Was Princess Catherine’s Coronation Headpiece Really a Tiara? The Milliner Who Made It Says Yes

When we all learned that there would be no tiaras in Westminster Abbey for the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla last year, there was much mourning here at The Court Jeweller. On Coronation Day, the Princess of Wales arrived wearing an elaborate floral headpiece–and now the designer who made it has revealed that she considered the commission to be a tiara.

The Prince and Princess of Wales arrived in royal splendor at Westminster Abbey with their two younger children, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, to attend the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla in May 2023, wearing gowns and chivalric robes.

Both Princess Catherine and Princess Charlotte wore white dresses from Alexander McQueen. Both ensembles featured intricate floral embroidery, a motif that was repeated in the floral headpieces that were created for the princesses especially for the ceremony.

The headpieces were a collaboration between Alexander McQueen’s Sarah Burton and Jess Collett, a British milliner with an atelier in Notting Hill. The leaves of the headpieces were made of silver tulle and embroidered with real silver thread and crystals to add extra sparkle.

I’ve always simply called the ornaments “floral headpieces,” but in an exclusive interview with People last week, Collett revealed that she considered Princess Catherine’s headpiece to be a tiara. “It was a tiara that I made for the princess,” she told Monique Jessen.

When making the tiara, Collett turned to one of her existing designs for inspiration. She told People that the headpiece “it was very much based on a piece that I have called ‘The Golden Crown’–a band of leaves made from gold leather.” The Golden Crown is available to be rented (or “hired,” as the Brits say) from Collett’s studio, and women have worn it for a range of occasions, from weddings to elaborate parties.

The floral headpiece worn by Princess Charlotte, also made by Collett, was a junior version of the larger tiara made for her mother, featuring the same silver tulle leaves and silver thread and crystal embroidery.

With the gown, robes, and headpiece, Kate also wore a few more pieces of significant jewelry for the coronation service. Her earrings, which feature diamonds set in horseshoe and laurel designs with pearl drops, originally belonged to the late Diana, Princess of Wales.

The official coronation portraits also revealed that Kate wore another major piece of royal jewelry on Coronation Day: the Diamond Festoon Necklace commissioned by King George VI in 1950. The necklace was a favorite piece of gala jewelry of the late Queen Elizabeth II.