The Princess of Wales set the tone for her first State Visit with her heightened role by harkening back to the women who have held her position before.
While meeting President Ramaphosa of South Africa on Tuesday morning, Catherine was spotted wearing the Prince of Wales Feather Brooch against her plum dress by Emilia Wickstead. The brooch dates back to 1863 and was a wedding present for Queen Alexandra, the then-Princess of Wales.
The Prince of Wales Feather Brooch features the traditional three feathers that make up the emblem of the Prince of Wales, that of the ostrich plumes. The diamond feathers are set in a circular frame and complemented by an emerald drop pendant.
The emerald pendant is removable, and, in addition to the brooch, Queen Alexandra also received a pair of emerald pendant earrings from the Ladies of North Wales Committee on her wedding day.
Since Queen Alexandra’s tenure as Princess of Wales, the brooch has been worn by all the successive Princesses of Wales: Queen Mary, Diana, Princess of Wales, Queen Camilla, and now Catherine.
The ostrich plumes have been a central motif to the title Prince of Wales, dating back to Prince Edward, the Black Prince, who lived between 1330 and 1376. The motif is not believed to be related in any way to the traditional princes of Wales and has always been a motif of the English and British heirs.
The plumes were used in Prince Edward’s insignia and were used to represent peace. The symbolism flowed down through his family line, but the first Prince of Wales to use them as a symbol was Prince Arthur, the tragic son of Henry VII, who died when he was 15.
Prince Arthur used the three ostrich plumes surrounded by a gold coronet and the motto ‘Ich dien’ or ‘I serve’, which continues to this day, and although ostrich feathers continued to be a royal motif, it wasn’t until the House of Stuart becoming the dynastic house that the ostrich plumes became consistently and prominently used by the Prince of Wales.
