Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s royal nuptials are mere months away. And, while Meghan works on her wedding outfit, The Australian Women’s Weekly editor and royal correspondent, Juliet Rieden looks at the dazzling tiaras that just might be the future-royal’s “something borrowed”.
The Lover’s Knot
Illustration: Angie Réhe.
This unique combination of pearls and diamonds was originally made for Queen Mary and is a replica of a tiara that belonged to Queen Mary’s grandmother. Queen Mary’s version used pearls from other jewellery as drops and uprights on the cresting, but these were later removed.
The Queen wore the tiara in the 1950s and then loaned it to Diana, Princess of Wales as a wedding gift. Diana chose to wear a family heirloom on her wedding day but the tiara become a favourite in subsequent years and last year was worn by the Duchess of Cambridge.
The Lover’s Knot tiara became a favourite of Diana, Princess of Wales, pictured here in 1986.
The Duchess Of Cambridge wore the tiara to the Diplomatic Reception at Buckingham Palace in 2016.
The Kokoshnik
Illustration: Angie Réhe.
Dazzling and sitting up high and proud, the Kokoshnik tiara is a wall of 488 diamonds formed of 61 graduated bars catching light from all angles. It’s based on the traditional Russian girl’s headdress favoured by all the ladies of the Russian court and was a gift to Alexandra, Princess of Wales for her 25th wedding anniversary in 1888 from the “Ladies Society”, a group of 365 UK peeresses.
Queen Mary inherited the fabulous tiara in 1925 and famously wore it for her official 80th birthday portrait. She bequeathed it to her granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II, in 1953.
Queen Elizabeth II wearing Queen Alexandra’s Kokoshnik tiara at a state banquet in her honour in Germany, 1992.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of England wearing the Kokoshnik tiara when meeting actor Bob Hope.
The Cartier Halo
The Queen’s father – then Duke of York – commissioned this tiara from Cartier in 1936 for his wife. When soon after she became Queen Elizabeth, the royal preferred larger pieces and the tiara was given to their daughter, Princess Elizabeth, as an 18th birthday gift in 1944. She loaned it to her sister Princess Margaret and later her daughter Princess Anne, who both liked its delicate simplicity as young women.
But it was in 2011 when the Halo tiara made its most prestigious outing, worn by Catherine Middleton at her wedding to Prince William. She teamed it with matching diamond earrings, a gift from her parents.
The Duchess of Cambridge wore the Cartier Halo on her wedding day in 2011.
Princess Anne wore the Cartier Halo to a formal event during a visit to New Zealand, 1970.
The Girls of Great Britain and Ireland
Illustration: Angie Réhe.
The name says it all. This pretty diamond, silver and gold tiara was literally a gift from the girls of Great Britain and Ireland, purchased from the Garrard jewellery house with money raised by a committee for a wedding present for Princess Victoria of Teck.
In her thank you letter, the Princess said that the tiara, “will ever be one of my most valued wedding gifts”. Incredibly there were funds left over which were donated to widows and orphans of men lost in the accidental sinking of HMS Victoria in 1893 – a request made by the Princess.
It originally included pearls around the top but was adapted in 1914 by Queen Mary, who later gave the tiara to Princess Elizabeth as a wedding present. As Queen, Her Majesty has worn the tiara many times throughout her reign and on banknotes throughout
the Commonwealth.
Her Majesty wore the tiara to a state banquet in France, 1992.
Princess Elizabeth wore the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara for a formal portrait in 1950.
The Greville
Illustration: Angie Réhe.
Margaret Greville was a very wealthy socialite with an impressive jewel box. The Greville tiara was made for her in diamonds and platinum in 1921 by Boucheron in Paris and when she died in 1942, she bequeathed it to Queen Elizabeth. In 1953 it was remodelled by Cartier and became one of the royal’s favourite headpieces.
The tiara then passed on to her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, in 2002 and has since been loaned to her daughter-in-law Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, who wears it regularly.
The Duchess of Cornwall wore the Greville tiara in 2013.
The Vladimir
Of all the royal tiaras, the Valdimir has to be one of the most magnificent. It was made for Russian royal Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, wife of Grand Duke Vladimir and aunt of Tsar Nicholas II.
During the Russian Revolution it was smuggled out and eventually sold to Queen Mary, who sent it for restoration. It is a piece of exquisite craftsmanship, able to be worn in three ways: with pearls, with emeralds or without either, showing off its intertwining circles of diamonds. The emeralds had previously belonged to Indian royalty … but that’s another story!
The Queen inherited the tiara in 1953 and it has become one of her most recognisable jewels, especially when worn with the Delhi Durbar emerald and diamond necklace.
The Vladimir tiara can be worn in three ways: with pearls, with emeralds or without either.
Queen Elizabeth II, wears the Vladimir tiara, while arriving at the Claridge in London, 1972.
