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While I tally the results of our Diamond Tiara Tournament championship vote, I’ve got another sparkling piece of diamond jewelry from the Windsor collection for us to enjoy: the Diamond Quatrefoil Bracelet that belonged to the late Queen Mother.
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The bracelet is a large, flexible diamond jewel with two borders of diamonds surrounding an intricate pattern that includes a distinctive quatrefoil design.
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The Queen Mother liked to wear the bracelet for gala occasions, especially during the 1960s. At the celebration of the Diamond Jubilee of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in November 1964, she wore the bracelet with the Oriental Circlet and the Crown Rubies, as well as one of her Cartier Ruby Floral Clip Brooches.
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After the Queen Mother’s death in 2002, the bracelet was inherited by the Queen. She has worn the piece on at least two occasions. In December 2008, she wore the piece for the State Opening of Parliament. On that particular outing, the Queen cleverly composed something of a quatrefoil demi-parure, pairing the bracelet with Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee Necklace.
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In May 2010, she wore the bracelet for the State Opening of Parliament a second time. This time around, she paired it with a two-stranded pearl necklace that was also worn by the Queen Mother, as well as Queen Victoria’s Pearl Drop Earrings.
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Here’s a closer view of the bracelet from the May 2010 outing.
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In November 2017, the Duchess of Cambridge wore the bracelet in public for the first time at a gala dinner for the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families at Kensington Palace. She paired the bracelet with diamond frame earrings, also on loan from the Queen, for the occasion.
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In February 2019, she wore the bracelet again, this time at the British Academy Film and Television Awards at Royal Albert Hall. She paired them with diamond and pearl earrings that had belonged to the late Princess Diana.
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Here’s another view of the bracelet from the BAFTA ceremony.
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The bracelet is the third major royal diamond bracelet that has been loaned to Kate. Along with the Diamond Quatrefoil Bracelet, she also wears Queen Mary’s Diamond Choker Bracelet and the Edinburgh Wedding Bracelet at gala functions.