Royal Wedding: Expert discusses Kate Middleton’s dress
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But Kate Middleton’s tiara had a truly sentimental backstory. It was made for someone who would later become Queen. Back in 2011, there were rumours Kate had not planned to wear a tiara on her wedding day.
The royal-to-be reportedly had her heart set on wearing a delicate flower crown.
But seeing as Kate married the future King of England, this was no ordinary wedding.
This was a royal one, and the bride in question was the future Queen of England.
So plans were reportedly abandoned and royal protocol took over.
The dazzling tiara she chose to wear on April 29, 2011, has become one of the most iconic royal wedding tiaras in history.
Known as the Cartier Halo tiara, it is estimated to be worth £1.27million and is made up of 739-brilliant cut diamonds and 149 baguette diamonds.
It was then lent to the Duchess of Cambridge by the Queen.
Tradition dictates tiaras should only be worn by brides on their wedding day or by married women.
This is because tiaras were seen as the “loss of innocence to the crowning of love” according to the Court Jeweller.
The tiara, part of the Queen’s collection, has held a firm place in royal history and Kate was not the first royal to wear it.
It was often considered a good ‘beginner’ tiara, perfect for a younger family member, with a smaller-than-average size that would not induce headaches.
The Cartier Halo tiara’s beginnings go back to 1936 when George VI commissioned Cartier to create something with the diamonds he had purchased for his wife three weeks before he became King.
Elizabeth was only pictured wearing it shortly after she received it, and after that, she chose to wear larger, grander pieces as her jewellery collection grew.
The tiara then landed into the hands of the Queen, who was gifted the diamond headpiece as an 18th-birthday present in 1944.
The Queen has never worn the Cartier Halo tiara publicly.
Experts say this is probably due to the fact she received the tiara at a time when Britain was at war when it wouldn’t have been appropriate to wear such a piece.
Princess Margaret was the first to borrow the Cartier Halo tiara and it quickly became one of her go-to’s when she was young.
The tiara was also lent to Princess Anne who last wore the piece in public in the 1970s.
It wasn’t until April 2011 that the Cartier Halo tiara made a reappearance, as Kate stepped out at Westminster Abbey.
The tiara was considered an apt choice for the bride thanks to its early beginnings, one that echoes the same trajectory Kate was about to make.
It was given to a non-royal who became a Duchess and later Queen.
A transition that The Queen Mother made successfully.
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