With just days to go until Princess Eugenie of York marries Jack Brooksbank, royal wedding fever is growing and with all apologies to the groom, although we hope he looks smart, handsome and comfortable on his big day, what we really want to know all about is what the bride will be wearing as the couple say ‘I do’. We know that Eugenie has chosen a British designer for her dress but while details are still being kept behind palace doors, just about everyone is certain that the princess, ninth in line to the throne, will turn up at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor on October 12th wearing the tiara belonging to her mum. Known as the York Tiara it’s been a hot favourite as a bridal pick for Eugenie since she announced her engagement back in January and if she does choose to use the diadem presented to Sarah Ferguson for her own marriage by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, she will be following in some very regal footsteps. Here are our favourite brides who made like mum and kept it in the family for their royal wedding tiara pick.
The Queen and the Princess Royal
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Back in 1973, Princess Anne gave a nod to mum in her wedding day outfit by donning the same diamond diadem worn by Elizabeth II for her own marriage in 1947. The shared sparkler is known as the Queen Mary Fringe Tiara and it does just what it says on the tin. This is a fringe tiara made for Queen Mary in 1919. However, the diamonds have a longer history than that. The sparkling bars in this tiara were originally a necklace, given to Mary on her own wedding day in 1893 by Queen Victoria. You can’t get more royal than that.
Princess Marina, Princess Alexandra and Princess Michael of Kent
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Another Windsor branch, another wedding fringe tiara. When Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark wed George, Duke of Kent in 1934 she wore an all diamond fringe tiara given to her as a wedding gift by the City of London. In 1963, her only daughter, Princess Alexandra, wore it on her wedding day. After Marina’s unexpected death in 1968, the diadem passed to her youngest child, Prince Michael of Kent, and when he wed Marie-Christine von Reibnitz in Vienna in 1978, his bride wore it for the ball celebrating their marriage.
Queen Silvia and Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden
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Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden not only got married on her parents’ wedding anniversary, June 19th, she also wore the same tiara her mum had chosen for her marriage. And Queen Silvia had actually followed a tradition already established by her new husband’s family by picking the unusual Cameo Tiara, originally owned by the Empress Josephine of France, when she said ‘I do’ in 1976. Two of her sisters in law, Birgitta and Desiree, had donned the same piece for their marriages. Crown Princess Victoria kept the family feeling alive by coming over all cameo on her wedding day in 2010.
Queen Sofia and Queen Letizia
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Back in 2004, when Letizia and Sofia could still stand next to one another without gritting their teeth, Felipe’s mum opened up the royal jewellery box to his bride so she could choose a wedding day tiara. And Letizia settled on the Prussian Tiara, a diamond affair that was made for Sofia’s grandmother, Viktoria Luisa of Prussia. It’s a rather striking piece, featuring laurel wreaths, and was worn by Sofia for her wedding to Juan Carlos of Spain in Athens in 1962 before becoming her only daughter in law’s pick for her own marriage.
Grand Duchess Josephine Charlotte of Luxembourg, Princess Marie Astrid of Luxembourg, Princess Margaretha of Luxembourg and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg
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Josephine-Charlotte of Belgium wasn’t short of a diamond or three when she wed Jean of Luxembourg in 1953 as the sparklers poured in as marriage gifts. Among her presents was a diamond necklace that could also be worn as a tiara and that’s just what she did with it on her wedding day. The pretty bandeau is jam packed with diamonds and it was later used by both her daughters, Marie Astrid and Margaretha, for their marriages and by her daughter in law, Maria Teresa, when she married Henri of Luxembourg in 1981.
So if Princess Eugenie does decide to wear the tiara her mum used on the day she became a duchess, she’ll be following in a well established royal tradition and a rather lovely one at that.
