Happy St. Patrick’s Day, everyone! The Princess of Wales has been out and about handing out shamrocks to the Irish Guards, and we’ve got some interesting diamonds and emeralds to discuss as a result.
Princess Catherine arrived at Aldershot in Hampshire on Tuesday for the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade of the 1st Battalion Irish Guards at Mons Barracks. Kate has been the regiment’s colonel since 2022, and today she was on hand as usual to present shamrocks during the celebration. Here, she greets the regiment’s mascot, a sweet Irish Wolfhound named Seamus.
Catherine almost always wears tailored coats in shades of green for this occasion, and today was no exception. She wore a forest green coat, cinched at the waist with a belt, with a coordinating hat and black accessories.
Kate matched the shade of her coat and hat to her earrings, wearing a pair of diamond and emerald earrings that come from Asprey London. The Halo earrings are made of platinum and set with a total of four emeralds and 72 diamonds.
We first saw her wear the earrings in December 2022. She brought them with her to the Earthshot Prize ceremony in Boston, pairing them with Queen Mary’s Art Deco Choker. The necklace was, of course, made famous in the 1980s by her late mother-in-law, Diana, Princess of Wales.
On her coat, Kate pinned a gem-set brooch in the shape of the regimental badge of the Irish Guards. The badge, which is a reference to the badge of the Order of St. Patrick, features a central shamrock, with a crown on each leaf, resting on the cross of St. Patrick. The shared motto of the regiment and the order, Quis Separabit (“Who Shall Separate Us?”) and the date of the founding of the order, MDCCLXXXIII (1783), surround the shamrock.
Please correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe this is the first time we’ve seen Catherine wear the Irish Guards badge in public. On previous outings with the regiment, she has worn their Irish Guards brooch. The gold shamrock features a tiny emerald set in the center of its petals. Above, she wears the brooch with a similar ensemble on St. Patrick’s Day in March 2025.
Couple of scheduling notes before I leave you today! The free Wednesday edition of Hidden Gems will drop in your email inboxes tomorrow morning as usual, featuring a major Cartier moment at the Oscars and an intriguing new royal-related television series. And over the course of the day tomorrow, I’ll be back here at TCJ with the welcome ceremony from the Nigerian state visit to Britain, and then the state banquet later in the evening. See you then!
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