A Diamond Tiara—and a Black Veil—for Queen Elizabeth II at the Vatican

Our journey through the fashion decades of Queen Elizabeth II brings us to 1961, when she and the Duke of Edinburgh made a formal visit to the Vatican, calling on Pope John XXIII in full gala attire.

Elizabeth and Philip arrived in Vatican City for their audience with the Pope on May 5, 1961. John XXIII welcomed them in the throne room, greeting his fellow head-of-state with an outstretched hand. She was his junior in years but senior in monarchical experience; she had come to her throne in 1952, while he had been elected to his in 1958.

For the audience, which was televised in part by the BBC, Philip was in his full formal naval uniform with decorations, while Elizabeth wore a black lace gown made by Norman Hartnell. She too added gala decorations, wearing the sash and star of the Order of the Garter with the Royal Family Orders of her father, George VI, and her grandfather, George V.

Hartnell also made a black tulle veil for Elizabeth to wear during the audience. (No privilège du blanc here.) The veil was secured by one of Elizabeth’s most regal tiaras: the diamond kokoshnik made for her great-grandmother, Queen Alexandra, in 1888. The jewel, a silver wedding present from a committee of aristocratic ladies, was patterned on the halo-shaped diamond tiaras worn by her sister, the Empress of Russia, at the Romanov court.

The rest of Elizabeth’s jewelry, suitably, was set with pearls. She wore the large pearl and diamond button earrings given to her grandmother, Queen Mary, as a wedding present by the Ladies of Devonshire in 1893, as well as the Hanoverian Pearls. Some of the pearls in the two-row necklace are thought to have belonged to one of Elizabeth’s Catholic ancestors, Mary, Queen of Scots.

She finished off the look with a few additional bejeweled touches, including a five-row pearl bracelet with an impressive diamond clasp, which was also an inheritance from Queen Mary. And if you look closely, you’ll note another piece of jewelry worn on her left upper arm, over her sleeve and beneath her veil. It’s the diamond-studded garter itself, part of the Order of the Garter insignia. Elizabeth wore the garter only on rare occasions, including formal appearances at the Vatican on this occasion and in 1980.