How the Princess of Wales pays tribute to Prince Philip by wearing a diamond bracelet he crafted for Queen Elizabeth II

The royal family will be in a solemn mood today, as they commemorate the fifth anniversary of the death of Prince Philip, the late Duke of Edinburgh. One way in which the Firm have found a way to pay tribute to the longest-serving consort in British history is through one of the heirloom jewels he had crafted for his beloved wife, Queen Elizabeth II – a bracelet that has been so poignantly passed down to the Princess of Wales.

The diamonds used to create the bracelet already had an impressive royal history by the time Prince Philip commissioned the piece for his wife. The late Duke used the gems from a tiara that was made for his mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, by her uncle, Tsar Nicholas II and his wife, Tsarina Alexandra Fedorovna. The Aquamarine and Diamond Parure, likely made by Faberge, was a wedding gift for Princess Alice on the occasion of her marriage to Prince Andrew of Greece in 1903.

The diamonds in the bracelet were originally gifted as a tiara to Princess Alice of Battenberg by her uncle

The tiara was a favourite of the Princess, who wore it for a number of official portraits following her wedding and brought it with her during the exile of the Greek royal family. Princess Alice notably wore the tiara for the wedding of her sister, Lady Louise Mountbatten, to Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden in 1923.

When Princess Alice was admitted into an asylum, the tiara, along with many of her jewels, was deposited by her husband into a Parisian bank. The royal retrieved them in early 1947. That Summer, she received word that her son, Prince Philip, was planning to propose to Princess Elizabeth, and she took the diamonds to 6 Old Bond Street, where the jewellery Philip Antrobus crafted them into an engagement ring. Antrobus later told the press that he had no idea for whom the ring was created, as Prince Philip did not show his face at the shop for fear of being recognised.

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Queen Elizabeth II wears the bracelet at Manoel Theatre in Valleta, Malta, 1967