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
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
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
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
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.
