The Best Royal Jewels of 2019: #4 (Sophie’s Tiara Redesigned)

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Sophie Rhys-Jones debuted this unusual diamond tiara on the day that she married the Queen’s youngest son, the Earl of Wessex, in Windsor in 1999.

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The tiara was a gift to the new Countess of Wessex from the Queen, and press reports from the wedding noted that it came from HM’s jewelry collection. The generally accepted theory about the tiara’s provenance is that the piece is composed of four anthemion elements that were originally alternative pieces of Queen Victoria’s Regal Circlet.

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Sophie wore the tiara regularly in the decade that followed her royal wedding, often wearing it abroad at other royal nuptials. Above, she wears the tiara with other diamond jewels for the wedding of Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel of Sweden in 2010.

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Even though its elements were likely sourced from a major royal jewel, the tiara’s unusual design was often panned by jewelry lovers. In June 2019, Sophie gave royal watchers a welcome surprise by debuting a brand-new, rearranged version of her wedding tiara. She wore the new setting of the tiara for the first time at the American state banquet. In her latest book, Angela Kelly confirms that the tiara was redesigned ahead of the event by Harry Collins. The timing makes sense, as the banquet took place only a few days before Sophie and Edward’s twentieth wedding anniversary.