Royals

Queen Elizabeth Chose This Pearl Necklace for Her Coronavirus Speech — Here's Why

If that three-strand necklace looks familiar, it is

Published on April 6, 2020 12:20 PM

Queen Elizabeth is the platinum standard when it comes to sartorial messaging, and her recent morale-boosting speech amid the coronaviras pandemic was no different.

Speaking from Windsor Castle, where she and her husband Prince Philip have been in isolation for several weeks, the Queen, 93, wore a bright green dress with a signature three-strand pearl necklace and a turquoise brooch to address the nation on Sunday evening.

While the Queen has several versions of the three-strand necklace — the first was a gift from her grandfather, George V at age 9 — the one she wore Sunday is believed to be a piece she commissioned herself in 1952. She has appeared to wear it in each of her previous non-Christmas televised addresses to the nation: on the eve of the funeral of Princess Diana in 1997, at her Diamond Jubilee in 2012, upon the death of her mother in 2002 and during the Gulf War in 1991.

<a href="https://people.com/tag/queen-elizabeth/" data-inlink="true">Queen Elizabeth</a> — Queen Elizabeth. Buckingham Palace via Getty Images

<a href="https://people.com/tag/queen-elizabeth/" data-inlink="true">QUEEN ELIZABETH</a> II THANK YOU SPEECH FOR PUBLIC SUPPORT AFTER THE DEATH OF HER MOTHER 8 APRIL 2002 — Queen Elizabeth addressing the U.K. after the death of her mother in 2002. Shutterstock

The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Message, 5 June 2012 — The Royal Family/YouTube

<a href="https://people.com/tag/queen-elizabeth/" data-inlink="true">QUEEN ELIZABETH</a> II MAKING TELEVISED SPEECH ABOUT THE DEATH OF PRINCESS DIANA THE DAY BEFORE THE FUNERAL, BUCKINGHAM PALACE — Queen Elizabeth’s address after the 1997 death of Princess Diana. Shutterstock

For her address on Sunday, the Queen also accessorized with a turquoise-and-diamond brooch that once belonged to her grandmother Queen Mary, a gift from King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. Turquoise, often associated with serenity and calm, underscored her message to Britons, in which she sent “thanks and warmest good wishes to you all.”

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Paying tribute to healthcare workers and praising the public for making great changes to their lives amid the pandemic, the Queen closed her historic speech with the eponymous line from Vera Lynn’s best-known war time song, “We’ll Meet Again.”