New Biography of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Takes Readers Inside Queen Elizabeth’s Jewelry Vault
Finding Freedom, a new biography of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, attempts to set the record straight about Meghan’s wedding jewelry. While there were rumors that Meghan and the Queen disagreed about her tiara, Queen Mary’s Diamond Bandeau, the book clarifies that it was actually Prince Harry who had frustrations with the Queen’s longtime dresser Angela Kelly.
He felt that Kelly “was dragging her feet in helping Meghan obtain access to her chosen tiara for a hair trial in advance of the big day.” But in the end it all worked out.
Fortunately for jewelry fans, that section of the book also includes a description of Queen Elizabeth’s vault, and details about exactly how her necklaces, brooches, and tiaras are organized.
“Each tiara is stored in its own safety box within the vault, a basement room about 150 feet long that is split into sections. The large space—its size, proof of the extent of Her Majesty's collection of hundreds of tiaras, brooches, necklaces, earrings, and other jewels—is not sparse or cold, like a bank’s vault. Instead, it’s well-lit like a showroom,” write authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand.”
When Meghan visited the vault to select her wedding tiara, Crown Jeweler Mark Appleby was on-hand to assist, but he wasn’t in the room for the meeting. It was just Meghan, Harry, the Queen, and Kelly.
“From the way each stone was polished to the placement of the matching bracelet, rings, necklace, and tiara upon the pink fabric-lined tray with a lace-trimmed cover, hand-sewn by the monarch’s grandmother Queen Mary—it was clear how much care Angela put into their maintenance,” reads Finding Freedom.
The Queen and Kelly presented Meghan with five options for her wedding tiara, but in the end “one outshone all the others as it rested on her dark hair,” Queen Mary’s Diamond Bandeau.
Choosing the tiara, a Palace aide says, was a “special moment” for both Meghan and the Queen.
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