There's nothing quite like a tiara to signify a princess. Sure, ball gowns and glass slippers are also crucial style elements to looking like royalty, but only a select few members of the British monarchy (think Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Diana and Catherine, Princess of Wales, AKA Kate Middleton) have been lucky enough to wear some of the diamond-encrusted crowns from the Royal family's vault.
And there are a few from them, to the point where some of these bejewelled headpieces have only been worn a few times. So, here's a comprehensive list of the most priceless tiaras in the family's vast collection, their origin stories, and who gets to wear them.
The Halo Tiara
Otherwise known as the glittery diamond tiara that Kate Middleton chose to wear during her wedding to Prince William in 2011. This piece was originally commissioned by King George VI for The Queen Mother in 1936, and was made by Cartier (ooookay, fancy).
Per Tatler, The Queen Mother ended up giving the tiara to Queen Elizabeth II as an 18th birthday present in 1944 (can confirm this is not a universal British tradition, unfortunately for me). While the late monarch never wore it publicly, her sister Princess Margaret stepped out in it at least once:
The tiara is made up of 739 brilliant-cut diamonds and 149 baguette diamonds and is reportedly worth £1 million.
The Cambridge Lover's Knot Tiara
This tiara is most closely associated with Princess Diana, but it was originally made for Queen Mary in 1914 by official royal jewellers, Garrard. It was modelled on a similar tiara owned by her grandmother, Princess Augusta of Hesse, Duchess of Cambridge and features interlocking diamond circles with large drop pearls.
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Queen Elizabeth II inherited the pearl-festooned headpiece from her grandmother, before Princess Diana started taking it out for the occasional spin.
The Cambridge Lover's Knot Tiara is now a personal favourite of Kate Middleton's.
The Lotus Flower Tiara
This is another of Kate Middleton's favourite tiaras, and was made from a necklace that The Queen Mother (Queen Elizabeth II's mother) received in 1923 from her husband, George VI, hence its alternative moniker, ‘The Queen Mother’s Papyrus Tiara.’ Per Garrard, who were again trusted to create this design inspired by Egyptian iconography and featuring floral motifs framed by diamond arches and accented with lustrous white pearls.
Princess Margaret received the tiara from her mother in 1959 and went on to wear it frequently from the 1960s all the way through to the early 1990s. She loaned it to her daughter-in-law Serena Stanhope for her wedding to the Princess' son.
It then went back into the royal collection and wasn't seen again until Kate attended her first State Banquet in 2015, choosing to wear the tiara for the occasion. It was added into her personal tiara rotation with the Princess of Wales opting to wear the design again in December 2022 to host a diplomatic reception at the palace:
The George IV State Diadem
According to the Royal Collection Trust, this diadem was made for George IV to use at his coronation in 1820. It was then inherited by Queen Victoria in 1837, “who was frequently painted and photographed wearing it, including on several early postage stamps such as the Penny Black.” Passed down to subsequent queens regnant and consorts since, Queen Elizabeth II wore it on the day of her Coronation and literally countless times throughout her reign.
Queen Camilla dusted it off to wear to her husband King Charles' coronation in 2023:
Set with 1,333 brilliant-cut diamonds along with a pale yellow stone in the front cross, the base of the tiara consists of two rows of pearls on either side of a row of diamonds forming a narrow band. Above this, diamonds are set in the form of a rose, a thistle and two shamrocks – the national emblems of England, Scotland and Ireland – in between four crosses.
The Strathmore Rose Tiara
This lovely tiara was given to The Queen Mother as a wedding gift from her father when she married future King George VI in 1923. She wore it low down on her forehead in true 1920s fashion, a style I think we can all agree should be brought back.
The tiara was passed through the royal family and was most recently worn by Kate Middleton, firmly atop her head:
Designed to look like a garland of wild roses, it features a briolette diamond at the centre, with four surrounding diamond flower brooches.
Queen Mary's Bandeau Tiara
This is the gorgeous and surprisingly modern tiara that Meghan Markle wore during her 2018 wedding to Prince Harry.
Per the Royal Collection Trust, the tiara was made in 1932 for Queen Mary and was designed around a detachable centre brooch which dates to 1893 – a gift to Mary on her wedding day. The tiara was passed on to Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, who lent it to Duchess Meghan. Set with large and small brilliant pavé diamonds, the detachable brooch alone features ten brilliant diamonds.
The Greville Emerald Kokoshnik Tiara
Princess Eugenie wore this unusual tiara on her wedding day, lent to her by her grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.
Per the royal family's official website, the tiara was made in 1919 by Boucheron for Dame Margaret Greville, a friend of Queen Mary's. It was later given to The Queen Mother in 1942, before being passed down to Queen Elizabeth II. It is instantly recognisable by its central 93.70-carat emerald, with six additional emeralds featuring along the band either side.
The Greville Tiara
Another notable piece from Dame Margaret's collection, also made by Boucheron. This tiara features a distinctive geometric honeycomb pattern.
The tiara ended up being one of The Queen Mother's favourites and most-worn, and has since become a go-to for Queen Camilla.
The Burmese Ruby Tiara
Queen Elizabeth II reportedly commissioned the Burmese Ruby Tiara for herself in the 1970s. It was made from another dismantled tiara by royal jeweller Garrard, using rubies from Burma.
The tiara was a favourite of Her Majesty and has also been worn by Queen Camilla.
The Queen Mary Fringe Tiara
Garrard created this piece for Queen Mary over a century ago, featuring 47 tapering bars of brilliant-cut and rose-cut diamonds, alternating with 46 smaller spikes of lozenge-set diamonds. It was famously worn by Queen Elizabeth II on her wedding day.
The moment was so iconic that Princess Anne also opted to wear the tiara on her wedding day...
As did Princess Beatrice:
The Grand Duchess Vladimir Tiara
Per the Royal Collection Trust, this tiara was made for Grand Duchess Vladimir of Russia and was sold by her daughter to Queen Mary in 1921, a year after the Grand Duchess' death. It was eventually passed on to Queen Elizabeth II.
Tatler reports that the Grand Duchess was the last Romanov to escape Russia following the assassination of Tsar Nicholas II. Dubbed the ‘grandest of Grand Duchesses,’ a number of her jewels were smuggled out of the country by British antiques and art dealer, Albert Stopford, who was also a friend of the family. The tiara was one of the 224 jewels he was able to retrieve from the Duchess’s safe in the Palace and take to England.
While the original tiara featured pearl drops, Queen Mary had royal jewellers Garrard alter the design to make it possible to swap the pearls for 15 of her own emeralds. It was a favourite of Queen Elizabeth II, who frequently wore it with pearls, emeralds, and without any additional adornments.
Princess Diana and Queen Camilla have both also reportedly worn the Vladimir tiara.
The Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara
This tiara was created by Garrard in 1893 as a wedding gift to Queen Mary from the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland. Originally topped with nine large pearl finials, Queen Mary had these replaced with diamond collets for an entirely diamond scroll and festoon design. She also had the bandeau removed from the base, preferring to wear this as a separate headband instead.
In 1947, Queen Mary gifted the tiara to her granddaughter, the then Princess Elizabeth, as a wedding present. It went on to become one of the late Queen's favourites, with Elizabeth II wearing it for her first official royal portraits.
The tiara has also been worn by Queen Camilla:
Queen Alexandra’s Kokoshnik Tiara
Per Garrard, this tiara was given to Queen Alexandra back when she was Princess of Wales, and was a gift from the ‘Ladies of Society’ for her 25th wedding anniversary in 1888. It was inspired by a tiara that was owned by Alexandra's sister, Empress Maria Feodorovna.
The piece was passed to her daughter-in-law Queen Mary, who wore it for her official birthday portrait:
And then to Queen Elizabeth II:
The tiara is made of 61 platinum bars, each graduated in size and set with diamonds. Featuring more than 400 diamonds in total, with the two largest measuring 3.25 carats each, the design can be worn as a tiara or a necklace.
Princess Anne’s Meander Tiara
Princess Anne inherited this tiara from her father, Prince Philip's side of the family, per Tatler.
It has a Greek-inspired pattern and belonged to Anne's grandmother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, who got it as a wedding gift.
This one was also worn by Princess Anne's daughter, Zara Phillips, when she married Mike Tindall.
The Aquamarine Pineflower Tiara
Another favourite of Princess Anne's, this colourful tiara originally belonged to The Queen Mother, believed to be an anniversary gift from King George VI. Made by Cartier, the platinum design features diamond pinecone-inspired elements interspersed with large aquamarine stones.
This tiara was reportedly gifted to Anne by her grandmother as a wedding present when she married Captain Mark Phillips. The Princess Royal made a few adjustments to the design, including repurposing the large central diamond and aquamarine arrangement into a brooch and moving one of the aquamarine stones from the side into its place.
The Indian Circlet Tiara
Gerrard describes this as one of “the most important Victorian-era jewels in the Royal Collection,” not to mention one of the oldest pieces made by the jewellery house. This tiara was created for Queen Victoria as a gift from Prince Albert in 1853, and set with 2,600 diamonds.
The piece also originally included opals, but after Queen Victoria’s death, her daughter-in-law and next in line to the throne, Queen Alexandra, had the stones replaced with rubies, believing opals to be bad luck. The tiara was never photographed on Queen Alexandra or her successor, Queen Mary. The next royal to inherit the piece was The Queen Mother, who wore it throughout her husband's reign:
It eventually went to Queen Elizabeth II, who wore it just once in Malta:
The George VI Sapphire Tiara
Queen Elizabeth II reportedly commissioned this tiara to go with a sapphire necklace and matching earrings given to her by her father as a wedding present in 1947. After wearing the jewellery set repeatedly with various different tiaras, the monarch decided she needed a matching headpiece.
The tiara was made in 1963 from a nineteenth-century sapphire necklace the Queen purchased, believed to have once belonged to Princess Louise of Belgium – hence its other name, the ‘Belgian Sapphire Tiara.’ Elizabeth went on to wear the tiara, necklace and earrings together repeatedly throughout the following decades.
It's since been worn by Queen Camilla, becoming the first piece of heirloom jewellery Camilla wore after the Queen's death in 2022:
While Camilla wore the tiara and necklace together, she does not have her ears pierced, so she paired the jewellery with her own pair of sapphire clip-on earrings.
The Brazilian Aquamarine Tiara
Another commission by Queen Elizabeth II, Garrard made this tiara in 1957 to match an aquamarine necklace and earrings set gifted by Brazil in honour of her coronation.
Made from a coronation necklace gifted to her in 1953 from Brazil, this tiara was commissioned by Queen Elizabeth II in 1957. The tiara became bigger and bigger over time as the Queen got more and more aquamarines, becoming one of her boldest pieces.
Further aquamarines were gifted to the Queen by Brazil in the following years in the form of a bracelet, brooch and hair ornament. It is believed that stones from the hair ornament were used to add to the tiara in 1971, along with a large central pendant from the necklace that was positioned at the front, topping the diamond and aquamarine bandeau base. It is one of the tallest and most elaborate diadems in the royal collection.
The Persian Turquoise Tiara
The jewels for this tiara were reportedly bought by Queen Mary from Garrard and included a matching necklace, earrings and brooch. It was given to Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (the future Queen Mother) as a wedding present, and she opted to remove a row of diamonds from the top of the design, changing the silhouette.
The full set was then gifted to Princess Margaret as a 21st birthday present:
The tiara hasn't been worn since Princess Margaret's death in 2002.
The Teck Crescent Tiara
This tiara was reportedly made for Princess Mary Adelaide, aka Queen Mary's mother.
It was then worn by the Queen Mother, and eventually passed to Queen Elizabeth.
The Canadian Aquamarine Tiara
The origin story of this tiara is a little murky, but we know Queen Elizabeth wore it to Canada in 1970.
The tiara seems to have been passed to the Countess of Wessex, who has worn in on at least two occasions.
Princess Anne's Festoon Tiara
This is a relatively ‘new’ tiara, in that it was reportedly given directly to Princess Anne by the World-Wide Shipping Group when she married her first husband, Mark Phillips, in 1973.
She loaned the piece to her daughter in law, Autumn Phillips, on her wedding day in 2008.
The Delhi Durbar Tiara
According to the Royal Collection Trust, this tiara was made for Queen Mary to wear to the Delhi Durbar in 1911.
It's not exactly subtle, and appears to be a favorite of Queen Camilla's.
The Poltimore Tiara
Princess Margaret wore the Poltimore Tiara on her wedding day. Interestingly, she purchased the piece at auction herself. Per Garrard, it was originally made for Lady Poltimore, the wife of Queen Victoria’s treasurer.
Mehera Bonner is a celebrity and entertainment news writer who enjoys Bravo and Antiques Roadshow with equal enthusiasm, She was previously entertainment editor at Marie Claire and has covered pop culture for over a decade.
