Fergie got to keep her wedding day tiara but Diana didn't for this reason

(Image credit: 2007 Anwar Hussein)

As you know, tiaras are a big deal in the royal family, especially on their wedding day. In fact, Princess Beatrice has probably already decided which tiara she's wear on her big day next year.

Most tiaras are given to the bride as a gift for the big day, or borrowed from the Queen's collection. For example, Prince Harry helped Meghan pick her art deco tiara from the vault for their wedding, whilst Princess Eugenie's Greville emerald and diamond tiara, also on loan, is considered the most expensive royal tiara.

However, both Princess Diana and the Duchess of York received a tiara as a gift for their own big days, but Fergie was the only one to get to keep hers.

That's because the York tiara as it became known, was specially commissioned by the Queen as a wedding day present, as opposed to coming from the royal family's private estate.

Though we know that Princess Diana wore her own family's Spencer tiara (which is still in their possession) on her wedding day in 1981, the Queen did offer her the gorgeous diamond and pearl Lover's Knot tiara to wear, which Diana respectfully declined, but then wore on several occasions during her years as a royal.

However as the tiara was part of the royal collection, by law she had to give it back after her divorce in 1996, as she was no longer part of the royal family.

It is now believed to be one of the Duchess of Cambridge's favourites, and she was photographed several times wearing it at official events.

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.