The Oriental Circlet was not seen in public again until it was passed to Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother in 1936. ‘Photographed wearing it on numerous occasions, it quickly became one of her favourite jewels,’ notes Garrard. ‘When the celebrated British photographer Sir Cecil Beaton captured portraits of the Queen in 1939 following her husband King George VI’s accession to the throne, in 1950 to mark her 50th birthday, and in 1953, just a few weeks before the coronation of her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, she chose to wear the Oriental Circlet each time.’
‘After the death of King George VI in 1952, the tiara should have passed down to Queen Elizabeth II. However, realising how much her mother loved the piece, she allowed her to keep it. When the Queen Mother passed away in 2002, Queen Elizabeth II inherited the Oriental Circlet. She wore it only once during her reign, on a trip to Malta in 2005.’
There are other potential options for the Princess of Wales’ headpiece at the Nigerian state visit, too. She could, perhaps, push the boat out and wear her wedding day tiara, better known as the Cartier Halo tiara that she wore when she and Prince William tied the knot. Back in 1936, George VI commissioned the French jewellery house to create something spectacular with the diamonds and platinum he had purchased for his wife three weeks before he became King George VI and she became Queen Elizabeth (the future Queen Mother).
Could the Princess of Wales rewear her wedding tiara for the state banquet?
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