Princess Diana (L) and Celia McCorquodale (R) in the Spencer tiara: Bringing an age-old memorabilia back. (Source: Instagram)
From her wedding dress to the sparkly tiara, everything Princess Diana wore on her wedding ceremony with Prince Charles has been noted down in history as iconic. An uncontested fashion figure of her time, Diana set many trends that the then-fashionistas drooled over, and whatever the Princess wore has been replicated over and over.
The sparkly tiara that the debutante wore on her wedding day remains one of the most admired pieces, but unfortunately, has not been worn publicly seen Diana’s tragic death in 1977. It made its first public appearance ever since when the daughter of Diana’s eldest sister, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, tied the knot in a beautiful ceremony in Lincolnshire. And for her wedding day, the bride, Celia McCorquodale, chose Diana’s tiara as her crowning glory.
Known as Spencer tiara, and belonging to Diana’s family, the aristocratic lineage of this spectacular piece can be traced back to the Tudor period and like all family heirlooms, this tiara is also made of many jewellery pieces, collected over years.
While the central part of the tiara was given as a wedding gift to Diana’s grandmother, Lady Cynthia Hamilton, the topper was given to Lady Cynthia by her husband’s great aunt, Lady Sarah Isabella Spencer. The ends of the piece are said to come from a sparkler once belonging to Frances Manby, the last known Viscountess of Montagu.
Diana chose to wear the Spencer tiara many times after her wedding over the baubles from the Queen’s vault as she felt it was easier and lighter to wear than the royal pieces. Even at her wedding, the beauty decided to stick to her family roots and don the tiara that both her sisters had worn previously on their wedding days, and declined Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot tiara, that her mother-in-law, Queen Elizabeth II offered her.
Since then, the tiara has been modelled into a modern design with diamonds shaped into tulips and stars surrounded by attractive scrolls. Celia wore the tiara on her wedding to George Woodhouse at St Andrew and St Mary’s Church in Stoke Rochford, Lincolnshire.