King Charles and Queen Camilla are currently hosting South Korea’s president and his wife for the first incoming state visit since the King’s coronation and the second of his reign.
On Tuesday evening, the royal couple held a glittering state banquet in his honour at Buckingham Palace – and an array of royals attended.
Kate Middleton was effortlessly elegant when she arrived, sporting a white gown and a glittering tiara that’s been in the Royal collection since the 1920s.
Leading diamond experts at Steven Stone have taken a close look at the rarely seen tiara and revealed everything there is to know – including its all important price tag.
The Strathmore Rose tiara has a striking design that feature silver and gold prongs, set with rose cut diamonds. Rose cut diamonds are regular diamonds that have a flat bottom instead of a pavilion.
One of the things that stands out about the dazzling piece is that it’s customisable. Not only are the flower prongs removable – thus, can be worn as brooches – but the tiara also has two different frames, so it can be worn on top of the head or across the forehead.
The diamond headpiece originally belonged to Queen Elizabeth, who received the piece as a gift from her parents when she married the Duke of York in 1923. While Kate wore it on top of her head, photos of Queen Elizabeth wearing the piece show her wearing it across her forehead, which was a popular style in the 1920s.
When Queen Elizabeth passed away in 2002, Queen Elizabeth II inherited the tiara – though she never wore it publicly. In fact, the piece hadn’t been seen for years, making it a huge surprise when Kate chose to wear it for the State Banquet on Tuesday evening.
The Royal family tiaras are known for being among the most expensive pieces of jewellery in the world. When we teamed up with an insurance provider to calculate how much it would cost for the famous Royal families to insure their tiaras, we found that it would cost £297,466 for the British Royal family to protect their collection.
“In the grand tapestry of royal splendour, few adornments captivate the imagination and evoke a sense of regal elegance quite like the royal tiara – and some of them are worth millions.
Earlier this week, Kate Middleton wore the Strathmore Rose tiara, which has a particularly striking design that features silver and gold prongs set with rose cut diamonds. The flower prongs are removable – thus, they can also be worn as brooches. The tiara also has two different frames, so it can be worn on top of the head or across the forehead – a style that was popular in the 1920s.
The Princess of Wales is just the second person to wear the Strathmore Rose tiara that originally belonged to Queen Elizabeth, who received the piece from her parents when she married the Duke of York in 1923. Queen Elizabeth II inherited the tiara from her mother in 2002, though she never wore it publicly. Up until its appearance this week, it hadn’t been seen for years.
The Royal family tiaras are renowned for being among the most expensive pieces of jewellery in the world so the Strathmore Rose tiaras hefty price tag comes as no surprise – I’d estimate the sentimental piece to be worth £1.5 million.”
zack stone, managing director, steven stone
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