Meghan STILL has diamond earrings from the Saudi Crown Prince in her collection

The controversial diamond earrings presented to the Duchess of Sussex by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman are still in her care, the Mail on Sunday can reveal.

Gifts from foreign heads of state are officially considered the property of the Crown, according to Royal protocol, which may explain why reporters who were with Harry and Meghan on their 2018 trip were told to Fiji that they were loaned.

But wedding gifts given to old Royals are not borrowed in a traditional sense from a mediocre collection. Instead, the recipient is responsible for them and can keep them before they are returned to the Crown after their death.

Female members of the Royal Family regularly receive a priceless jewelery loan from The Queen.

For example, Princess Beatrice, for her marriage to Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in 2020, lent Queen Mary’s diamond fringe tiara – the headdress worn by the Queen on her wedding day to Prince Philip in 1947. The Queen lends another Queen Mary’s tiara to the Duchess of Sussex on her wedding day.

There are strict guidelines for accepting gifts as a member of the Royal Family. The official policy, established since 2003, makes it clear that Royals should think carefully about the purpose of the gift and not accept it if it sees them obliging the donor, or if it intends to the donor has something in return. This can include clothing that, if worn, can benefit a person commercially.

Meghan Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry will attend a reception and dinner with the President of Fiji, October 2018

Family members will only receive personalized gifts, which they can keep, if they meet strict conditions. They must be provided by persons who are privately known to the member of the Royal Family and are not connected with any public duty; or must be worth less than £ 150 and come from groups or individuals with a member of the Royal Family. Conversely they are classified as ‘official’ gifts, which are not the personal property of individual Royals.

The Saudi royal family has consistently been a jewel to their British contemporaries. Royal jewelery expert Lauren Kiehna said Princess Diana received a series of diamond and sapphire jewelery from Crown Prince Fahd as a wedding gift in 1981, and The Duchess of Cornwall received three jewelery rooms when she officially visited Saudi Arabia in May 2006.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex did not respond to requests for comment.