Why Princess Beatrice's wedding tiara is so special

Photo by Benjamin Wheeler

Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi tied the knot at the end of last week, in an intimate ceremony attended by Prince Philip, the Queen and the bride's parents, amongst the restricted 30 guests.

And in stunning images released this weekend, Princess Beatrice surprised us all by opting for a vintage wedding dress, one that belonged to her grandmother the Queen.

The ivory dress is made of Peau de Soie taffeta and features intricate diamanté patterns across the bodice and sleeves, and was designed by Norman Hartnell for the Queen. She in fact wore the gown to the UK premiere of Lawrence of Arabia in 1962.

Princess Beatrice added her own stamp to it but adding some organza sleeves and changing the hemline from puffball to straight. But the dress wasn't her only 'something borrowed', as the royal chose a wedding tiara from the monarch's extensive collection.

Beatrice wore the Queen Mary Fringe Tiara, and is the first royal in her generation to do so. The tiara is extra special, because not only did the Queen wear it on her own wedding day in 1947, her daughter also borrowed it to walk down the aisle in 1973, making it the most worn wedding day tiara ever.

The piece actually had a previous life as a necklace, given to Queen Mary by Queen Victoria for her on the occasion of her wedding to George V, Victoria’s grandson, in 1893. Queen Mary loved re-working pieces of jewellery, and had royal jeweller Garrard transform the 47 diamond bars into a necklace.

A few years decades later, she passed it onto her daughter the Queen for her wedding day, who then passed it on to her own daughter Anne for her wedding day.

The diamonds are a rich part of royal history, as they are thought to have originally been owned by George III and his wife Queen Charlotte.

Fun fact: Queen Elizabeth had a bit of a tiara emergency on her wedding day, as the design is so delicate, the bridge broke two hours before walking down the aisle, though luckily it was fixed ASAP.

We can imagine Princess Beatrice won't be the last royal to wear this beauty of a tiara on her wedding day, and it would be lovely to see it on future generations of royal brides.