The British Royal family boasts an impressive collection of priceless jewellery, featuring heirlooms and historical pieces passed down through generations.
Princess Kate has been loaned numerous dazzling items over the years, all of which will eventually be accessible to her daughter, Princess Charlotte.
However, the nine-year-old is also destined to inherit a particularly special piece that her mother has never worn: the iconic Spencer tiara, once owned by her late grandmother, Princess Diana. This was the very headpiece Diana chose for her 1981 wedding to then-Prince Charles.
The Spencer tiara, designed in a garland style, has a central heart surrounded by continuous running scrolls, interspersed with star and trumpet-shaped flowers. It’s adorned with circular and rose-cut, cushion and pear-shaped diamonds, set in gold.
The tiara is a Spencer family possession, lent to Diana for her wedding by her father, John, who continued to allow her to wear it for other occasions.
In 1989, the tiara graced another grand occasion when Diana’s younger brother Charles married his first wife, Victoria Lockwood. Following John’s death in March 1992, Charles inherited the Spencer estate and assets, including the Spencer tiara.
Displayed in London in 2022, it was at this time that Charlotte’s inheritance of the tiara was confirmed.
According to HELLO!, the description placed alongside the tiara read, in part: “In the mid-1970s, John Spencer, the 8th Earl Spencer, inherited the tiara. It was subsequently worn by all three of his daughters at their wedding: Lady Jane in 1978; Lady Sarah in 1980; and finally, Lady Diana the following year, in 1981.
“The tiara was most recently worn by Celia McCorquodale – niece of the 10th Earl Spencer Charles – at her wedding in the Spring of 2018. The Spencer Tiara is now set to be inherited by Princess Charlotte.”
Charlotte could also be destined to receive another legendary piece of jewellery – Diana’s sapphire engagement ring, which the Princess of Wales currently wears with pride.
Upon marrying Prince William, Kate is said to have inherited six items from Princess Diana valued at a staggering £16.5million in total, including Diana’s South Sea pearl earrings, Collingwood earrings, the Saudi sapphire suite and her three-strand pearl bracelet.
In a “letter of wishes” penned before her untimely death, Princess Diana expressed: “I would like you to allocate all my jewellery to the share to be held by my sons, so that their wives may, in due course, have it or use it.”
Over the years, Kate Middleton has been gifted numerous pieces of jewellery from Prince William and King Charles, which could potentially be passed on to Princess Charlotte.
These include the Olympic Cartier set, Ballon Bleu Cartier watch, Promise ring, Eternity band, Green tourmaline and amethyst earrings, shamrock brooch, personalised gold necklace, and amethyst earrings.