Why do these British royals wear alphabet necklaces? Princess Diana, Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton all favour pendants with initials – especially their children’s

Despite the drama brewing within the British royal family due to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s recently confirmed exodus, the Windsors are still celebrating 2021 with their fair share of good news. The birth of Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank’s son August was soon followed by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s announcement that baby Archie is soon to become an older brother. 

Just like the rest of us, the royal family loves to mark milestones with a new piece of jewellery that could be passed down to the next generation. The royals, of course, are often gifted with priceless historic gems to commemorate everything from weddings to births. Aside from royal heirlooms and some of the world’s largest diamonds and gems, younger members of the royal family – like Kate Middleton – have also embraced personalised contemporary and demi-fine jewellery to mark the arrival of young princes and princesses. 

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Alphabet charms have found their way into both Middleton and Markle’s daily rotation of jewels. Both women wear the names of their loved ones close to their hearts with alphabet necklaces. 

The two’s late mother-in-law Princess Diana famously wore a necklace with her own initials in one of her earliest public photographs. The necklace was an important part of the princess’ jewellery collection that she owned since she was a teenager; she wore the piece in the now iconic photo where she sat with two children who attended the nursery where she worked before her marriage to Prince Charles.