Princess Eugenie wore tiara never worn by a member of royal family on her wedding day
In the lead-up to her wedding, we all assumed that Princess Eugenie would wear the same jewels as her mother Sarah, Duchess of York on her big day – the York tiara.
But she surprised us by opting for the Greville Emerald Kokoshnik Tiara, which has never been worn by a member of the royal family in public until now.
It was lent to her by the Queen, as her ‘something borrowed.’ The tiara was made by Boucheron for Mrs Greville in 1919 in the fashionable ‘kokoshnik’ style popularised in the Russian Imperial Court.
According to the Royal Order of Sartorial Splendour: “Mrs. Greville was a social climber regarded as a snob and a gossip by many (“a galumphing, greedy, snobbish old toad who watered her chops at the sight of royalty and the Prince of Wales’s set, and did nothing for anybody except the rich,” in the eloquently savage words of Cecil Beaton) – but to the royals whose company she sought, she was a good friend.”
The tiara is made of brilliant and rose cut diamonds pavé set in platinum, with six emeralds on either side
It was bequeathed by Mrs Greville to Queen Elizabeth, later the Queen Mother, in 1942.
When she died in 2002, Her Majesty inherited her mother’s jewellery collection and this headpiece was among the exquisite pieces.
Princess Eugenie also wore diamond and emerald drop earrings to match the tiara, which are a wedding gift from her new husband Jack.
Her jacquard-weave wedding dress was designed by Peter Pilotto and Christopher De Vos, who founded the British-based label Peter Pilotto, in London in 2007.
The bride specifically requested that her low-backed gown reveal the results of the operation she had at age 12, after scoliosis caused a curvature of her spine.
Royal brides traditionally do not wear tiaras before they are married, hence why we never saw the Duchesses of Cambridge or Sussex wear one before their wedding days.
Kate borrowed the Cartier Halo from the Queen for her nuptials in 2011. It was an anniversary present from King George VI to the Queen Mother, who passed it down to Her Majesty on her 18th birthday.
Meghan wore Queen Mary’s diamond bandeau tiara on her wedding day in May. The headpiece hadn’t been seen since 1965, when Princess Margaret wore it.
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