Former Vogue editor says Kate Middleton's indifference to diamonds is 'disappointing', but at least her budget bling – including £2 Accessorize earrings – won't break the bank

The Princess of Wales has been accused of making ‘disappointing’ jewellery choices, but fans of the high street will disagree – with the royal regularly championing budget buys that make it easy for devotees to emulate her style. 

Former Vogue International editor Suzy Menkes, 79, accused Kate of appearing indifferent to the collection of rare and precious jewels she is privileged to wear and said she doesn’t have the same ‘joy’ about jewels as her mother-in-law Camilla, 75.

But Kate has continued to prove she can work a wide-range of brands, often combining designer outfits with more low-key earrings. 

From attending events as glitzy as the BAFTAs to greeting important figures, the Princess has been seen sporting jewellery from Zara, H&M and Accessorize.

While attending the BAFTAs earlier this year at Royal Festival Hall the Princess was wore an £18 pair of earrings from Zara, which she paired with an Alexander McQueen one-shoulder gown. The gold cascading floral earrings cost less than £20

The Princess of Wales wore a £2.10 pair of Accessorize mini hammered ‘door knocker’ dropped earrings on a visit to the Foundling Museum in London this year. She matched them with a black polo neck and recycled a long-line navy coat and a favourite pair of £130 Jigsaw trousers

Earlier this year in February the high street princess was seen wearing an £18 pair of earrings from Zara, which she paired with an Alexander McQueen one shoulder gown.

The pair of gold cascading floral earrings, described by the retailer as ‘floral-shaped metal dangle earrings with rhinestone appliqué’ and have a ‘push-back closure’, cost less than £20.

The Princess of Wales arrived at her Christmas carol service at Westminster Abbey in December looking perfectly polished, donning a burgundy coat dress, believed to be designed by London-based designer Eponine.

Eagle-eyed royal watchers would have noticed as she stepped out for the ‘Together at Christmas’ event, however, that she had matched the elegant outfit with drop ruby earrings.

Kate, who loves a bargain, bought them from Accessorize for £14, pairing them with matching gloves, a clutch and burgundy heel.

Kate arrived at her Christmas carol service at Westminster Abbey  looking festive but perfectly polished in a burgundy coat dress, believed to be designed by London-based  Eponine. It was paired with drop ruby earrings from Accessorize for £14

The Princess of Wales wore a £6 pair of gold drop earrings from H&M as she attended an evening reception at the Guinness Storehouse’s Gravity Bar in Dublin, Ireland. Proving she can work with both designer and budget brands she matched the earrings with a dazzling green dress created by The Vampire’s Wife 

As she spoke to TV presenter Ant McPartlin for the launch of Taking Action on Addiction (formed by a consortium of charities) the Princess wore a £845 red Christopher Kane skirt and a £225 Ralph Lauren jumper. She matched this with 14 carat gold-plated twisted hoop earrings from online shopping brand ASOS costing less than £20

On a separate occasion while launching TV presenter Ant McPartlin’s Take Action on Addiction campaign back in 2021, she was seen wearing a pair of 14 karat gold plated twisted hoop earrings from online shopping brand ASOS, once again costing less than £20.

She paired this with a customised £845 red Christopher Kane skirt and a £225 Ralph Lauren jumper, while she spoke to the presenter about how he was in a ‘bad’ place by the time he sought help for his drug and alcohol issues.

It seems Kate’s love of high street brands is also rubbing off on other members of the royal family, with Camilla taking a leaf out of her book.

On other occasions Kate was seen supporting smaller brands, including Zeen, where she wore some of the designer’s colourful earrings that cost less than £5.

While she is often pictured wearing elements of high street brands, the value of her wardrobe overall soared in 2022.

In 2020, the then Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited Bradford, where they made Kulfi milkshakes at MyLahore. She wore a £90 black and white flowing dress from Zara, and paired with a green and white pair of Zeen earrings, that she wore on the royal tour of Pakistan in 2019

Kate pictured while speaking to students from Hampton Hill Junior School at Hampton Court Palace in 2019. She paired a £260 midi dress from Sandro with earring displaying cluster rose pink petal shaped stones in gold-tone metal from Accessorize

During a visit to Islamabad in 2016, Kate wore a traditional kurta with trousers and a scarf made by local fashion designer Maheen Khan. The outfit was completed by a pair of beaded chandelier earrings from Zeen, a Pakistani women’s clothing line  

When the Princess of Wales attended the Back to Nature Festival at RHSWisley, she wore a pair of £5 Accessorize  drop-earrings with scalloped edges and intricate cut outs. These were set off with a £1,635 designer floral dress by Emelia Wickstead

The Princess wore an impressive £176,664 worth of new clothes in the course of the year as the pandemic came to an end and regular Royal engagements resumed.

It marked the Royal’s most expensive year to date, with a host of new outfits on show – beating 2017 when she wore £119,000 of new outfits.

This was a sharp contrast to 2021 where the royal had slashed her new wardrobe total, wearing £48,845 worth of new clothing.

She did, however, continue re-wear and recycle some of her older, more loved pieces, including staples from Zara, Hobbs and Mango.

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