Kate Middleton definitely got everyone’s attention when she stepped out on Tuesday night wearing a diamond tiara that hasn’t been seen in nearly 100 years.
The Princess of Wales stunned in the Strathmore Rose tiara during the state banquet held at Buckingham Palace — in honor of the President of the Republic of Korea Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife First Lady Kim Keon Hee’s state visit to the United Kingdom, People magazine reported.
The floral design tiara was last worn in public in the 1930’s and was part of the King Charles III’s grandmother Queen Mother’s collection, the outlet noted. Queen Mother, who died in 2002, and Middleton are the only people who have ever worn the crown in public.
“Kate [Middleton] has always signaled that she’d like to emulate the Queen Mother’s royal role, and wearing her jewels is an important symbol of that continuity,” Lauren Kiehna, founder of The Court Jeweller, told the outlet.
Kate Middleton stuns in rarely-seen 100-year-old tiara at glittering state banquet https://t.co/4LXD49Ezlh pic.twitter.com/j658BGgUiE
— New York Post (@nypost) November 22, 2023
“It’s fitting that Kate—likely with some assistance from King Charles—would choose to wear the tiara exactly a hundred years after the Queen Mother originally received it,” she added. “The piece is an antique that wasn’t fashionable for many decades, but many jewels once considered fussy or unstylish have now been embraced again.”
“The tiara comes with two frames, allowing it to be worn either across the forehead or on top of the head,” Kiehna continued. “The Queen Mother used it both ways, and Kate chose the more traditional setting for the banquet.”
The rose tiara was given to Queen Mother by her father, Lord Strathmore, before she married the Duke of York in 1923 and is designed to look like a crown made of wild roses, Vogue noted.
The evening’s festivities were attended by a host of royals including the King, Queen Camilla, Prince William, and other members of the royal family.
Middleton has worn several other crowns since her wedding day to Prince William in April 2011, which include the Lotus Flower tiara and Cartier Halo tiara. However, the most often worn jeweled headpiece worn by the Princess would have to be the Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot tiara which was a favorite of her late-mother-in law’s Princess Diana. Kate has worn it a a total of 11 times, People noted.
