When she married Prince Charles in 1981, Diana Spencer chose to wear her family’s heirloom tiara, the Spencer tiara, for her walk down the aisle, choosing it over the Queen Mary Lover’s Knot tiara loaned to her by her soon-to-be mother-in-law, Queen Elizabeth. The Spencer tiara includes diamonds in silver settings mounted in gold in various floral shapes; both of Diana’s older sisters, Jane and Sarah, also wore the tiara at their respective weddings. (The Queen Mary Lover’s Knot tiara, by the way, is one favored most by the current Princess of Wales, Catherine.)
According to The Daily Express, when she married Prince Harry in 2018, Meghan Markle wanted to wear the Spencer tiara—perhaps as a nod to the mother-in-law she’ll never know, using it as a sentimental way to honor Diana, who died in 1997. But this time, the Queen stepped in and said no, which she didn’t do back in 1981.
