Kate Middleton Wore Princess Diana’s Favorite Tiara in London
Diana, Princess of Wales, wearing the Lover’s Knot tiara in 1990, at left, with Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, wearing it on Tuesday night, at right. (Photo: Reuters/Getty Images)
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, has finally shaken up her tiara game. On Tuesday night, the mother of Prince George and Princess Charlotte wore the Cambridge Lover’s Knot tiara, full of pearls and diamonds, to the annual Diplomatic Reception at Buckingham Palace. This particular tiara was a favorite of her late mother-in-law, Diana, Princess of Wales.
She didn’t, however, shake up her style game. Based on her street style, the 33-year-old mum doesn’t have a magical wardrobe filled with the latest designer clothes or a key to a vault with the most precious jewels in the world. In fact, she does an awesome job of looking like she doesn’t have access to fresh-off-the-runway gowns and priceless diamonds and pearls. Because Kate Middleton — sorry, Her Royal Highness — could traipse around a palace in the most elegant and precious items ever made if she really wanted to. And yet, she loves to wear the same thing on repeat, like the baby blue Alexander McQueen dress she chose to wear with her new tiara.
Let’s take a trip down memory lane to this very same event in 2013. She wore the exact same thing to the white-tie affair two years ago: the pale blue Alexander McQueen dress with a lace trim neckline and her favorite pair of chandelier diamond earrings, which were lent to her by Queen Elizabeth II.
Guess the year: One of these is December 2013; another is December 2015. (Photos: Splash/Getty Images)
The only difference, in fact, is the tiara. Two years ago, she borrowed the Lotus Flower tiara, also referred to as the Papyrus Tiara, which originally belonged to the Queen Mother, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. Middleton’s a big fan of this particular headpiece, seeing as she wore it to her wedding to Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, and again in October to a state banquet welcoming Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan. This time, she went with the Cambridge Lover’s Knot.
Diana, Princess of Wales, looks over her shoulder and smiles during a banquet for Japanese Emperor Akihito in Tokyo on Nov. 12, 1990. (Photo: Reuters)
A little history lesson on the Lover’s Knot: It was originally made for Queen Mary in 1914 from pearls and diamonds already in the family’s possession, and it was a replica of a similar piece owned by her grandmother, Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel who married the first Duke of Cambridge. As for Diana, Kate’s husband’s late mother, she was gifted the tiara on the occasion of her wedding to Prince Charles and once even wore it in Washington, D.C.
According to the Daily Mail, current ownership of the Lover’s Knot is unconfirmed. It’s possible the deed reverted to the queen after Diana’s passing and is on loan to Middleton for the night, but it could also have been recently gifted to the new royal.
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.
