Princess Claire’s Wedding Tiara

Princess Claire’s Wedding Tiara (Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

Happy National Day to all of our lovely readers from Belgium! Today is the annual celebration of the inauguration of King Leopold I in 1831. To help add some glitter to the day, we’re looking at one of the family’s most delicate, lovely tiaras: the diamond diadem worn by Princess Claire at her wedding to Prince Laurent.

Photo: Scott Barbour/Getty Images

The specific provenance of this all-diamond tiara doesn’t seem to have been made public knowledge. While we don’t know whether the tiara was newly-made or an antique piece, we do know that it was a wedding gift to the British-born Claire from her new parents-in-law, King Albert and Queen Paola. Others have noted a resemblance to the small “vifte” tiara from the Norwegian royal collection, which dates to the 1890s.

Photo: Scott Barbour/Getty Images

Claire wore the tiara at her wedding in 2003. While the tiara is a small piece, it coordinated perfectly with Claire’s wedding ensemble — the tiara’s design echoes the dainty lacework of Claire’s wedding dress and her veil. (Trivia: Claire’s gorgeous wedding look was apparently the inspiration for the royal wedding gown in the film The Princess Diaries 2.)

Photo: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

After her own wedding, one of Claire’s most high-profile appearances in the tiara happened at the 2004 wedding of Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark. At the wedding — and at many other white-tie events — she wore the tiara with her diamond and pearl wedding earrings.

Photo: Mark Renders/Getty Images

During the early years of her marriage, this was the sole tiara in Claire’s collection. The fact that it’s an all-diamond piece was an asset, because it coordinates well with lots of different ensembles. Its small size, however, does mean that it requires very specific styling, or it gets lost in Claire’s hair. Above, Claire wears the tiara during a 2005 state visit from Portugal; below, she wears it during the 2006 Dutch state visit.

Photo: Mark Renders/Getty Images

It will be interesting to see, in the future, how much Laurent and Claire’s extended family continue to be involved in royal duties and events. If their daughter, Princess Louise, attends white-tie events when she’s older, this tiny-but-mighty sparkler could be a great “first tiara” for her to wear.