Terrific British Royal State Visit Tiaras at Windsor Castle

We’ve got tiaras in Windsor tonight, everyone! Here’s a look at the gorgeous British royal jewels sparkling for tonight’s state banquet at Windsor Castle.

Queen Camilla arrived for tonight’s banquet at Windsor Castle wearing a dramatic blue evening gown, decorated with the sash and star of the Order of the Garter and King Charles III’s Royal Family Order. Her sapphire and diamond tiara is an heirloom piece from the collection of Queen Elizabeth II.

The Belgian Sapphire Tiara takes its name from its origins as a necklace in the jewelry box of Princess Louise of Belgium. The jewel was acquired by Queen Elizabeth II in the 1960s and placed on a tiara frame. She wore the jewel for gala occasions for the rest of her life.

The sapphire tiara is the first one of the late Queen’s tiaras that Camilla wore after Charles’s accession in 2022. She made her debut in the jewel at the South African state banquet that November and has worn in several more times since. Here, she wears the tiara at the Diplomatic Reception in 2022.

With the tiara, Queen Camilla wore a show-stopping jewel from the grand Greville bequest: the Diamond Festoon Necklace. Instead of the full piece, which features five rows of diamonds, Camilla wore just the three-row portion of the necklace. The jewel, made by Cartier, was one of the Queen Mother’s favorites for many years. Since her death, the necklace has been worn exclusively by Camilla. Above, Camilla wears the full necklace for a banquet in London in 2015.

Camilla likes to pair the Greville necklace with a pair of earrings from her own jewelry box, and she did so for tonight’s banquet. The earrings, which are part of a set that also includes a matching necklace, are set with tightly-gathered pear-shaped diamonds. She’s been wearing the diamonds in public since the autumn of 2005.

And finally, a look at the bracelets that Queen Camilla wore on both wrists. I believe all three are part of a set that belonged to the late Queen Mother. Made by Cartier, the bracelets have an Art Deco design. The set of five includes two all-diamond bracelets, one set with diamonds and rubies, one set with diamonds and emeralds, and one set with diamonds and sapphires. Camilla appears to be wearing both of the diamond bracelets and the sapphire bracelet for tonight’s banquet.

Next, the Prince and Princess of Wales arrived, with Catherine gleaming in a gold lace evening coat and silk gown, both made by the British designer Phillipa Lepley. With the dress, she wore the sash and star of the Royal Victorian Order, the Royal Family Orders of King Charles III and Queen Elizabeth II, and dazzling royal heirloom jewelry.

With the dramatic gold lace gown, Princess Catherine wore a special tiara with generations of history in the royal family. The jewel, a diamond and pearl tiara with lover’s knot motifs, was commissioned from Garrard by Queen Mary in 1913. The new tiara was a copy of a jewel she’d long admired: the Cambridge Lover’s Knot Tiara, which was originally owned by her grandmother, the Duchess of Cambridge, and later treasured by her aunt, the Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

Originally, Mary’s lover’s knot tiara featured a series of upright pearl toppers which were later removed and replaced with a row of round diamond brilliants. This renovated version of the tiara was bequeathed to Queen Elizabeth II on Mary’s death in 1953. Elizabeth wore it for the first time during her coronation tour of the Commonwealth, and she continued to wear it regularly throughout the 1950s.

Eventually, the tiara lingered in the vaults. In 1981, Elizabeth decided to offer the tiara as a long-term loan to her new daughter-in-law, Lady Diana Spencer. As Princess of Wales, Diana wore the tiara regularly for years—in fact, it was the only royal tiara she wore during her life. (The other tiara in her jewelry box, the Spencer Tiara, was borrowed from her father.)

After Diana’s death, the tiara returned to the royal vaults. It remained there until 2015, when the then-Duchess of Cambridge wore it publicly for the first time at the annual Diplomatic Reception. Since then, the jewel has become Catherine’s signature tiara, worn for a whole range of gala events, including receptions, banquets, and other celebrations. Above, she wears the tiara at the Diplomatic Reception in 2023.

For tonight’s state banquet, Catherine paired the tiara with diamond frame earrings that also belonged to the late Queen Elizabeth II. The earrings were loaned to Kate for the first time in 2017, and she has been their exclusive wearer ever since.

The Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence were also present for tonight’s banquet. Sir Tim wore his newest decoration, the Royal Victorian Order, which he received from his brother-in-law in August. Anne wore a vintage evening jacket and skirt from her closet, paired with her Garter sash and star and the Royal Family Orders of her mother and brother, as well as her aquamarine and diamond tiara, brooch, earrings, and necklace.

Here’s a fun close-up look at the Aquamarine Pineflower Tiara, shown in a photograph that I took at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London back in April. For most of the year, the jewel has been included in the Cartier special exhibition there; it was temporarily removed from the display for this occasion. The tiara was originally acquired from Cartier by King George VI as a present for his wife, Queen Elizabeth. She gave the jewel to Princess Anne, who renovated it and repurposed the old central element as a brooch.

And finally, here’s the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester arriving for tonight’s banquet. (No Duchess of Edinburgh tonight, as she’s prepping to head off any minute with the Duke for an official visit to Japan.) Birgitte wore one of her lovely blue evening gowns for the dinner, paired with her Garter sash and the stars of the Order of the Garter and the Royal Victorian Order, plus the Royal Family Orders of King Charles III and Queen Elizabeth II.

As always, Birgitte piled on a delightful array of antique jewels. Primary in the ensemble was Queen Mary’s Honeysuckle Tiara, worn with its diamond center element. There were lots more diamonds, too, including a necklace with a flower pendant and diamond clips (which happen to be part of another fabulous tiara). She finished off the look with pearl and diamond bracelets on both wrists. Spectacular!

As before, commentary on this article must be restricted solely to the gowns and jewels featured in this article. Any off-topic commentary may be edited or removed.