< Historic Diamonds / Royal Stories
Meghan Markle’s Wedding Tiara Has a Surprising Royal History
TikTok’s #1 royal commentator debriefs on the history and drama behind Meghan Markle’s diamond-encrusted wedding day tiara.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle ride in an Ascot Landau along the Long Walk after their wedding in St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle on May 19, 2018. (Mike Egerton/PA Wire)
Meghan Markle wore Queen Mary’s Diamond Bandeau tiara when she married Prince Harry at Windsor Castle on May 19, 2018. The Duchess of Sussex looked radiant in a bespoke off-the-shoulder Givenchy gown by Clare Waight Keller, paired with an ethereal cascading veil and Galanterie de Cartier diamond stud earrings.
As minimalist as a royal wedding look can be, the streamlined silhouette was elevated by the brilliance of the historic wedding bandeau, which crowned Markle’s understated updo
Meet the Expert
- Amanda Matta is TikTok’s #1 royal commentator, known for her deep dives into the royal news cycle as @matta_of_fact. Since 2021, she’s covered everything from the Platinum Jubilee and the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II to the coronation of King Charles III, bringing historical context to modern monarchy.
- She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Art History & Museum Studies from Juniata College (2017) and a Master’s degree in Arts Administration & Museum Leadership from Drexel University (2020).
In the months following her wedding day, Markle shed some light on the process of selecting the perfect royal wedding tiara. She told Harper’s Bazaar, “When it came to the tiara on the day, I was very fortunate to be able to choose this gorgeous Art Deco style bandeau tiara.” The Duchess continued, “Harry and I had gone to Buckingham Palace to meet with her Majesty the Queen to select one of the options that were there, which was an incredibly surreal day as you can imagine.”
Prince Harry told the outlet, “Funnily enough, it was the one that suited the best, the one that looked the best on you without question.” He added, “I shouldn’t have really been there, but an incredible loan by my grandmother. Very sweet.”
The History of Queen Mary’s Diamond Bandeau
Formerly known as the Filigree tiara, the diadem has historic roots, reaching back to 1893. Back when Queen Mary was still Princess Victoria Mary of Teck, she received an assortment of sumptuous jewels as wedding gifts when she married King George V (then-Prince George, Duke of York). Among them was an immaculate cluster brooch from the County of Lincoln, featuring nine diamonds encircling one large center stone.
“It was common for prominent noblemen, landowners, or business owners from a town or a county to fundraise to purchase a gift to give to a royal,” says royal expert Amanda Matta, known on TikTok as @matta_of_fact. “It happened a lot around Queen Elizabeth’s 18th birthday and also her wedding,” she explains. “It’s a really cool piece of royal history when you can trace these items back to how they entered as gifts into the Royal Collection.”
In 1932, Queen Mary commissioned Garrard to create a diamond bandeau-style tiara, set in platinum to accommodate the detachable County of Lincoln Brooch in the center.
According to The Royal Collection, the tiara includes “a flexible band of eleven sections, pavé set with large and small brilliant diamonds in a geometric design.” The tiara was handed down to her granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II, when Queen Mary died in 1953.
“Queen Mary, we know, had tons of diamonds and tiaras at her disposal,” Matta says. “I was thinking about why she needed one more? Why did she need this brooch to become a tiara? But she wore diamonds every single day, and she wore tiaras more frequently than other royals – not just to the big occasions like we see now, but to dinner every night, social appearances, and even society events. So, obviously, she needed a lot of pieces to swap in and out for those different occasions.”
Before Meghan Markle wore the diadem on her wedding day, Matta explains, “We hadn’t really seen it on anyone else in the family since Queen Mary.” She says, “It wasn’t quite Queen Elizabeth’s style, who really favored bigger, more theatrical pieces.”
Why Queen Mary’s Diamond Bandeau Tiara Was the Perfect Choice for Meghan Markle
As royal rules go, one’s wedding day marks the first time someone marrying into the royal family gets to wear a tiara. This rule of thumb took hold in classical antiquity, when the jewel was seen as a crowning of love. With humble modesty in mind, many first-time wearers choose what might be considered a strong “starter tiara,” best fit for younger members of the family due to its dainty and delicate design, along with its smaller stature.
According to Matta, Queen Mary’s Diamond Bandeau was an appropriate choice for Markle. Since she’s not in line to be Queen and was marrying into the lower ranks of the family, it was expected that she would wear a piece with a subtle presence, simply based on hierarchy. “Not only did the tiara fit with her role in the family, but also her own personal style,” says Matta. “It looked beautiful with her wedding dress, which was so sleek, simple, and timeless. The gown was beautifully constructed, tying into the beautiful construction of the tiara.”
She goes on to explain, “It feels crazy to say, because tiaras themselves are extremely formal, but there is a hierarchy of tiaras. You have the big, stately, queenly tiaras. Then, you have pieces like Queen Mary’s Diamond Bandeau, which is a little more understated, even though you get hit with a plane of so many intricately coordinated diamonds when you look at it. In terms of the language of tiaras, it makes a great royal bridal tiara.”
The ‘Tiaragate’ Controversy Over Meghan Markle’s Wedding Tiara
There have been many voices in this choir, dubbed ‘tiaragate,’ alleging that Queen Elizabeth and Meghan Markle disagreed on which tiara she should wear on the big day.
Traditionally, the Queen has loaned royal brides their wedding tiaras, like Kate Middleton, Princess Beatrice, and Princess Eugenie in recent years. Her Majesty did the same for Markle with Queen Mary’s Diamond Bandeau tiara. However, a wave of UK tabloids reported on alleged behind-the-scenes tension concerning Markle’s headpiece.
According to royal biographer Robert Lacey, the historic piece of royal regalia may not have been Markle’s first choice for a wedding tiara. Queen Elizabeth II allegedly denied Markle’s first pick because the piece had “scandal attached.” In his 2020 book Battle of Brothers: William & Harry – The Inside Story of a Family in Tumult, the author claims the Duchess requested to wear “a beautiful emerald headdress that was said ‘to have come from Russia.’”
Did Meghan Markle Originally Want the Greville Emerald Kokoshnik Tiara?
Many have interpreted Lacey’s claims to mean Meghan Markle had her eye on the Greville Emerald Kokoshnik tiara, worn by Princess Eugenie at her own wedding just five months after Meghan and Harry’s nuptials. But that specific diadem is not actually from Russia. It stemmed from the French jeweler Boucheron and was merely inspired by the Russian style.
Featuring a striking design of brilliant and rose-cut diamonds, pavé-set in platinum, and accented by nine cabochon emeralds, the tiara originally belonged to Dame Margaret Greville, a renowned British society hostess and philanthropist, who bequeathed her jewelry collection to her close friend Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, upon her death in 1942 in what is now known as the Greville bequest.
In Battle of Brothers, Lacey alleges that the royal dresser claimed Markle preferred the unnamed emerald tiara, but that it would be unable to leave the palace without “an ordinance and police escort.” (Pay attention, this will come up again later.)
As we debrief on the tiara drama, Matta wonders how Meghan Markle was even aware of the Greville Emerald Kokoshnik tiara’s existence, if it wasn’t presented to her as an option. “The Greville Emerald tiara hadn’t been seen or photographed [since before the Greville bequest]. Nobody really knew it was in the royal vaults until Princess Eugenie wore it at her wedding, so like Megan probably wouldn’t have known it existed.” Meanwhile, Eugenie, being a blood Princess, could have grown up knowing it existed in the vaults. Matta also makes the point that Eugenie’s chosen wedding tiara likely would have been earmarked for her in advance.
Was the Tension Over Meghan Markle’s Wedding Tiara With the Queen or Angela Kelly?
In 2020, royal journalists Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand released a biography of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, titled Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family. The book refutes the media’s claims that the Queen was unhappy with Markle’s first choice of tiara.
Detailing the events leading up to Meghan and Prince Harry’s 2018 wedding, Scobie and Durand report that there were no disagreements or drama between the Queen and Markle. Rather, there was some conflict surrounding the tiara between Prince Harry and the Queen’s longtime dresser, Angela Kelly.
Scobie and Durand write that Harry felt Kelly was intentionally “dragging her feet in helping Meghan obtain access to her chosen tiara for a hair trial in advance of the big day.” Though, according to Finding Freedom, the hair trial went forward with no delay, and without any hesitation from the Queen.
Did Meghan Markle Consider Wearing One of Princess Diana’s Tiaras?
In 2023, Prince Harry reclaimed the narrative, releasing his own candid memoir, Spare. In the book, Prince Harry explained that he and Markle imagined that she might wear one of Princess Diana’s tiaras for her special day, being “touched” by the idea.
However, Princess Diana only wore two tiaras during her tenure as a royal: the Cambridge Lover’s Knot tiara, which Kate Middleton had already adopted as a favorite before Meghan and Harry’s engagement, and the Spencer tiara, which is a private family heirloom owned by the Spencer family and not part of the British Crown Jewels.
Harry wrote, “My aunts asked if Meg would like to wear my mother’s [tiara].” He continued, “Meg then spent hours with her dress designer, getting the veil to match the tiara, giving it a similar scalloped edge.”
What Other Tiaras Were Presented to Meghan Markle?
Then, Queen Elizabeth II advised the couple to select a headpiece from her private jewelry collection at Buckingham Palace instead. Harry recalled in Spare, “Shortly before the wedding, however, Granny reached out. She offered us access to her collection of tiaras. She even invited us to Buckingham Palace to try them on. Do come over, I remember her saying.”
According to the reports, the Queen and Angela Kelly presented the bride-to-be with an assortment of five tiaras. He wrote, “I stood behind, watching. One was all emeralds. One was aquamarines. Each was more dazzling than the last.” Prince Harry recalled that one particular crown “stood out from the others.”
Emerald options include the Greville Emerald Kokoshnik tiara and the Grand Duchess Vladimir tiara. But which aquamarine tiaras could have been presented to Meghan Markle? The Wessex Aquamarine Necklace Tiara may have been a part of the assortment, as well as the Aquamarine Ribbon tiara, or Queen Elizabeth’s beloved Brazilian Aquamarine tiara.
Just one week later, the couple touched base with Kelly and requested to borrow the tiara for a test with Markle’s hairstylist. The Duke of Sussex claims the royal dresser went silent. When she did contact them, she said the tiara needed a police escort to leave the palace, further confirming claims made by Scobie and Durand in Finding Freedom.
Harry wrote that it “seemed to us a little exaggerated,” but time was running down to the wire, so they agreed. “It was obvious they were putting up obstacles, but why? It didn’t occur to us what motives they might have.”
Regardless of the rumors, Prince Harry claimed that everyone agreed that Queen Mary’s Diamond Bandeau tiara “looked like it was made for Meg.” And we’d have to agree on that.
