Edytujesz How Kate Middleton's Royal Jeweller Transcended The Gem Industry

<br>Kiki has been with Kate since the beginning, even before the now Princess of Wales became a member of the British Royal Family. But it was in fact the previous Princess of Wales, Diana, who was the first royal to put Kiki McDonough on the map - wearing a pair of iconic earrings, and  If you adored this article and you also would like to obtain more info relating to [https://jetblacktransportation.com/blog/how-much-is-a-car-service-from-newark-to-jfk-in-2026-real-answers-real-costs-no-bs/02052026 how much is a car service from newark to jfk] generously visit the internet site. at The White House no less!<br><br>Kiki McDonough has royal clientèle in her blood; her father, Robin Axford, was a director at Harvey & Gore, an antique jeweller based in the Burlington Arcade, to whom Queen Mary, perhaps the Royal Family's most prolific purchaser of jewels, frequented.<br><br>It is four decades since Kiki, having previously worked at Vogue for 18 months as a fashion assistant and in the warehouse of a leather goods company, started designing for jeweller Nigel Milne on Grafton Street. <br><br>Not long after the launch of her first collection as a partner of Nigel Milne, Sarah Ferguson wore a pair of Kiki's heart earrings for an official engagement photo with Prince Andrew.<br><br>A few months later as the Duchess of York, she arrived in Bordeaux wearing a pair of onyx heart and bow earrings and a pearl and onyx heart necklace - it was the summer of 1986 and the duchess was still glowing from her royal wedding only weeks earlier. <br><br>Indeed Sarah Ferguson had gone to Kiki for jewellery not long after her engagement to Prince Andrew, as she was thrown into official engagements from the get-go, and was not yet able to be leant jewels from the Queen's collection. <br><br>Sarah was to become the first of many British royals to wear Kiki McDonough's colourful jewels on both private and public occasions - culminating in the most regal of all - the Coronation of King Charles III.<br><br><br><br><br>The late Princess of Wales with Barbara Bush at the White House, October 1990 wearing Kiki McDonough pearl and amethyst earrings<br><br><br><br><br><br>Sarah Ferguson wore Kiki earrings in the shape of hearts for her engagement announcement<br><br><br><br><br><br>A few months after the fairytale wedding, the Duchess of York wore the designer's earrings and necklace in Bordeaux<br><br>In her recently published biographical coffee table book, celebrating forty fabulous years as a jeweller and businesswoman, we discover that Kiki was one of the first fine jewellers to branch away from the traditional cardinal gemstones of diamonds, emeralds, rubies, and sapphires. <br><br>From the beginning she ingeniously embraced amethysts and aquamarines, tanzanites and tourmalines - and for Diana, the then Princess of Wales, this may have been another step in paving her own path through the rigours of royal life. <br><br>Always known for breaking the boundaries of the traditional princess protocol - with off-the-shoulder and one-shoulder dresses, hemlines above the knee; she also shook-up royal jewels by wearing Queen Mary's emerald choker as a bandeau, as well as her own Saudi sapphire choker. <br><br>So it is not surprising that she found Kiki's colourful designs a breath of fresh air and in 1990 on a State Visit to the USA, she wore a pair of pearl and amethyst earrings to the White House. A photo from this engagement was on the cover of Hello magazine, amongst many other publications - and the earrings subsequently sold out!<br><br><br><br><br>Kate Middleton's first royal engagement in February 2011 that we saw the future queen wear Kiki McDonough earrings to a lifeboat naming ceremony in Anglesey, Wales<br><br><br><br><br><br>Catherine wore Kiki McDonough earrings when she visited Coach Core at the Basildon Sporting Village, 2018<br><br><br><br><br><br>Kiki writes in her book that Kate has been a 'great help in the evolution of the brand'<br><br>Indeed the story of the former Princess of Wales waiting outside the jeweller's first standalone store, on Elizabeth Street in Belgravia, [https://jetblacktransportation.com/ how much is a car service from newark to jfk 2026] legendary: Kiki was making a cup of coffee and thought that a builder was joking when he told her that the princess was about to take the handle off the door - she seemed so keen to enter! He wasn't, joking that [https://jetblacktransportation.com/ how much is a car service from newark to jfk 2026]!<br><br>But it is Kate, the current Princess of Wales, who has been her most successful royal patron with (according to several sources) at least 20 pieces in a rainbow array of colours.<br><br>As Kate Middleton - it was on her first royal engagement in February 2011 that we saw the future queen wear Kiki McDonough earrings to a lifeboat naming ceremony in Anglesey, Wales.<br><br>In her book, A Life of Colour, the jeweller admits that Kate, has been "a great help in the evolution of the brand". <br><br>Indeed I think she might well have a pair of earrings to match every single outfit in  her wardrobe in every colourway possible!<br><br><br><br><br>Queen Camilla chose the designer to make her royal cypher for the Coronation in 2023<br><br><br><br><br><br>Kiki's design for Queen Camilla's Coronation is created with 18 carat white gold and set with diamonds, designed in the form of the Queen's cypher - with C (Camilla) and R (Regina) intertwined, with a crown above<br><br><br><br><br><br>The jeweller, Kiki with one of her famous clients, artist Sabrina Percy at the Sloane Square store<br><br><br><br><br><br>Her recently published biographical coffee table book, celebrating forty fabulous years as a jeweller,<br><br><br><br><br><br>Queen Camilla in Mombasa in November 2023 during their Majesties royal tour wearing her favourite Apollo topaz pendant<br><br>In recent years we have also seen Queen Camilla wearing pendant jewels from her daughter in law's favourite jeweller. <br><br>Perhaps Kiki McDonough's most official royal commission however was from Buckingham Palace in early 2023: the creation of a cypher brooch for Her Majesty Queen Camilla and her Companions, to be worn at the Coronation on May 6th 2023.<br><br>The jewel is created in 18 carat white gold and set with diamonds, designed in the form of the Queen's cypher - with C (Camilla) and R (Regina) intertwined, with a crown above.<br><br>Of course, Kiki [https://jetblacktransportation.com/ how much is a car service from newark to jfk 2026] more than just a jeweller to royals, my son has a pair of exquisite enamel and gold cufflinks that were given to him by his godmother. She is also a brilliant businesswoman - who inspires new generations of jewellers every day.<br><br>Kiki McDonough: A Life of Colour: 40 Years of Gemstone Jewellery available on Amazon at £49.99<br><br><br>RoyalsKate MiddletonPrincess Diana<br><br>