The Best Royal Jewels of 2020: #2 (Princess Beatrice’s Wedding Tiara)

Our countdown of the best royal jewels of the year has almost reached the top! The runner-up moment of the year is an incredible one: the heirloom royal tiara worn by Princess Beatrice on her wedding day.

I know I’m not the only one who gasped a little when we first learned that the Queen had loaned a very special tiara to her granddaughter for her wedding to Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in July. Princess Beatrice wore Queen Mary’s Fringe Tiara, a lightweight, streamlined diamond fringe made for Queen Mary more than a hundred years ago.

The tiara is extra special, of course, because it’s the same one that the Queen wore for her wedding to the Duke of Edinburgh in 1947. It was also worn by Princess Anne for her first wedding in 1973. The Queen inherited the tiara from the Queen Mother in 2002, and she’s worn it occasionally since. This was the first time the Queen has loaned it to another family member since inheriting it. (See even more history of the tiara over here!)

The tiara, of course, wasn’t the only thing that the Queen loaned to Beatrice for her wedding.

Beatrice’s wedding gown is a vintage dress from the Queen’s collection, made by Sir Norman Hartnell. The Queen wore it more than once during the 1960s; above, she wears it for the state opening of parliament in April 1966. The dress was originally sleeveless. Angela Kelly added gauzy cap sleeves to the dress for the wedding.

The loan of the important tiara and the vintage gown were certainly signs of the great affection that exists between grandmother and granddaughter. In recent years, Beatrice’s father has been rightfully removed from his working royal role, but moments like this demonstrate that the love that the Queen has for the York princesses remains unchanged.