Princess Eugenie Chose the Emerald Greville Tiara for Her Wedding Day
She didn't follow in her mother's footsteps.
Update 10/12: Princess Eugenie chose the Greville emerald tiara. Eugenie's tiara, straight from the Queen's vault, is made out of gorgeous diamonds and originally created in 1921.
Original story 9/24: Princess Eugenie's much-anticipated wedding to Jack Brooksbank is only a few weeks away, and many royal fans are wondering what gorgeous tiara the princess will accessorize with on her big day. Even though Eugenie is royal by blood, this will be the first time she's able to wear a tiara due to strict protocol that prevents royal women from wearing the headpiece until they're married.
Both Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle were lent tiaras from the Queen for their special day, but that's because they didn't have anyone else to pass it down to them. Eugenie, however, has the option of borrowing something from her own mother Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York's collection.
In case you haven't studied the Windsor family tree, Princess Eugenie is the daughter of Prince Andrew—the third child of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip—and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson. On her wedding day in 1986, Sarah wore a classic diamond tiara known as "The York Tiara." The bride caused a bit of an uproar, though. When she first started down the aisle, royal watchers thought she wasn't wearing a tiara (for the record she was, it was just covered by a flower crown). She removed the flowers after she said "I do," and everyone calmed down, naturally.
MarieClaire.com's exclusive royal wedding expert and bridal designer Caroline Castigliano agrees that Eugenie will likely wear the York tiara. "The tiara was created by the Mayfair jeweler Garrard’s," she explains. "Eugenie will want to wear a piece with a special meaning to someone like her mother, who has had such a difficult relationship with most members of the royal family."
According to Express, the Queen personally commissioned Sarah's leaf-motif sparkler, which the Duchess has worn on multiple occasions since her wedding. Tiara expert Grant Mobley told the outlet that the tiara is “made entirely out of diamonds set in platinum with floral scrollwork and a large diamond of around five carats sitting on top."
He continues, "The value of such a piece is not easy to calculate without knowing details about the diamond sizes, qualities, and also the weight of the platinum. That being said, with the value of a top-quality five-carat stone like this tiara topper, combined with the platinum and other diamonds, the value of this tiara would easily be more than $300,000 USD today."
While it would be sweet and traditional to select jewels passed down from her mother, Eugenie might want to go in a completely different direction and wear a tiara that reflects her modern approach to royal life, like having plastic-free nuptials and a festival-themed wedding weekend.
"I'm sure her grandmother would be happy to see her in any of the family tiaras," says Castigliano. "There's always the chance Eugenie may not even wear one, but this is quite unlikely considering the royal family likes tradition. With her grandmother there to see her marry [Jack], she'll want to do anything to make her happy. The Queen has been guiding Eugenie through all of the difficult times they have had as a family."
After all, nothing would be surprising considering everyone thought that Meghan Markle would wear the Strathmore Rose tiara during her wedding to Prince Harry. Instead, she wore Queen Mary's Sapphire Bandeau—straight from the Queen's vault.
