The very royal history of the first tiara ever worn by the Princess of Wales

The Cartier Halo Tiara gained a new chapter in a special history when it was worn by Catherine Middleton when she married Prince William in 2011.

Commissioned by the Duke of York, Queen Elizabeth II’s father in 1936, from the House of Cartier, the tiara is made from 1000 diamonds and platinum.

Three narrow bands of brilliant cut diamonds form the base, which is topped by larger solitaires and a series of leaf-like scrolls.

It was given as an anniversary gift to the then Duchess of York, who was pictured wearing it once before the abdication crisis which saw her husband become king. After her husband was crowned King George VI, she chose to wear larger diadems. So began the tiara’s history of being used as a starter piece for young royals.

The tiara was given by her parents to their elder daughter, the future Elizabeth II, in 1944, as a gift for her 18th  birthday. It is believed to be the first tiara she owned. As Britain was in the midst of war rationing, there were not a lot of glittering royal events for the young princess to attend, and she was not been seen publicly in the tiara.

The scroll tiara, as it was widely known before 2011, was next seen when Elizabeth loaned it to her sister, Margaret. The princess wore it during events to celebrate the Coronation of her sister and was seen wearing it on several occasion in her youth, including a tour of South Africa, before graduating to larger tiaras.

The next royal to wear the tiara was Queen Elizabeth II’s daughter, Anne. The young princess was frequently seen wearing the tiara until her wedding, where she too, graduated onto more elaborate pieces. She last wore it, in the early 1970s, where it appears to have been locked away in a vault till 2011.

When Catherine was given her choice of tiara’s from royal vault to choose one to wear to her wedding as her ‘something borrowed’, she instantly recognised the scroll design tied in with the scroll and acorn earrings her parents had commissioned for her to wear on her big day.

Following her wedding, the new Duchess of Cambridge followed tradition, moving onto larger tiaras. She went on to choose the Lotus Flower Tiara and has also been seen in the Cambridge Lover’s Knot, which was a favourite of her late mother in law, Diana, Princess of Wales.

As Princess of Wales herself, Catherine surprised many with another jewellery link to Elizabeth, later the Queen Mother, when she wore the Strathmore Rose tiara to the State Banquet for the President of South Korea in November 2023. It was the first time the tiara had been seen publicly in almost 100 years.

Following the royal wedding of 2011, royal watchers were given the opportunity to view the tiara when it went on display at Buckingham Palace along with Catherine’s gown and other items from the wedding in the summer of 2011. Royal watchers in France and Australia have also been treated with a viewing thanks to an exhibition held by Cartier which went on display in the countries in 2013 and 2018.