William gave Kate earrings for their first Christmas as a married couple

Prince William has gifted Kate Middleton with a fair few pieces of jewellery over the year. These include Princess Diana's engagement ring of course, as well as a gorgeous diamond eternity ring purchased just after Prince George's birth.

And although it's custom for the royal family to buy joke presents for each other at Christmas - Kate once bought this hilarious present for Prince Harry - for their first one together as a married couple, Prince William wanted to get something extra special.

In December 2011, a few months after the royal wedding, the Duke of Cambridge is said to have bought his new wife some lovely earrings, by one of her favourite jewellery designers, Kiki McDonough, who also used to create pieces for his late mother.

At the time, the classic green amethyst and diamond oval earrings set in yellow gold were priced at £2,600, and the brand described them on the site as, 'Two looks in one make these earrings an irresistible buy; featuring an oval Green Amethyst drop surrounded by Diamonds set in 18ct Yellow Gold, on an elegant 18ct Yellow Gold and Diamond hoop. Wear the hoops on their own or add the drop for a stunning classic look. Build your collection of Kiki drops; they all fit on the same Gold or Diamond hoops.'

As Kate has several pieces from the jewellery, and we can imagine she had fun mixing and matching them together, in fact, she has other pairs of drop earrings in different colours.

Although that exact style isn't available anymore, you can buy some pretty similar ones below.

Shop now: GRACE GREEN AMETHYST ROUND DROP EARRINGS IN YELLOW GOLD for £2,200 fromKiki McDonough

The Duchess of Cambridge wore the earrings the very next day, to greet well wishers outside St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham where the royal family attends service every year. She worn them several times since.

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.