With the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the whole world is in mourning, and people have many questions - including where the Queen's clothes and jewelry collection will now sit. While there is no official protocol for any part of her wardrobe, there are some clues as to what might happen to them, based on similar events in years past.
According to Brian Hoey, author of Not In Front of the Corgis, the Queen regularly gave away her old clothes to people who helped her dress. Then, they could either keep the clothes, wear them or sell them. Hoey notes that if the clothes were sold, the buyers could not know that the clothes came from Her Majesty. The tags were removed to ensure no one knew they originated from Buckingham Palace.
As for the jewels, the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom (Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom) are the 142 royal ceremonial objects held in the Tower of London. They remain in the royal collection and are passed on to the next monarch. However, Elizabeth had more than 300 pieces of jewelry in her personal collection, including "98 brooches, 46 necklaces, 37 bracelets, 34 earrings, 15 rings, 14 watches, and 5 pendants." These jewels were mainly gifts from dignitaries and heads of state visiting monarchs and were usually worn during official occasions.
Unless the Queen has left clear instructions, it is unknown what will happen to each piece of jewelry, but it appears that one item from her collection has already passed on to Kate Middleton. On September 14, she was photographed wearing one of the late monarch's brooches while attending a service in the Queen's honor at Westminster Hall.
This was not the first time that Middleton has worn jewelry belonging to a member of the royal family. She wore a pair of Princess Diana pearl earrings during the same outing.
According to Marie Clarie, the late princess specifically stated that she wanted her personal jewelry collection to be passed down to her sons' future wives.
Source: In Style
