Tiara Worn by Princess Kate Resurfaces
A tiara last worn by Princess Kate in 2022 resurfaced at Buckingham Palace in London during the state banquet for the Emperor and Empress of Japan on Tuesday night, on the head of another royal family member.
Kate has taken a step out of the public eye since the beginning of the year, owing to health issues, culminating in a cancer diagnosis and chemotherapy treatment. After a six-month absence from royal events, the princess attended the Trooping the Colour celebrations in the English capital on June 15, signaling a tentative return to public appearances. However, Kate did not attend Tuesday's state banquet.
In her absence, the most-senior royal woman present, behind Queen Camilla, was Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, a full-time working royal who is married to King Charles III's youngest brother, Prince Edward.
Sophie is popular in Britain, with polling undertaken in May by YouGov finding that she is viewed positively by 54 percent of the country. She is the fifth most popular royal overall, behind Kate, Prince William, Princess Anne and Charles.
Over the past year, as both the king and Kate have reduced their working outputs while receiving treatment for cancer, Sophie has taken on a more-visible role within the monarchy.
At the state banquet for Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako on Tuesday, Sophie glittered in a suite of jewels reportedly lent to her by Camilla. Since Queen Elizabeth II's death, Camilla has become the custodian of the monarch's vast jewelry collection, though ownership rests with the king.
The duchess wore for the first time what is known as the Lotus Flower Tiara, which is made entirely of diamonds set in a gold and silver frame.
The piece has an interesting history. It was made in October 1923, using diamonds and pearls from a necklace that had been given to Queen Elizabeth, later the Queen Mother, as a wedding present by her husband King George VI, when both were Duke and Duchess of York.
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (when Duchess of York) (L) photographed circa.1930. And Princess Margaret (R) photographed circa.1990. Both royals wore the Lotus Flower Tiara for official events. Hulton Archive/Getty Images/Kypros/Getty Images
The necklace was dismantled by the jewelry firm Garrard in London and rearranged in a floral art deco design, inspired by the fashionable Egyptian aesthetic at the time.
Elizabeth wore the tiara in the early 1920s, both on the head in its traditional form and as a bandeau across the forehead.
In the 1960s, the piece was lent to her daughter Princess Margaret, who wore it regularly until her death in 2002. Margaret also lent the tiara to her daughter-in-law, Serena, Countess of Snowdon, on her wedding day in 1993.
After Margaret's death and that of the Queen Mother in 2002, the tiara entered the collection of Queen Elizabeth II. It wasn't seen again publicly until 2015, when it was worn by Kate to her first tiara event after her wedding. The princess wore the jewel to the state banquet at Buckingham Palace held for President Xi Jinping of China, pairing it with an elegant red evening gown.
Kate wore the tiara again in 2022 for the diplomatic reception held at the palace, the first to be held in the reign of King Charles III.
Princess Kate photographed wearing the Lotus Flower Tiara at a stat banquet (L) 2015. And Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh wearing the tiara at a state banquet (R), 2024. The tiara is made from diamonds set on a gold and silver frame. DOMINIC LIPINSKI/POOL/AFP via Getty Images/Sky News
After Elizabeth's death, it is believed that the majority of her possessions and estate were inherited directly by Charles. Therefore, when Kate wore the Lotus Flower Tiara in 2022, it would have been lent to her by the king or by Camilla.
On Tuesday, Sophie paired the tiara with an elaborate suite of diamond jewels, including a diamond necklace and earrings that had also belonged to the late Elizabeth.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
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