The Making of Kate Middleton's Coronation Headpiece and How It Honored Queen Elizabeth (Exclusive)
The Princess of Wales nodded to both Queen Elizabeth and King Charles with her bespoke, handcrafted silver headpiece
It might not have been a tiara, but Kate Middleton's choice of headwear at the coronation ticked all the right boxes for a modern new era.
It also nodded to the past, specifically to the 1953 coronation of Queen Elizabeth — the three-dimensional silver and crystal leaf headpiece worn by the Princess of Wales, 41, for the historic day looked strikingly similar to the ones worn by the late Queen's maids at her coronation.
"If they did take inspiration from those ornaments, it was a nice way to give Kate something that stood out visually while still reinforcing her current role as a supporter of the King and Queen," Lauren Kiehna, writer at The Court Jeweller blog tells PEOPLE.
Queen Elizabeth's six maids, whose duties included helping her on arrival at Westminster Abbey, all wore bespoke Norman Hartnell dresses for the historic day, just like the monarch.
Pictures from the crowning ceremony show them wearing structural floral headpieces that appear to be gold and white but very similar in its shape to the one worn by Princess Kate on Saturday.
The design of Kate's headpiece — a collaboration between the milliner Jess Collett and the designer of her ivory silk crepe dress, Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen — involved many patient hands, according to one seamstress who helped create it.
"Everyone had a bit of a go because they needed so many flowers and leaves," royal embroiderer Chloe Savage tells PEOPLE.
"You basically make the flowers and leaves on fabric with wires and then you cut them out. Then you bend and shape them accordingly," says the seamstress, who has worked on several major royal garments in the past including both Kate and Meghan Markle's wedding dresses. "Using real silver threads means you can damage it really easily and create gaps or damage in the wires. Part of our training is not to bruise the threads as we work, but it's really tricky — you just look at them and they bruise!"
Collett was given the task of designing the historic piece as a nod to King Charles, whose charity The Prince's Trust helped her get into the world of millinery 25 years ago by giving her a loan to start her own business. Since then, she has gone on to design hats for numerous celebrities and royals.
"It was 25 years ago that I secured my first loan from the @princestrust to start Jess Collett Milliner," Collett wrote on Instagram on coronation day. "Thank you King Charles and @princestrust for your support ……….still going strong today and loving my trade."
The official Instagram for King Charles' charity responded, "Thanks for being such a special part of our history and sharing your #PrincesTrust story today."
Unlike at the 1953 coronation of Queen Elizabeth, when most of the royal and aristocratic women were encouraged to dust off their family tiaras for the occasion, the dress code at the coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla was somewhat different.
With guests asked to wear formal daywear and fascinators and the royals asked to leave their tiaras at home, the sartorial tone of this modern-day coronation was always going to feel and look different. Luckily, Kate had been planning something a fitting alternative.
"I thought what she wore was really interesting, and it was a great compromise," says Kiki McDonough, a British jeweler whose designs are worn regularly by both Princess Kate and Queen Camilla. "It was a modern touch, but in a way, it was slightly Romanesque because they used to wear gold coronets with leaves. But in the situation she was in, it looked terribly modern."
There was some disappointment among royal style fans when PEOPLE learned five weeks before the May 6 coronation that Kate might not wear a tiara for the occasion. While those predictions were correct, the alternative still offered plenty of dazzle for such a momentous occasion.
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"Kate was still able to look very much like the second lady in the land, the future queen consort, while still fitting in with the other working royal ladies who also wore floral and feather headpieces," says Kiehna: "I thought that Kate's entire ensemble, given the overall visual look and dress code for this modern coronation, struck an excellent note. She looked regal and important, like a queen in waiting — but not a queen quite yet."
In another modern touch, the designers also made a mini-me version of the silver and crystal headpiece for Princess Charlotte — who, like her mom, wore McQueen for the event, a first for the 8-year-old.
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