Sparkling Diana: The ultimate girl in pearls
PEARLS have a long association with the monarchy — Princess Victoria wore her first string of pearls aged two in 1821 — and they are still a firm favourite of the Queen today.
But it was Diana who made them fashionable among the younger generation, sending pearl sales rocketing — both on the High Street and at high-end jewellers.
By wearing them with casual clothes as well as ballgowns, Diana made pearls an essential accessory for the well- dressed woman of the Eighties. She liked them because they were so versatile and she owned every size, shape and colour under the sun — from huge cultured pearls the size of grapes to long strands made up of hundreds of tiny gems.
Poignantly, one of the last pieces of jewellery Diana ever wore to a public engagement, two months before her death, was a dazzling pearl and diamond necklace. Earlier this year, it was put up for sale at a New York auction house. Its price: an astonishing £9.6 million.