Tiaras

[Boxowine]

Can we talk about tiaras now? Do you think that Queen Camilla will ever wear the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland? It's so iconic I just can't picture her doing so.

According to tradition, unmarried girls don't wear tiaras. So we're unlikely to see Charlotte wearing one until her wedding.

Me too. She has the right shaped face and the right hair to sport a really nice big tiara . They look fab on her.

Tiaras (according to someone on YouTube so could be BS) are not owned by the wearer, they belong to, in the case of royal tiaras the monarch, or the family.

The first time a tiara is worn is on the wearer's wedding day. Once worn the tiara is never worn by another person but is on loan to the bride for life.

That may have been true in the distant past, but no longer - the wearer’s 18th birthday is the usual “tiara milestone”. Princess Margaret is a good example of that - she didn’t marry until she was 30, but she’d been wearing tiaras for years before that.

Here’s a good example in this recent picture of the future Queens of the Netherlands (Amalia, top left), Belgium (Elisabeth, top right) and Norway (Ingrid Alexandra, seated in the middle) with the three young women all wearing tiaras. The gathering was the party to celebrate Ingrid’s 18th birthday. (The other two are Estelle, future Queen of Sweden who is obviously a bit younger and just has a headband, and baby Charles, future Grand Duke of Luxembourg. Unlikely to be a future tiara wearer, but never say never 😀).

I just love tiara-talk!

Regarding 'tiaragate' - I've seen reports from a number of experts which say they think the tiara in question is/was Queen Mary’s Sapphire Bandeau, also known as the Maria Feodorovna Sapphire Bandeau.

The central sapphire is a removable brooch. The tiara can be fitted with other central stones, including a large, carved emerald brooch surrounded by diamonds.

It's said that Queen Mary bought the tiara at auction in 1921 from Princess Nicholas of Greece, at the same time she acquired the Grand Duchess Vladimir Tiara, which was also from Princess Nicholas. (Princess Nicholas was originally Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia). The actual Grand Duchess Vladimir Tiara can be worn as-is or be fitted with either pearl drops or emerald drops.

Unlike the Grand Duchess Vladimir Tiara, no-one knows where or how Princess Nicholas acquired the bandeau tiara.

Maria Feodorovna (the first known owner) is the aunt-by-marriage of both Queen Mary (HMQ's grandmother) and Princess Nicholas.

It is possible that Princess Nicholas was given the tiara by Maria as a wedding present, but no-one knows for certain.

Maria Feodorovna was also the mother of Nicholas II of Russia, which goes some way towards explaining why her son, Nicholas II, and Alexandra’s son, George V, looked so much alike.

If I've attached it properly, the picture shows Queen Mary wearing the tiara with the carved emerald & diamond centre brooch as opposed to the sapphire. It looks similar to the one that Meghan chose for her wedding.

Princess Margaret wore the sapphire version in the 50's & early 60's. It's not been seen in public since then.

I hate that everything has to become an opportunity for bashing MM. This post was definitely meant to discuss who would like nice in what.

I find it hard to believe that a bride would be asked to choose from several family heirlooms without the unacceptable choices having been removed from the lineup.

And I think that Sophie would also look fantastic in the sapphire tiara, which doesn't get out enough.

Boxowine this is a genuinely even-handed account of the many conflicting accounts about the tiaragate (including what Meghan and Harry themselves have both said, plus the account in Finding Freedom) which you might find interesting:

www.thecourtjeweller.com/2020/08/tackling-tiaragate-meghan-harry-and.html

Personally having read that and what Finding Freedom said I have always wondered if Meghan found this picture of Diana on google images (which I found just now), didn’t realise it was photoshopped, and thought that if Harry’s mother had worn this tiara, she’d also like to wear it for her wedding, but with the emeralds - which would not have been at all unreasonable, if true!

(Diana would have looked amazing if she ever had worn the Vladimir tiara with the Collingwood earrings, as the image shows!)

I don’t think it is strictly true that once someone wears a tiara it is theirs for life and no one else wears it.

Anne definitely wore the halo tiara Kate wore for her wedding.
Beatrice, Anne and the Queen all wore the same tiara for their weddings.

@Serenster it would have been someone's responsibility to have managed her expectations in that regard. Unless, of course, PH had encouraged her. This is why on Say Yes to the Dress, brides are discouraged from trying on gowns outside of their price range, lest they fall in love with something they can't have. Even Diana, who was from the aristocracy, was provided with an etiquette coach to help her navigate the ins and outs of interacting with TRF. I highly doubt that MM pitched a fit demanding she be allowed to wear whatever she wanted.

I remember people saying that Diana picked the most expensive engagement ring possible and could have chosen something less spectacular. I didn't believe that either.

@Boxowine - yes, I completely agree, but I can certainly see why Meghan might have started out by falling for a tiara that, unbeknownst to her, she could never have.

I have no idea of the truth of the rumours, obviously, and I also don’t see anything wrong with her having a ‘favourite’. Maybe she’s also a fan of the Court Jeweller? A lot of the trappings of royalty would be massively offputting to me but I’d fall on the jewel vaults like a wolf on the fold tbh. I love jewellery!

Whatever happened over Meghan’s choice of tiara may have turned out to be a happy accident. I thought the bandeau she ended up wearing suited her to perfection.

Apologies if this link has already been posted, there are some corkers here. I love Lady Sarah Chatto’s floral tiara

www.marieclaire.com.au/british-royal-tiaras

Coming on to add a hope that Sophie gets access to some of the good ones. I feel for her every time I see a picture with the frame showing (which seems to be most of them) She always looks great otherwise!

#givesophieadecenttiara

This is a photoshop that I saw online while looking for the photo of Diana in the Vladimir, but the Swedish aquamarine tiara (normally seen looking stunning on Princess Madeleine) would also look stunning on Sophie. I totally agree she is well overdue for an upgrade!

Ooo yes, beautiful and the perfect shape for her IMO.

The photoshopped picture of Diana in the Vladimir is lovely.

#sapphiresforsophie

The Marie Claire page does prove Sophie needs a decent tiara.

www.thecourtjeweller.com/2019/12/the-best-royal-jewels-of-2019-4-sophies.html

Her wedding tiara is a bit better since the redesign as at least more of the frame is hidden, but still not great when you think about what others there are knocking around. I'm so glad I'm not alone in my thoughts on Sophie's Tiara Trials! She deserves something better.

#openthevault

This thread is the kind of royal content I want. I am here for Sophie getting a decent tiara too.

I love all the recent wedding tiaras. If anything I thought Catherine's Cartier Halo one was the least nice. I mean it's nice, it just didn't have the wow of the ones worn by Meghan, Eug and Bea. I did love her earrings though.

I feel the same way about the Halo. Just a touch understated. She has only been seen in that and the Lover's Knot and the Lotus. I think that now that she has moved up a step we will start to see her in more spectacular pieces. Also, she has matured and grown into a more stately approach. I think that she is ready for the Vladimir.

I'm also hoping that enough time has gone by to consider Queen Victoria's emerald tiara for PK.

I feel the same way about the Halo. Just a touch understated. She has only been seen in that and the Lover's Knot and the Lotus. I think that now that she has moved up a step we will start to see her in more spectacular pieces. Also, she has matured and grown into a more stately approach. I think that she is ready for the Vladimir.

I'm also hoping that enough time has gone by to consider Queen Victoria's emerald tiara for PK.

I feel the same way about the Halo. Just a touch understated. She has only been seen in that and the Lover's Knot and the Lotus. I think that now that she has moved up a step we will start to see her in more spectacular pieces. Also, she has matured and grown into a more stately approach. I think that she is ready for the Vladimir.

I'm also hoping that enough time has gone by to consider Queen Victoria's emerald tiara for PK.

Didn't Prince Albert design some lovely things (notably lacking in ungainly wire bits) ? They manage to have a very Gothic feel without being clunky, IMO. I'd love to see his Oriental diadem with the original opals rather than the rubies.

Also not a Halo fan, at least for that wedding. Nothing wrong with it but it didn't feel "enough", somehow. I vastly preferred the one Meghan wore and LOVED Eugenie's.