Why Duchess Sophie was allowed to keep her £1.25million wedding tiara

Prince Edward And Sophie Rhys-jones On The Day Of Their Wedding.

(Image credit: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)

published 25 August 2023

Duchess Sophie married Prince Edward on 19 June 1999, and unlike other women who have married into the royal family, Sophie was allowed to keep her wedding tiara.

The tiara is now estimated to be worth a staggering £1.25million and belonged to the late Queen Elizabeth.
Since her wedding, Sophie has worn the tiara to other royal ceremonies including the wedding of Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and Daniel Westling in 2010.
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Duchess Sophie was given a privilege when she married Prince Edward that other royal women such as Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton did not receive - she was allowed to keep her wedding tiara.

Royal brides usually have to return their loaned wedding tiaras to the monarch in the UK, but it's thought that Sophie was allowed to keep hers. This assumption has been made due to the fact she's worn it on several royal occasions since her big day.

The diadem, known as the Anthemion Tiara, was chosen from the late Queen Elizabeth II's personal jewellery collection - as per tradition - for Sophie's big day, which saw her wear a 'private' second wedding dress.

Since her wedding day back in 1999, Sophie has worn the tiara on a number of occasions, including the wedding celebrations of European Royals like Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and Mary Donaldson in 2004, the 2001 wedding of Crown Prince Haakon of Norway and Mette-Marit in Oslo and Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and Daniel Westling's wedding in 2010.

According to The Court Jeweller, it's believed that "the tiara is composed of four anthemion elements that were originally alternative pieces of Queen Victoria’s Regal Circlet." They added that the circlet, "was made with a set of detachable fleur-de-lis, Maltese cross, and anthemion elements that could be swapped out and rearranged."

And Maxwell Stone, a diamond expert at Steven Stone told Express.co.uk, “Sophie’s beautiful diamond tiara was chosen from Queen Elizabeth II’s private jewellery collection."

"However, the Anthemion tiara also pays tribute to another former monarch, as it was reportedly constructed using four pieces from Queen Victoria’s Regal Circlet."

"It’s also possible that the tiara serves as a tribute to Prince Philip, due to its use of anthemion – a technique used in ancient Greek times. Before he married Queen Elizabeth II, the late royal was Prince of Greece and Denmark. It’s incredibly difficult to put a price on such a magnificent piece. I’d estimate it to be worth approximately £1.25million.”

Kate Middleton wore a stunning Cartier Halo tiara which boasted a whopping 739 brilliant-cut diamonds as well as 149 baguette diamonds for her nuptials to Prince William back in 2011.

While Meghan Markle wore Queen Mary's diamond bandeau tiara, which was made in 1932, for her wedding to Prince Harry in 2018. However, both Meghan and Kate had to return their loaned tiaras to the Queen.

Robyn is a celebrity and entertainment journalist and editor with over eight years experience in the industry. As well as contributing regular to woman&home, she also often writes for Woman, Woman's Own, Woman's Weekly and The Sun.