Why Princess Diana’s Cartier Watch Is a ‘Natural Heirloom’ for Meghan Markle
Meghan Markle now owns many of Princess Diana's jewelry items, but one particular piece holds a special meaning.
Over the years, Meghan Markle has frequently paid sartorial tribute to Princess Diana by wearing her accessories. Be it her iconic aquamarine ring, her butterfly earrings, or her diamond tennis bracelet. However, one particular heirloom has always drawn even more attention whenever Markle opts to wear it, and for a very different reason.
In 2020, Markle was first seen wearing Diana’s all-gold Cartier Tank Française watch, and since then it has often been spotted on her wrist. Jewelry expert Nilesh Rakholia called the watch a “fitting” accessory for the Duchess to inherit, as she already owned a special two-tone version of the same model even before she began dating Prince Harry. In 2015, the then-Suits star had mentioned in an interview that she had engraved “from M.M. to M.M.” on her watch and planned to pass it down to her future daughter. “That's what makes pieces special, the connection you have to them,” she had said at the time.
And now, Diana’s own Cartier Tank Française has seemingly been passed to Markle. “For me, this is one of the most fitting pieces Meghan could have inherited,” Rakholia told Marie Claire, “She already had a relationship with Cartier before she ever met Harry.” While the Royal Family has introduced many timeless accessories to the Duchess, this particular watch stands as an exception. “This is what makes Diana’s watch feel like a particularly natural heirloom for Meghan. She wasn’t introduced to the design through the Royal Family. She had already independently chosen the same watch for herself because it suited her own taste,” the jewelry expert added.
This week, Markle and Harry returned to the U.K. with their two kids and dogs for an extended period. It is expected that the couple will undertake charitable and commercial engagements while in the country, and in that case, the Duchess might be spotted wearing Diana’s pieces more often. “The notion of seeing Meghan on U.K. soil wearing Diana’s jewelry again would be significant because these pieces are now living quite distinct lives,” Rakholia added. He further mentioned that while public memory still remembers Diana wearing the jewelry, the Duchess has been wearing it for several years now. So, the accessories are no longer “associated with one woman.”
Recently, Markle wore Diana's iconic butterfly earrings to David Foster's 40th Anniversary gala in Canada. Talking about them, Rakholia mentioned, “Diana wore them as a young princess. Decades later, Meghan wore them at the beginning of a tour when the world had just learned she was expecting Diana’s grandson. That connection didn’t exist when Diana owned them; Meghan created it simply by wearing them.”
The jewelry expert also stated that while the actual accessories may not have changed, “the stories attached to it have.” He further added, “That is exactly how heirloom jewelry accumulates meaning.”
