The Story Of How A Luxury Choker Became One Of The World’s Most Famous Headbands

Whilst we tend to think of a lot of the jewellery we wear as somewhat specialised and designed to be worn a particular way, a lot of the time there is more room for experimentation than we might perhaps initially assume.

A FOPE jewellery necklace, for example, could be wrapped around the wrist and worn as a chain, or that a ring could be the centrepiece of a necklace.

However, one of the most interesting examples of this involves one of the most influential style icons of her era: Princess Diana.

The Delhi Durbar Emerald Choker was initially created for Queen Mary in 1911, but in 1921 the necklace was shortened to create a choker popular in Art Deco fashions of the era, often worn with a range of diamond necklaces.

Queen Elizabeth II would eventually inherit the choker in 1953, but never liked the shortened size and would eventually loan it to Diana, Princess of Wales in the 1980s, who in 1985 would wear it in a way that would become one of her many iconic style moments.

Diana loved the choker and regularly wore it as a choker from the 1980s until just before her death in 1997.

However, when she was invited to a dance in Melbourne, Australia, she wore the choker as a headband, although it would later be revealed by royal biographer Kitty Kelley that this was an accident caused by trying to put the choker over her head and it getting stuck on her brow.

After some convincing by Victor Chapman, a diplomat for Canada, she wore it as a headband and immediately turned heads and became an iconic look of the 1980s.

One person who was less than impressed was the Queen herself, who was frustrated by the atypical fashion choice.

However, this would, alongside her tendency to wear brooches as necklaces and the infamous Revenge Dress she wore the night it was revealed that Prince Charles admitted infidelity.