Princess Anne wears ‘sentimental’ gift from Queen Elizabeth worth £16k

Princess Anne wore a “sentimental” gift from the late Queen Elizabeth II that is worth £16,000.

The Princess Royal hosted a garden party at Buckingham Palace where she was pictured wearing a special wedding gift from her mother.

Anne wore a feather-adorned brooch for the occasion which the princess has owned since 1973.

The royal stepped out to host the Not Forgotten Association annual garden party on Friday with her husband Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence.

Princess Anne

The 72-year-old princess wore a champagne-hued dress underneath a bold printed jacket and matching gold shoes.

The bronze detailing on her jacket was complimented by a feathered hat, which featured large bow ribbons and hen feathers.

Anne accessorised her look with a matching jewellery set featuring pearls and the diamond and gold brooch.

The accessory was branded “particularly sentimental” by a jewellery expert as it was given to Anne as a wedding gift from the late Queen.

Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence and Princess Anne

Diamond Expert, Maxwell Stone, said: “The piece has been identified as the Princess Royal’s stalactite brooch, which was created by Andrew Grima and has been in her jewellery box since 1973.

“It’s a particularly sentimental piece for Anne as she received it from her Mother – the late Queen Elizabeth II – as a wedding gift when she tied the knot with her first husband, Captain Mark Phillips.

"I’d estimate it to be worth £16,000.

“Princess Anne frequently wears the brooch with her Grima Pearl Earrings, which constitute gold, pearl, and diamonds in a modern leaf design.

Princess Anne's brooch

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“Gifted to her by her mother and father in the late 1960’s, the earrings are one of Anne’s longest serving pieces of jewellery and have huge sentimental value.

"The retail price for a pair of earrings like Princess Anne’s would be at the top end of £3,000.”

Princess Anne often re-wears her clothes for public engagements and uses clothes handed down to her by the late Queen.

The princess has criticised fast fashion in the past and questioned whether it is time to go back to more conventional manufacturing techniques.

Princess Anne

She previously said: “You go through the phase when fashion was very structured and people followed fashion, but you had tailors and dressmakers who absolutely fundamentally made that, but you could also alter it because they had the skills to do so.

“Now you’ve got instant fashion which you then throw away, you don’t alter it because it wouldn’t be worthwhile.

“So whether we’ve got to relearn those skills, go back and say ‘actually, we need materials that can do more than one evolution of fashion.”