A sparkling tiara given to a duchess just before she became a queen

It’s one of the best known of all royal jewels and might have been even more well used if a moment of history hadn’t intervened. The stunning Cartier Halo tiara was bought as a gift of love for a popular duchess but its presentation was overshadowed by an event that changed the Royal Family forever.

The tiara is probably best known in recent times as the pick of the Princess of Wales for her wedding in 2011.

In a now iconic ensemble, Catherine wore a bespoke Alexander McQueen wedding gown. The Sarah Burton-designed gown featured a Victorian silhouette with a padded waist and lace tulle created by the Royal School of Needlework. And like almost all royal brides, she wore a tiara. 

Queen Elizabeth II loaned the bride one of her most treasured tiaras, the Cartier Halo Tiara. And it linked the bride to another queen – Elizabeth, later the Queen Mother – and the event that changed her life forever.

The Cartier Halo Tiara was created by Cartier in 1936. It has nearly 1,000 brilliant and baton diamonds set in a design of sixteen graduated scrolls. George VI was still known as Albert, Duke of York when he acquired the slender tiara for his wife who wore it for the first time only days before the Abdication. In December 1936, Edward VIII gave up the throne to marry Wallis Simpson. Albert became George VI and his wife became Queen Elizabeth. 

As queen consort, Elizabeth now used some of the grandest tiaras in the royal collection and her newest diadem was relegated to her jewellery box. Queen Elizabeth then gave the tiara to her elder daughter, Princess Elizabeth, for her eighteenth birthday in 1944. Although Queen Elizabeth II never publicly wore the tiara, her sister did. Princess Margaret frequently wore the tiara, including at her sister’s coronation. 

It then moved to the next generation; it was the first tiara Princess Anne wore. 

However, royal fans hoping to catch a glimpse of it will have to wait. The new exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Cartier, includes hundreds of stunning pieces from the historic French jeweller, but the Halo tiara is not expected to be displayed.