{"id":215608,"date":"2025-12-04T20:09:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T20:09:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/215608\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T20:09:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T20:09:12","slug":"the-history-of-the-oriental-circlet-tiara-from-queen-victoria-to-kate-middleton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/215608\/","title":{"rendered":"The History of the Oriental Circlet Tiara, from Queen Victoria to Kate Middleton"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last night at Windsor Castle, Kate Middleton stepped out in a surprising tiara choice<\/a>: Queen Victoria\u2019s Oriental Circlet Tiara, also known as the Garrard Oriental Circlet Tiara or the Indian Circlet Tiara. Commissioned in 1853 by Prince Albert, the piece is one of the oldest tiaras that Garrard created for the royal family. Notably, it is only the fifth tiara the Princess of Wales has ever worn<\/a>\u2014and it definitely made a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Oriental Circlet is an extraordinary example of both artistry and technical skills,\u201d Claire Scott, the Design and Development Director at Garrard, said in a statement. \u201cDesigned for opals and later adapted for rubies, its evolution reflects not only the changing tastes of its royal custodians but the craftsmanship and precision that define Garrard. Adjusting the arches and replacing the stones required exceptional finesse, a flexibility in design that remains central to our work today, whether creating bespoke jewels or reimagining heritage pieces for new generations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Federalpicture alliance\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The Princess of Wales arriving for the state banquet.<\/p>\n

Here, what to know about the dramatic Oriental Circlet Tiara.<\/p>\n

It was commissioned by Prince Albert for Queen Victoria.<\/p>\n

In 1853, Prince Albert commissioned Garrard, then the Crown Jeweler, to create the tiara for his wife Queen Elizabeth. In 1853, Garrard\u2019s ledger read, \u201cMaking a Diamond Tiara of Oriental design with Opal centres. The outer frame ornament and the spires and such Ornaments made to remove with screw springs and the spires to be replaced by large single Diamonds to complete the Ornament when a lighter and more simple Tiara is required.\u201d<\/p>\n

In her will, Queen Victoria reportedly stipulated that the Oriental Circlet should only be worn by queens and future queens. To this day, it remains the only tiara designed by Prince Albert for Queen Victoria in the royal collection.<\/p>\n

Rubies replaced the opals in 1902.\"HistoricalCourtesy Garrard<\/p>\n

A view of Garrard\u2019s royal ledger.<\/p>\n

In 1901, Queen Victoria\u2019s daughter-in-law Queen Alexandra inherited the tiara. According to Garrard, \u201csuperstitions surrounding opals saw her return the circlet to Garrard in 1902 with a request to replace the stones with a collection of Burmese rubies given to Queen Victoria as a gift from the ruler of Nepal in the 1870s. It is also noted in our Royal Ledger that while the opals were being replaced, some of the arches were also removed to make the tiara smaller. Despite this, she is believed to have only worn it once on a state visit to Germany.\u201d (The royal ledger is pictured above.)<\/p>\n

Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother) inherited it in 1936.\"PortraitUnderwood Archives\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Portrait of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother on her 50th birthday, London, England, 1950.<\/p>\n

For decades, the tiara was not seen in public until Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother) inherited it, and it quickly became one of her go-to jewels. Upon her daughter Queen Elizabeth\u2019s accession to the throne, the Queen Mother kept wearing it frequently over the decades\u2014along with the coordinating ruby and diamond necklace and earrings.<\/p>\n

\"QueenTim Graham\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The Queen Mother\u2019s 80th birthday celebration.<\/p>\n

Queen Elizabeth wore it just once, in 2005.\"VisitMark Cuthbert\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Queen Elizabeth in Malta.<\/p>\n

Upon her mother\u2019s death, Queen Elizabeth only wore the Oriental Circlet Tiara once\u2014on a state visit to Malta, in 2005.<\/p>\n

\"BuckinghamScott Barbour\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The Oriental Circlet worn by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, on display for the 2005 Summer Opening of the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace.<\/p>\n

Kate wore it in December 2025.\"BRITAIN-GERMANY-ROYALS-DIPLOMACY\"AARON CHOWN\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The Prince and Princess of Wales arriving at Windsor Castle for the German State Banquet.<\/p>\n

Kate made a surprising choice in wearing the show-stopping Oriental Circlet Tiara for the German State Banquet<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s wonderful to see the hugely positive response to this particular Garrard tiara,\u201d Sara Prentice, Chief Creative Officer of Garrard, said in a statement. \u201cA new generation who value permanence are reshaping and rediscovering each iconic Garrard creation. It inspires us to shape brilliance for today\u2019s great love stories.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Play\"Federal\"Headshot<\/p>\n

Emily Burack (she\/her) is the Senior News Editor for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, celebrities, the royals, and a wide range of other topics. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma, a Jewish culture site. Follow her @emburack on Twitter and Instagram.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last night at Windsor Castle, Kate Middleton stepped out in a surprising tiara choice: Queen Victoria\u2019s Oriental Circlet…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":215609,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[341,117107,343,18,117,7892,19,17,590,117106],"class_list":{"0":"post-215608","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-content-type-news","9":"tag-contentid-282919be-5464-4021-a1e3-8f95cf38b5bb","10":"tag-displaytype-standard-article","11":"tag-eire","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-explained","14":"tag-ie","15":"tag-ireland","16":"tag-locale-us","17":"tag-shorttitle-garrard-oriental-circlet-tiara-history"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115663114904730240","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=215608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215608\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/215609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=215608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=215608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=215608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}