One of the most highly anticipated aesthetic elements of any royal wedding (apart from the all important dress) is which glittering headpiece the bride might choose to accessorize on her big day.
The British royal family are a jewelry watchers’ dream, with the closely protected vaults of Buckingham Palace heaving with rings, bracelets, necklaces and tiaras, all with fascinating provenance and (sometimes controversial) histories.
Tiaras have become a favorite element of a royal bride’s ensemble, with Queen Elizabeth II loaning many of her personal pieces to her daughter, granddaughters and granddaughters-in-law during her lifetime.
Mark Milan/GC Images/Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Newsweek looks at five of the British royal family’s sparkling wedding tiaras.
Queen Elizabeth II – Queen Mary’s Fringe Tiara
When Queen Elizabeth II married Prince Philip while she was still a princess in 1947, she did so wearing a diamond tiara she had been loaned for the occasion by her mother, Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother).
The tiara had been made for Elizabeth II’s grandmother, Queen Mary, the consort of King George V.
Mary gave the tiara to Elizabeth’s mother in the 1930s and its graduated diamond bars set in a sunray pattern follows the model of highly fashionable fringe tiaras and necklaces of the nineteenth century.
The tiara was also loaned to Elizabeth’s eldest daughter, Princess Anne, for her first marriage to Captain Mark Philips in 1973. And in 2020, it was worn by Elizabeth’s granddaughter, Princess Beatrice, for her marriage to Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi.
Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images/ Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Princess Diana – The Spencer Tiara
When Princess Diana married King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) in 1981, she did not need to borrow a tiara from her future in-laws, instead she turned to her own family vault to borrow what is known as The Spencer Tiara.
This romantically designed mostly 20th century jewel is made of diamonds set in gold, featuring star and floral motifs.
Diana wore the tiara often during her marriage until it was returned to her brother, Charles, Earl Spencer, in the 1990s. He had inherited it from his grandfather and had been loaning it to his sister.
ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images/Anwar Hussein/WireImage
Princess Kate – The Cartier Halo Tiara
In 2011, Kate Middleton married Prince William wearing a special diamond and platinum tiara designed by Cartier in the 1930s.
The jewel first entered royal possession in 1936, when it was purchased by King George VI for his wife, Elizabeth (Queen Elizabeth II’s parents).
The tiara was worn infrequently and was given to Elizabeth II as an 18th birthday present in 1944. It would be the queen’s first tiara and the monarch continued the tradition, loaning it to her daughter, Princess Anne, as her first tiara in the 1960s.
The piece then was a fitting choice as the first tiara for future queen Princess Kate, on her wedding day.
Cole Bennetts/Getty Images/Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images
Meghan Markle – Queen Mary’s Diamond Bandeau Tiara
When Meghan Markle married Prince Harry in May 2018, she did so wearing a stylized tiara comprising diamonds set in a geometric frame of platinum.
The tiara had been made for Queen Mary in 1932 and was inherited by Queen Elizabeth II after her death in 1953, though it was not seen publicly again until Meghan’s wedding day.
The tiara was at the center of tensions between Harry and Queen Elizabeth’s close aide, Angela Kelly, with the prince alleging that Kelly had caused difficulty by delaying delivery of the jewel for Meghan to try on with her hairdresser. The prince detailed his side of the event in his memoir, Spare.
Royal Collection Trust via Getty Images/Gareth Fuller – WPA/Getty Images
Princess Eugenie – The Greville Emerald Kokoshnik Tiara
Five months after Harry and Meghan’s wedding, another of the queen’s grandchildren married in a romantic ceremony at Windsor Castle.
Princess Eugenie married businessman Jack Brooksbank on October 12, 2018, wearing an art deco diamond kokoshnik-style tiara featuring a large cabochon emerald.
The tiara had been loaned by the bride’s grandmother, the queen, and had not been seen in public before the wedding day.
The jewel was made by the French jewellery house of Boucheron in 1919, and gets its name from its original owner Mrs. Ronald Greville. She was a wealthy London society hostess in the 1920s and 1930s who held close friendships with members of the royal family.
In 1942 Greville bequeathed her entire expansive jewelry collection to Elizabeth II’s mother.
The collection included a number of tiaras, necklaces and earrings, which have been seen on several members of the royal family in recent decades.
Pool/Max Mumby/Getty Images
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek‘s royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek‘s The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan Markle and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We’d love to hear from you.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
