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Princess Beatrice's Wedding Tiara Is a Touching Tribute to Her Grandmother, the Queen

Photo credit: Getty; Benjamin Wheeler
Photo credit: Getty; Benjamin Wheeler

From Good Housekeeping

When Princess Beatrice wed her fiancé Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in a private ceremony Friday morning in Windsor, it was the most intimate royal wedding in recent history. But a small guest list—a source close to the couple told Town & Country that fewer than 20 people were invited—doesn't mean the bride skimped on the glamour. She is a princess after all, and as such, she wore a stunning diamond tiara with a rich royal history as she said "I do."

This morning, Buckingham Palace confirmed that Beatrice accessorized her vintage wedding dress with the Queen Mary Diamond Fringe tiara. As with other recent royal brides including Meghan Markle, Kate Middleton, and Princess Eugenie, Queen Elizabeth lent Beatrice the sparkling headpiece, but this particular accessory is of special importance to the British monarch; the Queen wore the tiara on her own wedding day to Prince Philip in 1947, and her lending it to Beatrice is a real symbol of their relationship.

Photo credit: Benjamin Wheeler
Photo credit: Benjamin Wheeler

Like many iconic pieces in the royal jewelry collection, the tiara originally belonged to Queen Elizabeth's grandmother, Queen Mary. It was crafted in 1919 by the British jewelers Garrard and Co., who used a diamond necklace given to Mary on her wedding day in 1893 by Queen Victoria to fashion the fringe design.

The piece was also worn by Queen's mother, Queen Elizabeth, and then-Princess Elizabeth chose it for her wedding as her "something borrowed." But as the future monarch was getting ready for her wedding, the diamond tiara snapped.

Fortunately the crisis was averted, and it was able to be repaired by the court jeweler. "Determined to wear this tiara on her special day, the princess’s tiara was rushed away by a police escort to the Garrard workshop, where it was repaired in haste and returned just in time for the ceremony," recounts the House of Garrard on its website. The piece was later also worn for Princess Anne's wedding to Mark Phillips in 1973, and fortunately still seems to be going strong.

Photo credit: Getty; Benjamin Wheeler
Photo credit: Getty; Benjamin Wheeler

Beatrice's choice of tiara and a vintage Norman Hartnell dress, which was also on loan from the Queen, make it clear that making her grandmother a part of the marriage ceremony was important to the oldest York sister. The wedding was even "planned around the Queen's schedule," a source said.

As the tiara is such a stunning piece, Beatrice kept her other jewelry to a minimum on her wedding day, wearing only her engagement ring and new gold band, which was designed by Shaun Leane. But unlike her sister Princess Eugenie, who also wed in Windsor in 2018, albeit in a much larger event, Beatrice opted for a veil, kept in place by the topper.

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