Everything about the then Kate Middleton’s April 29, 2011, bridal look has become iconic—including her “something borrowed,” her Cartier Halo tiara, on loan from Her late Majesty. But, according to The Mirror, Kate preferred to wear a flower crown instead (as her mother, Carole Middleton, did at her own wedding in 1980) and almost bypassed wearing a tiara altogether.
Kate eventually agreed to the tiara, and the one she chose has 739 brilliant-cut diamonds and 149 baguette diamonds. It was made in 1936 and purchased by the late Queen’s father, then the Duke of York, for the Queen Mother, then the Duchess of York. It was purchased just three weeks before the Duke of York succeeded his brother, King Edward VIII, after his abdication and became King George VI. The tiara was given to Her late Majesty—then Princess Elizabeth—by her mother on her eighteenth birthday in 1944.
And Kate’s desire to have flower crowns in her wedding still won out—her young bridesmaids wore them in their hair, instead.
“Kate gets the pick of the jewels for big occasions and the [late] Queen is happy to open up her jewelry box,” a source told Grazia before Her late Majesty’s passing last September. “Kate has been clever to befriend Angela Kelly, who is in charge of the Queen’s personal jewelry collection and oversees the loans. Generally, Kate is allowed to borrow whatever she fancies.”
Now, the big question remains—what tiara, if any, will Kate wear to King Charles’ Coronation on May 6?
