available to her from the royal collections.

• Princess Diana famously played with fashion rules, finding different ways to wear her treasured collection of jewels
• Proving that she has that same flair, Kate Middleton helped rebrand a mostly-unseen $345k heirloom, giving it more wearability and sharing a piece of history with a new generation
• In other royal news, why Princess Anne's brooch marks departure from usual jewelry habits as she pairs the standout piece with bold red outfit

Diana, former Princess of Wales' style mishap became a trendsetting moment, and it’s something which Catherine, the current Princess of Wales has picked up on perfectly.

Diana rewrote the rule book when she wore a stunning – and incredibly expensive – choker as a headband. Proving that she could play with fashion and buck the rules, the late Princess of Wales revolutionized the Delhi Durbar choker.

A wedding gift from the Queen, Princess Diana’s Art Deco diamond-and-emerald choker was originally a gift to Queen Mary by the Delhi Durbar during her visit with King George to India in 1911. It was given to commemorate the succession of the Emperor of India during the British Reign in India.

Taking inspiration from Diana, Kate has reworked an invaluable piece of history with a modern flair.

Catherine has been photographed reimagining Queen Mary’s diamond chain link choker as a bracelet, giving it a younger and more wearable feel.

Reportedly created around the 1920s, the piece was one of several diamond chokers in Queen Mary’s collection and was notably worn by her in a portrait.

After Queen Mary’s death in 1953, her diamond chain link choker was not publicly seen until 1975, when the Queen Mother wore it in a series of portraits taken by Norman Parkinson to mark her 75th birthday.

After the Queen Mother’s death in 2002, the piece was inherited by the Queen but remained unworn, until the late monarch loaned it to Kate.

The Princess of Wales first wore the bracelet to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at a State Banquet in 2015. She has repeatedly worn it for different occasions, proving her ability to dress up or down the new special piece, including at the East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices ‘A Taste of Norfolk’ Gala at Houghton Hall in 2016.

The latest appearance of the bracelet came in 2018, when the Princess wore it to the Diplomatic Reception at Buckingham Palace, alongside Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot Tiara.

Maxwell Stone, jewelry expert from Steven Stone, described the choker-turned-bracelet as an “incredibly historic piece of jewelry.”

He explains, “Kate’s diamond bracelet is an incredibly historic piece of jewelry as it originally belonged to Queen Mary. Though when it was in Queen Mary’s possession, it was part of her collection of diamond chokers. Created at some point during the 1920s, it’s unknown whether the choker was originally designed to be worn as a bracelet or if it was modified later, but with the Princess of Wales having worn it as a bracelet on multiple occasions, it’s unlikely that it will be worn as a choker in the near future.”

“It’s heart-warming to see that Kate has followed in the steps of her late mother-in-law, Princess Diana, when it comes to wearing jewelry in her own unique way, knowing exactly how to make each piece in her collection stand out. From re-modelling brooches into necklaces, to wearing chokers as headbands, Princess Diana set some huge trends and was always showcasing her jewels in unique ways.”

“Composed of diamond bars in an Art Deco design, I’d estimate this particular piece to be worth a whopping $345,000.”