The Cartier Halo Tiara

The Duchess of Cambridge wearing the Cartier Halo tiara. Image from Elitedaily

In 1936, three weeks before the infamous Abdication Crisis, Prince Albert, Duke of York, thought it would be a pleasant gift for his wife, the former Lady Elizabeth Bowes Lyon, to give her a tiara on their wedding anniversary. The choice was the Cartier Halo Tiara. The piece is described “as a band of 16 graduated scrolls, set with 739 brilliants and 149 baton diamonds, each scroll divided by a graduated brilliant and with a large brilliant at the centre.” 

 The Duchess had worn the piece once shortly before her husband succeeded to the British throne and upon becoming Queen Consort, Elizabeth had some of the world’s most precious tiaras to choose from. She gave the tiara to Princess Elizabeth on her eighteenth birthday but she had never worn it in public. Instead, she loaned it to her younger sister, Princess Margaret, who wore it during the Queen’s coronation in 1953. The princess later received the Poltimore and the Lotus Flower tiaras and the Cartier Halo went into oblivion. The tiara once again resurfaced in the 1960s when the Queen loaned it to her daughter, Princess Anne, before being locked once again in the royal vaults. 

 It made a grand reappearance in April 2011 when the Duchess of Cambridge chose to wear it on her wedding day. The tiara’s history and strong royal connection (it was first worn by a royal duchess and future queen) made it the right choice for Kate. She paired it with matching earrings, which were a gift from her parents, custom made by jeweller Robinson Pelham. The tiara has since returned to the royal vaults, but it will go down the history for being a future queen’s choice on her wedding day.