And our countdown of your favorite tiaras ends with...
#1. The Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara
Before I asked you to show me your favorite tiara, I showed you mine...and you agreed with me! Sweet, sweet validation. And I’m pretty sure Queen Elizabeth agrees with all of us, since this is her favorite tiara.
The Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara, in its current form |
Queen Mary with the original version of the tiara (first and second on the left), just the bandeau, and her altered version of the piece |
The tiara after Mary's alterations, as first received by Princess Elizabeth |
The tiara worn without the base |
With the base added |
Anyway, with her new tiara knowledge in hand, Queen Elizabeth paired up the bandeau and the tiara once again. She made the change in 1969, and it’s been the same ever since. Though she'd already been queen for some time when she added it back in, it seems a fitting queenly makeover. A little extra height for the boost in position, maybe.
This is known to be a very light tiara; it must also be fairly easy and comfortable to wear, with no pendants clanging about or anything like that. It's certainly easy to put on, or perhaps she's just practiced at it - Queen Elizabeth does her own tiara attachment. Factor in the sentiment behind a wedding gift from a beloved relative, plus the fact that it's one of the first tiaras she ever wore, and you've got the one diadem that the Queen pulls out more than any other. (And if you're trying to figure out how this got to be #1, don't forget: that means this is automatically one of the most famous tiaras in the world.) I have declared this in the past to be the most perfect tiara ever, and I stand firmly by my assessment. Why do I love this tiara? Let me count the ways...
Here you can see the dimension in the settings of the diamonds, which helps to catch light from every angle |
In motion
It’s big enough to say “I’m the Queen!” without screaming it loudly over every other aspect of one’s outfit. It’s also sizeable but light, which is always good for pretending it’s in your own collection (don’t pretend I’m the only one doing that, I know what your game is). And it’s sparkly. Oh, so sparkly. What more could you ask for?
Does this top your personal list?
Photos: Telegraph/Royal Collection/Leslie Field/Getty Images/Corbis