The Princess of Wales in the Cambridge Lover's Knot tiara in July 2017
It's based on a gift of love so it's rather appropriate that this tiara has such a romantic name. The Lover's Knot Tiara, now the go to diadem of the Princess of Wales, links this future queen to one past and plenty of other royal women in between. This diadem has a long royal history but in recent times it was closely associated with two women who have been Princess of Wales - Diana and Catherine.
Diana, Princess of Wales wearing the Cambridge Lover's Knot Tiara
The tiara was very familiar through the 1980s and 1990s as it was worn regularly by Diana, Princess of Wales - she was given the diadem on her marriage by the Queen and it became a firm favourite with her even though it was so heavy it reportedly gave her headaches. It was worn by Diana in some of her most famous appearances and became an almost iconic part of her royal image.
As Duchess of Cambridge for eleven years, it seems appropriate that Kate wore this piece as it has links with a previous holder of that title whose dynasty is now on the throne of England. Back in 1818, when Augusta of Hesse-Kassel married Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, she was given a pearl lover's knot tiara among her many sparkling gifts.
Augusta's granddaughter became Queen Mary and when she decided she needed a new tiara, as you do, in 1913 she looked for ideas in her family scrap book and commissioned a version of the Lover's Knot tiara worn by Augusta from Garrards. When Queen Mary died she left it to her own granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II.
Queen Mary in the Cambridge Lover's Knot Tiara
Queen Mary's original was very like granny's with an extra row of pearls on top but in its best known modern version, worn by Diana with such regularity and now by Kate, that has gone and the tiara is all the better for it. The pearls are so stunning they don't really need the competition on top. This is a perfect combination of diamonds and pearls.
No comments:
Post a Comment