Kate Middleton's sweet gesture to the Queen for their festive family gathering

(Image credit: 2020 Max Mumby/Indigo)

Prince William and Kate Middleton ended their three-day tour of the UK at Windsor Castle, having visited cities in Scotland and Wales to meet with frontline workers.

This is the first time the Queen, Prince Charles and Camilla, Kate and William and Prince Edward and Sophie have been photographed gathered publicly together since the beginning of the pandemic (they did attend the National Service of Remembrance Sunday but were on separate balconies).

It's also likely that it will be the only sort of festive gathering they will have this year, with the Queen and Prince Philip spending 'Christmas quietly in Windsor' while Prince William and Kate Middleton spend it in London with their children for the first time (Meghan and Prince Harry are also spending a paired back Christmas).

(Image credit: 2020 Max Mumby/Indigo)

Whether on purpose or not, the Duchess of Cambridge chose to pay tribute to the Queen in a subtle way, by wearing her earrings.

Her stunning chandelier diamond earrings stood out against her red coat, and are one of her favourite pairs. She wore them to a reception at Buckingham Palace in December 2016, and must have only received them from the Queen in recent years, as Her Majesty was spotted wearing them as late at 2012, to a State Opening of Parliament.

Kate has worn them several times since then, and they are the perfect party season accessory. Their origin is unknown, though some have speculated it used to be a brooch of Queen Mary's, later transformed into earrings.

Penny Goldstone

Penny Goldstone is the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire, covering everything from catwalk trends to royal fashion and the latest high street and Instagram must-haves.

Penny grew up in France and studied languages and law at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris before moving to the UK for her MA in multimedia journalism at Bournemouth University. She moved to the UK permanently and has never looked back (though she does go back regularly to stock up on cheese and wine).

Although she's always loved fashion - she used to create scrapbooks of her favourite trends and looks, including Sienna Miller and Kate Moss' boho phase - her first job was at MoneySavingExpert.com, sourcing the best deals for everything from restaurants to designer sales.

However she quit after two years to follow her true passion, fashion journalism, and after many years of internships and freelance stints at magazines including Red, Cosmopolitan, Stylist and Good Housekeeping, landed her dream job as the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire UK.

Her favourite part of the job is discovering new brands and meeting designers, and travelling the world to attend events and fashion shows. Seeing her first Chanel runway IRL at Paris Fashion Week was a true pinch-me moment.