The Spencer Diamond Tiara

Diana Princess of Wales wearing the Spencer Diamond Tiara on her wedding day. Image from Flickr

The Spencer Diamond Tiara graced the international headlines when twenty-year-old Lady Diana Spencer wore this priceless family jewel on her wedding with Prince Charles in 1981. Everyone had their sight on the sparkler as it sat atop the princess’ bright flaxen hair. After all, the Spencer Diamond Tiara is one of the most admired jewels in the United Kingdom, aside from the British Royal Family’s own.

The stunning tiara consists of different gemstones and parts that were incorporated over time. The middle section was a gift to Lady Cynthia Hamilton, Lady Diana’s grandmother, when she married Albert, Viscount Althorp, later 7th Earl Spencer, in 1919. The topper, meanwhile, was given by Lady Sarah Spencer-Churchill, the unmarried daughter of the 4th Earl Spencer and great-aunt of Viscount Althorp. 

The end part of the tiara was also bits from Lady Sarah’s collection, which were believed she acquired in the 1870s. Some say that parts of the items that she inherited came from the collection of Frances, Viscountess of Montagu, who died in 1814.

In the 1930s, Garrard used the pieces to construct a tiara of tulips and stars surrounded by eye-catching scrolls. When Diana’s mother, Frances Burke Roche, married into the Spencer Family, she wore a tiara that belonged her family, but all her three daughters had worn the Spencer family sparkler on their respective weddings.  Victoria Lockwood also wore the tiara when she married the 9th Earl Spencer, although his subsequent wives have not donned it on their wedding days.

The Princess of Wales was also loaned the Queen Mary's Lover’s Knot Tiara as a member of the British Royal Family. She used this alternately with the Spencer tiara on a regular basis. According to sources, her family’s tiara was lighter, as such, it was more comfortable to use.  However, she ceased wearing these tiaras after her divorce from Prince Charles in 1996. She returned the Lover’s Knot tiara to the royal vaults and she never again used the Spencer tiara on her post-divorce  engagements.

Since her death in 1997, the Spencer tiara has been publicly seen in different displays and exhibits around the world. However, it is highly unlikely that the tiara will ever adorn the head of another royal princess.