Camilla redesigned a necklace that belonged to Princess Diana

(Image credit: 1986 John Shelley Collection/Avalon)

It turns out redesigning family heirlooms is more common than you'd think in the royal family. Kate Middleton changed diamond earrings that used to belong to Princess Diana, and Meghan Markle also changed her engagement ring.

As a lot of pieces of jewellery have been passed down the royal family for decades, it's natural than whoever is wearing them might want to put their own stamp to it, or make it look more modern.

And that's apparently what Duchess Camilla has done, to a necklace that once belonged to Princess Diana. The diamond and emerald necklace was said to be a wedding gift from the Queen Mother, and the Princess was seen wearing it, with its matching earrings, to a gala performance in Austria in 1986.

(Image credit: 2007 Anwar Hussein)

With family heirlooms, they technically belong to the Queen, and so some of Princess Diana's jewellery went back to the crown after her death, which included this set.

It's then customary for them to be given to other members of the family, such as Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.

She decided to turn the pendant part of the necklace into a brooch, which she was photographed wearing at an event celebrating Prince Charles' 50th anniversary as Prince of Wales.

In her will, Princess Diana wrote, 'I would like to allocate all my jewellery to the share to be held by my sons, so that their wives may, in due course, have it or use it. I leave the exact division of the jewellery to your discretion.'

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.