Bridal Tiaras in the British Royal Family, Part III

Today brings us to the last instalment in our recent post series about tiaras worn by British royal brides in the past century or so.

So, after finishing last Monday with a look at the Countess of Wessex's wedding tiara, let's pick up where we left, with a closer look at the next royal bride, Autumn Phillips née Kelly.

The blonde Canadian married the Queen's eldest grandchild, Peter Phillips, in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle on 17 May 2008. The bride chose a relatively simple gown (at least by royal standards. The Royal Order of Sartorial Splendour tells us that the dress reportedly costed about £ 2,500) and borrowed the Festoon tiara from her mother-in-law, the Princess Royal.

It is quite a dainty and delicate piece, and I was somewhat surprised to learn it's relatively modern, having been a gift to Princess Anne from the World Wide Shipping Company when she christened one of their ships in 1973 (more on the tiara itself can be found here).

Alas, it is not a particular favourite of mine, too spiky for my taste!

 

Next, of course, are the big guns, the tiara (and indeed the wedding!) that absolutely everyone will remember: that of Catherine Middleton to Prince William, on (do I even need to remind you of the date?) 29 April 2011.

 



As is widely known by now, the Duchess wore Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother's Halo tiara.

The marvellous "The Queen's Diamonds" book by Hugh Roberts has some background information on it: it's a piece by Cartier, which was purchesed by the Duke of York on 18 November 1936 as a present for the Duchess of York, who was to become Queen just a few weeks later. In fact, she first wore it in public while still Duchess of York.

It is made up of 16 graduated scrolls with a large brilliant cut diamond at the centre.

The tiara was then given to Princess Elizabeth on her 18th birthday in 1944. The Queen has since loaned it to Princess Margaret and Princess Anne.

At the time of Catherine Middleton's wedding, it was reported in the press that the Queen had offered her a choice of tiaras to choose from; the Duchess' choice, reportedly the most simple among those on offer, is of course now widely recognized (and replicated!) the world over.



Later that same year, the tiara took centre stage at an exhibithion of the wedding dress and jewellery
at the Summer Opening of Buckingham Palace.


A few months later, on 30 July 2011, it was Zara Phillips' turn to wed Mike Tindall in Edinburgh, so another splendid opportunity for some tiara-watching!

Zara borrowed from her mother the Princess Royal a piece which had been in her great-grandmother possession, the Meander tiara.

It has a Greek key design, with diamonds in the shape of a laurel wreath as a centrepiece. I have to say I was not a fan of this style on Zara, maybe her hair should have been dressed differently, but as it was the tiara looked as though it were sitting on top of her head without particular purpose (it didn't even serve to keep her veil in place).

 

 

 

Much prettier when worn by Princess Anne, who has much bigger hair and so suits the tiara best, in my opinion!

So, now we've gone through all the most significant recent royal Weddings, if I were to rank my favourites, first would be Princess Diana's Spencer tiara, followed by Sarah Ferguson's tiara and Princess Margaret's Poltimore tiara! Special mention to the Strathmore tiara, which isn't tecnically a bridal tiara, as the Duchess of York didn't wear it on her wedding day, but made it on this list as it's a special favourite of mine!

Least favourites? The Meander tiara as worn by Zara Phillips, the Countess of Wessex's tiara and Autumn Phillips' Festoon tiara.

Have you got a special favourite yourself? Or a piece you utterly dislike and don't want to see out in public ever again? Be sure to leave a comment and let me know!

Bridal Tiaras in the British Royal Family, Part II

After taking a look last week at bridal tiaras of days gone by, let's start off today with something a little closer to us in time, and a piece most of you will warmly remember for the sense of momentous historic occasion associated to it: the Spencer family tiara, as worn by Lady Diana on her wedding day, 29 July 1981.

The Royal Order of Sartorial Splendor has a lot of background information on this piece which, in its present form, dates back to circa 1935.

 

 

 

Princess Diana never owned the tiara, which was in fact her family's property: she borrowed it when needed first from her father, then from her brother. This, and the fact that the Princess wore the tiara quite often, sometimes preferring it to the other piece she had available, on loan from the Queen, the Cambridge Lovers Knot tiara, because it was somewhat lighter and less encumbrant to wear, was reportedly the source of some family tensions.

 

In fact, the Princess was seen many times during the years of her marriage wearing the tiara, sometimes on State occasions or other important official functions.

 

 

Nowadays, due to the Princess' unweavering popularity, the tiara is widely replicated, so that every bride can look the part on her own special day (or on an any ordinary day, really, as even sterling silver rings in the shape of Princess Diana's tiara are now available!).



Five years later, on 23 July 1986, it was Sarah Ferguson's turn to marry into the Royal family, when she wed Prince Andrew.


 
Her choice of headwear was extremely original, as she chose to wear a floral garland on top of her veil, which she removed after she had signed the wedding register to reveal a rather splendid diamond diadem, which had been bought especially for her by the Queen from Garrard & Co.

The Duchess wore her tiara at a number of State functions in later years.

Then it was quite a long time before we got to see any other new bridal tiaras, and that was at Prince Edward's wedding to Sophie Rhys-Jones thirteen years later, on 19 June 1999. The new Countess of Wessex wore a piece which had been remodeled for her using jewels from the Queen's private collection.

Well, I have to say I'm not a particularly huge fan of the Wessex wedding tiara...It really still looks like four separate pieces haphazardly thrown together, and it does look as though it's perched precariously on her head and probably fixed in place with kirby grips (agh!). And do I even mention the dreadful black-and-white pearl parure designed by Prince Edward as a wedding present? Thought not. I just hope we won't have the misfortune of seeing the necklace in public ever again!

The tiara has grown on me a bit over the years, though, as it's probably the piece the Countess wears more often among the tiaras in her possession, so we get to see it out a lot. It's not that bad, but it's definitely not my favourite either!

 

I'll see you on Wednesday with a look at the most recent royal weddings!

 To be continued...

Bridal Tiaras in the British Royal Family, Part I

So, tiaras being one of my favourite subjects (ah!), today we take a closer look at tiaras worn by British royal brides over the decades, beginning, with a slight historic inaccuracy, with Queen Elizabeth's Strathmore tiara, which wasn't worn exactly on her wedding day, but was indeed a wedding present, and it's a particular favourite of mine, I feel justified in adding it to this list!

The highly informative The Queen's Diamonds book by Hugh Roberts, Surveyor Emeritus of The Queen's Works of Arts, reveals that the tiara is late nineteenth century and made up of pavé-set diamonds, mainly rose-cut in silver-gilt on a gold frame, that form a garland of wild roses.

Technical details aside, the tiara was famously given to the then Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon by her father, the Earl of Strathmore, on her marriage to the Duke of York (later King George VI) in 1923.
Hugh Roberts informs us that "the tiara was retailed by the jewellers Catchpole & Williams, of 510 Oxford Street, and was supplied with two alternative frames, one invisible (for wear as a bandeau over the brow), the other padded (for wear on the head). It could also be dismantled to form five individual brooches", which apparently could be substituted with single sapphires.

When Duchess of York, Queen Elizabeth was photographed a number of times wearing her tiara in the 1920s style, fashionably low over her forehead.

Although it was inherited by the Queen on the Queen Mother's death in 2002, this piece has not been worn since (nor, indeed, it had been worn in public for many decades since its early days).

 

Fast forward a few years, and here comes Princess Elizabeth's wedding to Prince Philip in 1947.

For her "something borrowed", the woman who was to become Queen in a matter of years choose Queen Mary's Fringe tiara, a 1919 piece by E. Wolff & Co. for Garrard & Co.

 

 

The jewel was originally made especially for Queen Mary, in the Russian style which was especially fashionable at the time (Tsarina Alexandra had had a tiara in exactly the same style, reminiscent of the traditional Russian headdress kokoshnik).

 

Hugh Roberts reports that in was given in 1936 by Queen Mary to Queen Elizabeth, from whom it was subsequently borrowed by Princess Elizabeth to be worn on her wedding day (and on a number of occasions since she inherited it from her mother in 2002, most famously in one of the Diamond Jubilee portraits).

 

 

The it was Princess Margaret's turn, with her marriage to Anthony Armstrong-Jones in 1960. This time the bride choose the Poltimore tiara, a splendidly intricate piece made by Garrard & Co. in 1870 for Lady Poltimore.

 

 

Princess Margaret bought it herself, at auction in 1949 for £ 5,500. Upon her death in 2002, it was auctioned again, together with other pieces in her collection, to help pay estate duties. This time, the tiara sold for £ 926,400, against a top estimate of £ 200,000.

 

The Princess was later famously photographed by her husband while wearing the tiara in the bathtub.

 



 

Then, on 14 November 1973, the Queen's daughter Princess Anne married her first husband, Captain Mark Phillips (it should be noted that for her second marriage, to Commander Timothy Lawrence, the Princess Royal opted not to wear a tiara, choosing instead to adorn her hair with a simple sprig of orange blossom, which matched her bouquet and complemented perfectly her cream suit).

 

Anyway, back to 1973...Princess Anne chose a rather unusual, stunning white silk gown in the Elizabethan style, inspired by Tudor court dress (more on the dress itself can be found at The Royal Order of Sartorial Splendor).

 

Nothing new on tiara side this time, though, as Princess Anne got married in Queen Mary's fringe tiara, the same piece her mother the Queen had chosen to wear to her own wedding 26 years earlier.

 

 

I just couldn't resist adding this photo of the bride with her father the Duke of Edinburgh...so beautiful!

Could she have chosen something else, perhaps something more delicate and prettier, in keeping with the fairy tale style of her wedding? She definitely should have, in my opinion...after all, she had a lot of other options to choose from in the extensive British royal family collection: her grandmother's Strathmore tiara would have been a spot on choice, given also its Rose of York motive, which would have complemented perfectly the Tudor theme of the wedding dress.

 

 

To be continued...