Floral Tiara Tournament: Strathmore Rose vs Heathcote

Two floral tiaras with British aristocratic roots face off in this contest!

This delicate floral tiara, made in the nineteenth century, was a wedding present given to Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (better known to us as the Queen Mother) by her father, the Earl of Strathmore, in 1923. She loved to wear the tiara across her forehead in trendy 1920s style, but it’s not been worn by any other member of the family, and it’s still in the vaults today.

This towering spray of leaves and wild roses is made of diamond elements that date to the eighteenth century. The tiara belongs to the Heathcote family, who were the Earls of Ancaster until the line went extinct in the 1980s. Today, the tiara is owned by Jane, 28th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby, who is the daughter of the last earl (and who was a maid of honour at the coronation in 1953). She loaned it to one of her cousins, Rose Astor, for her wedding to Hugh van Cutsem in 2005.