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Why do female members of the royal family wear pearls when they’re in mourning?

Nach dem Tod von Queen Elizabeth II. verleihen Tausende von Briten ihrer Trauer Ausdruck, legen Blumen am Buckingham Palace nieder und warten stundenlang am Straßenrand, um bei einem Trauerzug von der britischen Monarchin Abschied zu nehmen. Die weiblichen Mitglieder der königlichen Familie haben neben der schwarzen Trauerkleidung eine sehr subtile Art, der Königin zu gedenken. Mehr dazu lesen Sie hier.

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By Franziska Lange

            The Queen has died, and the royal family is in mourning. As a sign of respect to the Queen, they wear black clothes. And the female members of the royal family have an additional way of showing their respect: wearing white pearls.

2             Wearing pearl jewellery as a sign of mourning is a royal tradition that goes back to Queen Victoria (1819–1901). She wore only black for the rest of her life after the death of her husband Prince Albert in 1861, as well as black or colourless jewellery – and white pearls. The reason is that white pearls are thought to symbolise tears. Since then, they have been worn by the royal family in times of mourning.

            The Queen herself wore pearl earrings and a pearl necklace to the funeral of her husband Prince Philip in April 2021. Now her family members follow the same tradition to pay tribute to her: Kate, now the Princess of Wales, wore pearl earrings when she greeted mourners outside Windsor Castle, and Camilla, the Queen Consort, wore a pearl necklace when she was first seen in public after the Queen’s death.

Mehr über die Queen lesen Sie in der Oktober-Ausgabe der Read On.

Vocabulary

0–1            female weiblich — pearl Perle — to be in mourning trauern — sign Zeichen — additional zusätzlich

2–3           jewellery Schmuck — colourless farblos — tear Träne — necklace Kette — funeral Beerdigung — to pay tribute to s.o. jds. gedenken; jdm. Achtung zollen — to greet begrüßen — mourner Trauernde(r) — Queen Consort Königin — in public in der Öffentlichkeit

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