Duchess of York’s Diamond Tiara

The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh gave this magnificent Diamond Tiara as a wedding gift to Sarah Ferguson upon her marriage to Prince Andrew on this day in 1986, 40 years ago, which was most recently worn by Princess Beatrice in Jordon.

Ahead of the Wedding of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh acquired this antique Diamond Tiara from Garrard in London. The Tiara is of unknown provenance but was initially said to have been loaned by a ‘family friend’ before being confirmed to have been acquired by the Queen and Duke.

Sarah Ferguson arrived for the Wedding at Westminster Abbey wearing a wreath of flowers atop her veil, which were removed while signing the register and revealed the Diamond Tiara underneath. The symbolism was that she wanted to enter the Abbey as a commoner and leave as a Duchess.

The Duchess of York wore her Diamond Tiara on numerous occasions in the years soon after her marriage, including on a Royal Tour of Canada in 1987, which had no less than three Tiara events as well as a Banquet at Claridges in 1987.

The Diamond Tiara was also worn by the Duchess of York to Banquets and Official Dinner at home and abroad in the 1980s and 90s. After her Divorce in 1996, the Tiara remained with the Duchess.

Sarah, Duchess of York was last seen wearing the Diamond Tiara at Elton John’s 2001 White Tie and Tiara Ball.

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It was revealed that the Duchess reportedly kept the Tiara in her bedside table at Royal Lodge, though she recently confirmed that it was kept in a safe.

I do keep it in the safe, but it is a beautiful gift from the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh

In 2023, Princess Beatrice wore her mother’s Diamond Tiara at the Banquet to celebrate the Wedding of Crown Prince Al Hussein and Princess Rajwa at the Al Husseiniya Palace in Amman. The Duchess commented:

The first hairdresser she went to… the hairdresser put the tiara on thinking she’d watched too much Disney. Right at the front! Lovely hairdresser in Jordan, very nice, I’m sure. But I think they’d been studying Disney princesses. Beatrice then did it and put it on herself. But she did look incredible. I was very, very proud of her.

It was very clean before ‘cause I do shine it up, I was very proud that she wore it. I was so deeply honoured she was wearing my tiara, which was a beautiful gift.”