Kate and the royal jewel box

Kate, Duchess of Cambridge has made her first public appearance of 2014 and gave onlookers a rare glimpse of this particular future queen in the Queen's jewels.  Following reports that Elizabeth II has suggested Kate wear more gems to appear more regal, the duchess has dived straight into the jewellery box and come up with a stunner of a necklace.  The Nizam of Hyderabad was a wedding present to the Queen back in 1947.  This evening, it's part of a very 21st century outfit as Kate ends the wait for a New Year appearance.

She's back.  Kate wears dark blue and diamonds for her first public appearance of 2014

There was a huge press presence for the Duchess of Cambridge's first appearance of 2014 with social media going mad in the hour after her arrival.  In fact, one of the first photos of Kate in this new year came from a Twitpic.

@Sparklie_Girlie got one of the first photos of Kate's first appearance of 2014 ad hit Twitter with it within minutes

Unsurprisingly, within moments it was joined by hundreds of other photos of the duchess on duty.  But it's the necklace that's got all the headlines this morning, proving that diamonds really are forever.