Kiki McDonough's jewellery has long been a favourite with royal women, from Diana, Princess of Wales to Queen Camilla and the current Princess of Wales, who regularly wears her colourful pieces at royal garden parties, church services and overseas tours.
When HELLO! meets the society jeweller at her eponymous shop in the heart of London's Chelsea, her own citrine drop earrings sparkle in the light, and a bold gold cocktail ring, set with multi-coloured gemstones, decorates her left hand.
“I wear jewellery every single day of the year, except for two weeks after Christmas and a week in the summer,” she says. “It feels really odd, but it clears my mind and gives me a creative reset.” .
© Adam FirmanLike many business owners who have felt the benefits of royal patronage Kiki, who is celebrating 40 years in business, has expanded from a tiny one-room shop to a global business employing 20 staff and manufacturing around the world, with many of her sales now conducted online.
“The Princess of Wales has changed so many brands and taken them to the next level and every brand would say how grateful they are to her and I'm very grateful to her,” says Kiki. “Like Diana, she understands how she can help British brands by wearing them and it’s massively helpful.”
© Adam FirmanKiki’s royal connections began in 1986, just a year after she launched her business, which now also counts actresses Rosamund Pike, Hayley Atwell and Joanne Froggatt as fans.
"The Princess of Wales has changed so many brands and taken them to the next level and every brand would say how grateful they are to her and I'm very grateful to her."
“It started with the Duchess of York when she got engaged. She was suddenly thrown into official engagements, and we did some earrings and a necklace for her, which was good because the only way you got on to the map in those days was by word of mouth and magazines,” recalls Kiki, who went on to supply jewellery to Diana, who she found knocking on her door one day.
© Adam Firman“One morning I was in the kitchen making a cup of coffee and the builder who was working there said, ‘The Princess of Wales is knocking at the door’, and I said: ‘Yeah, right - it's too early for jokes.’”
Diana subsequently wore a pair of Kiki’s pearl and amethyst earrings to meet former First Lady Barbara Bush.
© Adam FirmanMeanwhile, Kiki is a business mentor for the King’s Trust and has joined forces with its 2025 Change A Girl’s Life campaign. Her firm also partnered with Watches of Switzerland Group, which stocks her jewellery, to ensure that during March, five per cent of sales were donated to the Trust.
“They are all lovely and charming,” Kiki says of the royals. “I feel so lucky that they wear my jewellery, but I’m just as happy if I see someone wearing it walking down the street, on the bus or at the theatre; it’s what gets me up in the morning.”
While five generations of Kiki’s family were jewellers, including her father Robert Axford who dealt in antique jewellery, she had no interest in taking over his business and instead became a secretary, working at Vogue, the Royal College of Arts and for SAS founder David Stirling. Her career came about by chance after her friend, jeweller Nigel Milne, asked her to design some modern pieces for him.
© Adam Firman“I said: ‘Why me?’ And he said: ‘Because, whenever we have dinner with you, you’re always talking about what people are going to wear next, what people are going to do next.’ So, I sat down with a pencil and pad, and thought, what now? I'm so grateful to him because he literally changed my life.”
Kiki later decided to start out on her own with the help of a £5,000 loan from her father, made on condition she paid it back – with interest – after two years.
"I feel so lucky that they wear my jewellery, but I’m just as happy if I see someone wearing it walking down the street, on the bus or at the theatre; it’s what gets me up in the morning."
“I paid him back within a year, but sadly he died before he could see me become really successful,” she says. “Nobody, least of all my family, would have thought I would do this. My father wanted me to marry an accountant and live in the country, and there's nothing wrong with that, but that was not going to be me.”
© POOL/AFP via Getty ImagesKiki sources her precious gemstones from suppliers in Germany before she and her creative assistant collaborate on designs before sending them to their manufacturers.
“I have a germ of an idea – usually at four o’clock in the morning,” she says with a laugh. “We design around the gemstones, which vary in colour, shape, size and quality. Peridot and citrine are probably my two favourite gemstones, but I like amethyst as well.
“I don’t do bling, and I don’t do cutting edge, so my shapes tend to be more rounded. I like soft, feminine jewellery, that once it goes on your ears, it lights up your face. I don't think jewellery should walk into the room in front of you, but it should enhance everything, and I think pretty jewellery does that.”
To read the full interview pick up a copy of this week's Hello! magazine, on sale on Monday.
