The Princess Royal’s TIARA
Princess Anne’s Aquamarine Pineflower Tiara is steeped in romance
While it may not be the showiest or best known of the British royal sparklers, Princess Anne’s Aquamarine Pineflower Tiara certainly has a charming story.
Designed by Cartier, and set in platinum, the striking aquamarine and diamond sparkler was given to the princess in November 1973 by her grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, as a wedding gift for her impending nuptials to Captain Mark Phillips.
The Queen Mother herself had been given the tiara by her husband, King George VI, who had it made specially for their wedding anniversary.
Unusually, some of the gems in the Art Deco–inspired headpiece are arranged in the shape of pineflowers or cones – and the inclusion of a treerelated symbol in a wedding anniversary tiara is thought to be deeply symbolic. Pine cones are often seen as a sign of rebirth or renewal, and during the upheaval and crisis of King Edward VIII’s abdication in 1936, Elizabeth was the unwavering force that helped steady her awkwardly shy husband in his reluctant accession to the throne.
Elizabeth herself had few opportunities to wear the beautiful tiara before war broke out in 1939, and after the war was only seen wearing it publicly on a handful of occasions.
When this special heirloom came into Anne’s possession, she had the sides of the tiara shortened, and the central aquamarine and diamond element repurposed into a brooch.
One of the large, rectangular emerald-cut aquamarines now sits in the centre.
Anne still wears the tiara for gala events and banquets.