As Princess of Wales, Princess Kate is the most senior female member of the royal family behind Queen Camilla, and as such, she has been present at a number of high-profile ceremonies and events where some of the world’s most priceless jewels have been on display.
Since marrying Prince William in 2011, Kate has been entrusted with some of the royal family’s most valuable treasures, including necklaces, earrings, bracelets and glittering tiaras.
Once worn regularly for receptions, galas, balls and banquets, tiaras today are reserved for only a select number of events, making the opportunities to see them all the more publicly anticipated.
There are two annual events where tiaras can typically be expected to be worn, one being a state banquet held at Buckingham Palace by the king for visiting heads of state, and the second being the annual diplomatic corps reception at the palace, which is attended by ambassadors and high commissioners stationed in Britain.
Composite image showing Princess Kate wearing royal heirloom tiaras between 2022 and 2023. The royal has worn four different tiaras over the course of her married life, so far.
Composite image showing Princess Kate wearing royal heirloom tiaras between 2022 and 2023. The royal has worn four different tiaras over the course of her married life, so far.
Chris Jackson/Getty Images/Victoria Jones – Pool/Getty Images/JONATHAN BRADY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Queen Elizabeth II lent Kate more of her most famous jewels than any other royal family member, including some of her most sentimental bracelets and tiaras, a trend that King Charles III has continued.
Here, Newsweek examines all of Princess Kate’s sparkling royal tiaras since becoming Britain’s future queen.
Cartier Halo Tiara
Princess Kate’s first royal tiara was worn on her wedding day in April 2011 at Westminster Abbey.
For the occasion, Queen Elizabeth II lent her new granddaughter-in-law a sentimental jewel, the Cartier Halo Tiara.
Purchased in 1936 by King George VI for his wife, Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, the couple gave it to their eldest daughter (Elizabeth II) as her first tiara for an 18th birthday present.
Before passing it on to Kate, the queen lent her present to her younger sister, Princess Margaret, and her daughter, Princess Anne.
The princess has not worn this particular tiara again since her wedding day.
Princess Kate wearing the Cartier Halo Tiara on her wedding day to Prince William, April 29, 2011. The tiara was lent to her by Queen Elizabeth II, who had been given it as an 18th…
Princess Kate wearing the Cartier Halo Tiara on her wedding day to Prince William, April 29, 2011. The tiara was lent to her by Queen Elizabeth II, who had been given it as an 18th birthday present by her parents.
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The Prince and Princess of Wales/X
Lotus Flower Tiara
The Lotus Flower Tiara was another jewel owned by Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. She had it made using a necklace given to her as a wedding present in 1923.
The tiara could be worn in the traditional form, on top of the head, or as a fashionable 1920s bandeau, on the forehead.
Elizabeth’s youngest daughter, Princess Margaret, wore the tiara from the 1960s through the 1990s. After the Queen Mother’s death in 2002, it entered the collection of Queen Elizabeth II.
The tiara was next seen on Princess Kate as she attended her first state banquet as a member of the royal family in 2015, where President Xi Jinping of China was the guest of honor.
Kate wore the piece in 2022 when she attended King Charles III’s first diplomatic reception at Buckingham Palace.
It was seen again in 2024, when the king lent it to his sister-in-law, Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, for the state banquet held in honor of the Emperor and Empress of Japan.
Princess Kate wearing the Lotus Flower Tiara at the state banquet given for the President of China (L) in 2015, and the diplomatic reception at Buckingham Palace (R) in 2022. The tiara was made for…
Princess Kate wearing the Lotus Flower Tiara at the state banquet given for the President of China (L) in 2015, and the diplomatic reception at Buckingham Palace (R) in 2022. The tiara was made for The Queen Mother.
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Dominic Lipinski – WPA Pool /Getty Images/VICTORIA JONES/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot Tiara
Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot Tiara was commissioned by Queen Mary (consort of King George V) in 1913 to replicate a historic diadem owned by her aunt, the Duchess of Cambridge.
The diamond frame contains space for a number of swinging pearls topped with diamond bows and is one of the larger tiaras in terms of scale worn by Princess Kate.
Queen Elizabeth II wore the tiara during the early years of her reign in the 1950s, and it resurfaced in 1981 when the monarch lent it to Princess Diana as a wedding present.
The tiara was returned to the Queen when the princess divorced King Charles (then the Prince of Wales) in 1996.
It was next seen on Kate’s head at the Buckingham Palace diplomatic reception in 2015 and has become her most regularly worn tiara.
Princess Kate wearing Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot Tiara at a state banquet (L) in 2022 and at a diplomatic reception (R) in 2023. The tiara was lent to the princess by Queen Elizabeth II.
Princess Kate wearing Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot Tiara at a state banquet (L) in 2022 and at a diplomatic reception (R) in 2023. The tiara was lent to the princess by Queen Elizabeth II.
Chris Jackson/Getty Images/JONATHAN BRADY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Strathmore Rose Tiara
Princess Kate delighted jewelry fans by debuting a new tiara, which King Charles III had lent her to attend a state banquet for the President of South Korea in November 2023.
Known as the Strathmore Rose Tiara, the diamond headpiece featuring five large diamond roses suspended beneath trailing diamond leaves and stems was given to Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, by her parents, the Earl and Countess of Strathmore, in 1923.
The Queen Mother wore the sentimental jewel as a bandeau on the forehead but was not seen in public after her husband acceded to the throne in 1936 when she gained access to the larger royal jewelry repository.
The tiara is believed to have been inherited by Queen Elizabeth II after her mother’s death and then passed on to King Charles.
Princess Kate wearing the Strathmore Rose Tiara at the state banquet given for the President of South Korea in November 2023. The tiara was a wedding present to the Queen Mother from her parents.
Princess Kate wearing the Strathmore Rose Tiara at the state banquet given for the President of South Korea in November 2023. The tiara was a wedding present to the Queen Mother from her parents.
Yui Mok-WPA Pool/Getty Images
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek’s royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek’s The Royals Facebook page.
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