While
the Princess of Wales stole the show in Queen Victoria’s
Oriental Circlet tiara at Wednesday evening’s State Banquet, the
other women of the British Royal Family stuck with their go-to
tiaras for the glittering event.
QUEEN CAMILLA – GIRLS OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND
TIARA
KensingtonRoyal / X / Fair Use
The tiara most closely associated
with Queen Elizabeth II—given that she wore it regularly for
more than 70 years—is now one of Queen Camilla’s go-tos.
Created in 1893 for the wedding of Princess May of Teck to
Prince George of the United Kingdom, the tiara was purchased by a
committee of young women as a wedding gift for the future queen
from Garrards. Queen Mary passed down the brilliant diamond tiara
to her granddaughter, Princess Elizabeth, on her wedding day in
1947, and it quickly became one of her favourites, known as
‘Granny’s tiara.’
Queen Camilla first wore the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland
tiara in October 2023 at a coronation banquet and again at the
diplomatic reception that December.
Queen Camilla paired the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland
tiara with the Greville Emerald Necklace, Queen Victoria’s Diamond
Bar Brooch, the Queen Mother’s Cartier bracelets, and her own
diamond earrings.
PRINCESS OF WALES – QUEEN VICTORIA’S ORIENTAL CIRCLET
TIARA
KensingtonRoyal / X / Fair Use
The Princess of Wales may have broken the royal-watching
internet when she arrived in Queen Victoria’s Oriental Circlet
tiara.
Commissioned by Prince Albert for his wife in 1853, the design
was inspired by the sights he’d seen at the Great Exhibition.
Initially made of diamonds and opals, the opals were swapped out by
Queen Alexandra after she inherited the tiara, as she felt they
were an unlucky gem. She added the rubies that still adorn the
tiara.
The Queen Victoria Oriental Circlet tiara is also special for
another reason: it was bequeathed by the queen to be held as a
tiara reserved only for queens and queen consorts. While Catherine
is still a queen-in-waiting, she’s been added to a very exclusive
line: this tiara has only been worn by Queen Victoria, Queen
Alexandra, Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, Queen
Elizabeth II, and now Catherine.
Catherine paired the Queen Victoria Oriental Circlet with
diamond earrings that once belonged to Queen Elizabeth II.
DUCHESS OF EDINBURGH – AQUAMARINE NECKLACE
TIARA
KensingtonRoyal / X / Fair Use
Sophie was one of two royals sporting aquamarines at the German
State Banquet, wearing her Aquamarine Necklace tiara.
This tiara was reportedly a gift from Queen Elizabeth II to her
daughter-in-law, and Sophie first wore it in 2005 at the
enthronement celebrations for Prince Albert II of Monaco. A large
central aquamarine rests at the front of the tiara while diamonds
in a wave formation flank it and wrap around the base.
Sophie can wear this tiara as a necklace or a tiara, and it was
reportedly designed by G. Collins & Sons. To complement her pale
aquamarine, Sophie wore the earrings, necklace and bracelet from
her sapphire suite of jewels.
PRINCESS ANNE – AQUAMARINE PINE FLOWER
TIARA
Duchess of Gloucester tiaras KensingtonRoyal / X / Fair
Use
Princess Anne was the second royal woman to wear aquamarines at
the German State Banquet, donning her Aquamarine Pine Flower
tiara.
The Aquamarine Pine Flower tiara was an anniversary gift from
King George VI to Queen Elizabeth in 1938. Designed by Cartier and
featuring a row of aquamarines set in a pine flower motif
interspersed with rectangular aquamarines.
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother never wore this tiara
regularly, and gifted it to her granddaughter, Princess Anne, as a
wedding present in 1973.
Princess Anne had the tiara redesigned once she took ownership,
removing the former central pine flower piece and turning it into a
brooch, and removing a rectangular aquamarine to turn into a
pendant necklace. She wore both pieces at the German State
Banquet.
DUCHESS OF GLOUCESTER – CARTIER INDIA TIARA
The Duchess of Gloucester wore this storied Cartier tiara at the
German State Banquet, its provenance dating back a century.
The Duchess of Gloucester received this tiara after her 1972
wedding, when her new husband gave his bride the tiara he’d
inherited from his royal godmother: Princess Marie Louise of
Schleswig-Holstein, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria and Prince
Albert.
Princess Marie Louise had purchased this glittering tiara—made
of diamonds, pearls and sapphires and designed after Indian style
inspirations—from Cartier for the 1937 coronation of her cousin
King George VI. She wore it frequently for the rest of her life,
and upon her death in 1956, bequeathed it to her godson.
