Meghan Markle Honors Princess Diana With Shining Jewelry Tribute in First Appearance Since Announcing Pregnancy

Meghan Markle paid tribute to the late Princess Diana during her first public appearance since announcing that she and Prince Harry are expecting their first child together.

On Monday, following the announcement by Kensington Palace that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are expecting their first child in Spring of 2019, the royal couple was photographed in Sydney, Australia on the first leg of their 16-day international tour, and the Duchess paid special tribute to her late mother-in-law.

Sporting a fitted white sleeveless dress by Australian designer Karen Gee for the day, Markle accessorized the ensemble with a pair of gold butterfly earrings that Princess Diana wore during a trip to Canada on May 3, 1986, just a year after she gave birth to Harry.

Fan account Meghan’s Mirror, who pointed out the heirloom butterfly earrings, also noted that the Duchess wore the gold bracelet that Princess Diana had worn while visiting the Lord Gage Centre for Old People in Newham, East London in 1990.

This is not the first time that the Duchess has paid tribute to the late princess. At the reception following her May 19 royal wedding to Prince Harry at St. Goerge’s Chapel, Markle paired her custom Stella McCartney gown with Diana’s aquamarine emerald-cut ring. Diana had worn the ring in 1997 while attending an auction of her own clothes at Christie’s. She also wore it to a gala dinner in Australia in 1996.

Prior to her death, the late Princess had reportedly wrote a “letter of wishes” regarding how she wanted her jewelry divided amongst her sons, instructing Prince William and Prince Harry to share the jewelry with their future wives.

“I would like you to allocate all my jewelry to the share to be held by my sons, so that their wives may, in due course, have it or use it,” she reportedly wrote. “I leave the exact division of the jewelry to your discretion.”

Markle’s sister-in-law, Kate Middleton, has also paid tribute to Princess Diana on occasion, most recently channeling her late mother-in-law when she greeted the press on the steps of St. Mary’s Hospital in London following the birth of Prince Louis.

For her little one’s first public appearance, Middleton wore a Jenny Packham raspberry red dress with a white Peter Pan color. Princess Diana had donned a similar ensemble when she introduced Prince Harry into the world in 1984.