Surprising Facts About Kate Middleton's Wedding Tiara
The story behind Kate Middleton's wedding day tiara is as sweet as it is poignant. The Duchess of Cambridge wed Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, on April 29, 2011, in a highly televised royal wedding that took the world by storm. All the details of her wedding day attire, from her iconic Alexander McQueen wedding dress to her sparkling diamond tiara, caught the public's interest, and were, in typical Kate fashion, selected with thought and care. While the Duchess of Cambridge's mother-in-law, the late Princess Diana, opted to wear a Spencer family heirloom, the Spencer tiara, for her own wedding day, Kate decided to borrow a sentimental headpiece from the Queen: the Cartier Halo tiara.
Originally purchased by King George VI for his wife, Queen Elizabeth, the tiara has quite a storied history within the royal family, and is of particular significance because it was also gifted to someone who was a non-royal at the time. Given that the Duchess of Cambridge was a layperson when she met and then married Prince William, just as Queen Mary was when she met and married George VI, the tiara was likely a deliberate choice meant to pay homage to the Queen Mother herself.
Which Tiara Did Kate Middleton Wear on Her Wedding Day?
The Cartier Halo tiara is now considered one of the most iconic royal wedding tiaras in recent memory, thanks to Kate's decision to wear it on her big day. Comprised of 739 brilliant-cut diamonds and 149 baguette-cut diamonds, the bedazzled tiara is an impressive showcase of royal grandeur without being too over-the-top. Case in point: After King George VI gifted the Cartier Halo tiara to Queen Mary in 1936, she was only pictured wearing it once; after that, the Queen Mother opted to wear larger, more showy pieces. The Cartier Halo tiara was, however, considered an appropriate choice for the Duchess of Cambridge, as it is often regarded as a perfect "starter tiara." Kate then paired the piece with an ivory silk tulle veil hand-embroidered with flowers.
Who Else Has Worn the Cartier Halo Tiara?
Though Queen Mary was the intended recipient of the Cartier Halo tiara, she hardly wore the headpiece and instead gifted it to her daughter, then-Princess Elizabeth, on her 18th birthday in 1944. But Queen Elizabeth II hasn't worn the diamond tiara in public either, perhaps due in part to her already extensive tiara collection, which includes other notable pieces such as Queen Mary's Lover's Knot tiara, the Lotus Flower tiara and the Greville Emerald Kokoshnik tiara. She opted to wear the Queen Mary Fringe tiara on her own wedding day to Prince Philip in 1947.
Still, the Cartier Halo tiara has been accessed by its fair share of royals, including Princess Margaret, the Queen's sister, and Princess Anne, the Queen's daughter. In fact, prior to Kate Middleton's revival of the headpiece, Princess Anne was the last person to have worn the Cartier Halo tiara in public, back in the 1970s.
Surprising Facts About Kate Middleton's Wedding Tiara
Given the history behind the Cartier Halo tiara, it would appear that not much is left unknown about the iconic diadem. But in actuality, there are still some fun facts about Kate Middleton and her decision to wear the storied headpiece that add even more heft to the diamond tiara's significance.
The Duchess of Cambridge reportedly didn't want to wear a tiara.
In the months leading up to the wedding, there were rumors that Kate Middleton actually didn't plan to wear a tiara at all on her big day. Instead, British outlets reported that she was hoping to wear a whimsical flower crown instead, which would be more in line with her own more casual, bohemian tastes. Ultimately, however, the bride did choose a diamond tiara to borrow from Queen Elizabeth, continuing a royal family tradition and paying homage to the role she would be marrying into: the future Queen of England.
Kate Middleton's wedding tiara was not the most expensive of the Queen's tiaras.
Though Kate Middleton's wedding was quite pricey (around $34 million all said and told), the Cartier Halo tiara was far from the Queen's most expensive tiaras. That honor goes to the Greville Emerald Kokoshnik tiara, which Princess Eugenie wore for her wedding to Jack Brooksbank at Windsor Castle in 2018, and which is worth approximately $18 million.
The Queen Mary Fringe tiara, which her sister Princess Beatrice borrowed from the Queen in 2020, was also one of the more expensive tiaras, worth an estimated $9 million. Even Meghan Markle's Queen Mary Bandeau tiara, which she wore for her wedding to Prince Harry in 2018, is worth an estimated $3.6 million. Kate Middleton's Cartier Halo tiara is worth an estimated $1.7 million.
The Cartier Halo tiara also goes by another name.
Before Kate and William's 2011 wedding, the Cartier Halo tiara was also commonly known as the Cartier Scroll tiara. This is due to the fact that the headpiece consists of 16 graduated scrolls situated across a geometric band of diamonds. Following the royal wedding, the tiara, along with Middleton's gown and other items, was put on display at Buckingham Palace.
The tiara matched a set of diamond earrings gifted by Kate's parents.
In the lead-up to her wedding, Kate Middleton's parents commissioned a jeweler, Robinson Pelham, to create a set of diamond earrings for her big day. The delicate jewels featured acorns (a symbol from her family's crest) and scroll elements that she immediately recognized in the Cartier Halo tiara. The pairing then ended up being a perfect match: earrings from her own family as her "something new" and the diamond diadem on loan from the Queen as her "something borrowed."