This is why Fergie didn’t wear a tiara on her wedding day

fergie wedding tiara
(Image credit: Rex)

It's traditional for Royal brides to wear a tiara on their wedding day - Meghan Markle borrowed one from the Queen, while Princess Diana wore the Spencer tiara which had been in her family for years.

But one Royal bride who did break the rules a little was Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York. Instead, when she walked down the aisle to wed Prince Andrew in 1986, she wore a floral crown instead.

However, even though she was breaking from tradition, there was a significance behind it. The crown featured gardenias, which were her future husband's, and matched her bouquet, which was unconventionally small for a Royal bride.

Then there was the killer secret. After the ceremony, the floral crown was lifted, to reveal a tiara underneath. The diamond tiara, with a centre stone of five carats surrounded by floral scrollwork, was specially commissioned by the Queen as a wedding present.

Royal wedding tiaras

This was also unusual as brides tend to borrow heirlooms rather than buying new jewellery.

It was all rather symbolic, as Sarah entered the church as a young bride with flowers on her head, signifying hope and purity, and left the church with a tiara, showing she was now officially part of the Royal family.

The devil's in the detail as they say.

Penny Goldstone

Penny Goldstone is the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire, covering everything from catwalk trends to royal fashion and the latest high street and Instagram must-haves.

Penny grew up in France and studied languages and law at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris before moving to the UK for her MA in multimedia journalism at Bournemouth University. She moved to the UK permanently and has never looked back (though she does go back regularly to stock up on cheese and wine).

Although she's always loved fashion - she used to create scrapbooks of her favourite trends and looks, including Sienna Miller and Kate Moss' boho phase - her first job was at MoneySavingExpert.com, sourcing the best deals for everything from restaurants to designer sales.

However she quit after two years to follow her true passion, fashion journalism, and after many years of internships and freelance stints at magazines including Red, Cosmopolitan, Stylist and Good Housekeeping, landed her dream job as the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire UK.

Her favourite part of the job is discovering new brands and meeting designers, and travelling the world to attend events and fashion shows. Seeing her first Chanel runway IRL at Paris Fashion Week was a true pinch-me moment.