THE ‘FINEST CULTURED PEARLS’ FROM JAPAN
THE QUEEN asked for the Four Row Japanese pearl choker to be made from ‘the finest cultured pearls’ which were a gift from the Japanese government.
It has four strands of pearls with a central curved diamond clasp.
The Queen loaned it to Princess Diana, who loved pearls, for a state visit to the Netherlands in 1982 — one of her first royal engagements a year after her marriage to Prince Charles.
Diana wore it with an orange sash, given to her by the Queen of the Netherlands.
The Queen then wore it a year later for an engagement in Bangladesh.
The Duchess of Cambridge most recently borrowed the choker for the Queen and Prince Philip’s 70th wedding anniversary dinner at Windsor Castle last month.