Historic Diamonds / Royal Stories
The Secret Legacy of Princess Diana’s Spencer Tiara—And Who Might Wear It Next
By Hannah Militano, July 1, 2025
On her birthday, we’re looking back on Princess Diana’s wedding tiara. Passed down through generations, the Spencer Tiara has become one of the most legendary family heirlooms in history.
After their 1981 wedding ceremony, Prince Charles with Princess Diana who is wearing the Spencer tiara. (Getty Images)
When Princess Diana wore the Spencer Tiara on her wedding day in 1981, the legendary diamond headpiece cemented its place in modern royal history.
When her engagement to the heir apparent to the British royal throne, then-Prince Charles, was announced, Princess Diana catapulted to unforeseen heights of fame and admiration, earning her the nickname “The People’s Princess.” Their wedding was watched by approximately 750 million viewers throughout the globe, marking the occasion as the second most-viewed royal event in history.
Meet the Author
- Hannah Militano covers diamond jewelry trends, the fashion industry, pop culture, and celebrity news.
- She holds a Bachelor’s degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology.
- As a journalist, her work has been featured in publications such as Editorialist, Carine Roitfeld’s CR Fashion Book, L’Officiel USA, Grazia USA, Coveteur, and more.
The Spencer Tiara: A Family Heirloom
Adhering to the royal rulebook, Princess Diana’s wedding day marked her first time officially wearing a tiara, as only a bride or a married woman may wear one. Instead of borrowing one from Queen Elizabeth II’s robust Royal Collection, Diana used the opportunity to honor her own family heritage.
Her father, the 8th Earl Spencer, loaned her the Spencer Tiara – a family jewel that has been passed down through generations. It’s even been said that she was offered to wear the Queen’s Lover’s Knot Tiara – a jewel that would appear heavily in her rotation as a royal, but turned it down in favor of family tradition.
She floated through St. Paul’s Cathedral in her frothy David and Elizabeth Emanuel bridal gown, with her family tiara glistening atop her regal 459-foot-long tulle veil. “When Diana wore her family heirloom for her wedding day, it became one of the most famous tiaras in modern history,” says Claire Scott, Design and Development Director at Garrard.
Designed in an intricate garland style, a heart-shaped motif sits in the center of the Spencer Tiara, flanked by looped scrolls, and sprinkled with sparkling stars and trumpet-shaped diamond flowers. Round, rose-cut, pear-shaped, and cushion-cut natural diamonds are interspersed throughout the diadem, mounted in gold.
Diana’s father continued to loan the Spencer Tiara to the Princess of Wales after her wedding. She would often wear it to her royal commitments, from State Banquets and white-tie affairs to world tours.
The Origins of the Spencer Tiara
The Spencer Tiara is said to have been originally created in 1767 for the Viscountess Montagu. In 1919, Lady Sarah Spencer gifted the tiara to Lady Cynthia Hamilton (Princess Diana’s grandmother) as a wedding present after she tied the knot with Albert, Viscount Althorp.
By 1937, Cynthia was Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother’s Lady of the Bedchamber, requiring her to wear a plethora of tiaras for royal events. That’s when Garrard entered the picture. The royal jeweler modified and expanded the tiara, incorporating elements from other family jewels, resulting in the design as we know it today.
“The remodeling of the Spencer Tiara in our workshop in 1937 resulted in a lovely, cohesive design that is so typical of the period,” says Claire Scott, Design and Development Director at Garrard. “This tiara is one of those jewels that will always be associated with Diana.”
Who Else Has Worn the Spencer Tiara?
By the 1970s, John Spencer, the 8th Earl Spencer, inherited the family heirloom. Subsequently, all three of his daughters wore the Spencer Tiara on their wedding days. First, Lady Jane wore the tiara when she wed Robert Fellowes in 1978. Then, Lady Sarah wore it to marry Neil McCorquodale in 1980. Finally, Lady Diana adorned the Spencer tiara to marry the then-Prince Charles in 1981. Even Diana’s former sister-in-law, Victoria Lockwood, wore the prized jewel to wed Diana’s younger brother, Charles Spencer, in 1989.
Most recently, the tiara was pulled out of the vaults for the wedding of Lady Sarah’s daughter, Celia McCorquodale, in the Spring of 2018. The Spencer Tiara remains in the possession of the Spencer family to this day.
Why Didn’t Kate Middleton or Meghan Markle Wear the Spencer Tiara for Their Royal Weddings?
Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales, has never worn the Spencer Tiara, nor has Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex. The jewel is a private family heirloom and not part of the British royal collection. As a result, the tiara has not been available to either of Princess Diana’s daughters-in-law, who both opted to wear other famous tiaras from Queen Elizabeth II’s collection. While Kate Middleton opted for the Cartier Halo Scroll Tiara for her wedding to Prince William in 2011, Meghan Markle chose Queen Mary’s Diamond Bandeau Tiara for her wedding to Prince Harry in 2018.
As Diana’s brother Charles is the current head of the Spencer family as the 9th Earl Spencer, he has possession of the tiara. His twin daughters, Eliza and Amelia Spencer, both chose not to wear the family headpiece for their respective weddings.
Who Will Inherit the Spencer Tiara?
Royal watchers are beginning to speculate about who might one day inherit the Spencer Tiara. Some rumors point to Princess Charlotte or Princess Lilibet—Princess Diana’s granddaughters—as possible future wearers of the storied heirloom. However, because the tiara is traditionally passed down through the Earldom, it is expected that Charles Spencer’s son, Viscount Althorp, will inherit it upon his father’s death.
