The Princess of Wales Jewels 1: September 2022 -

[Erin9]

Catherine looked stunnning. I loved her outfit including the headpiece which, as it turns out, was pretty much tiara-like.

Yeah. I liked the floral headpiece a lot. But it was pretty close to a tiara.

 

[Sunnystar]

The headpieces for Catherine and Charlotte came about as close as possible to being tiaras without being tiaras and really set the Wales women apart from everyone else in an elegant way.

 

[Hallo girl]

It shows we should not get too worked up on here about rumours, it was ' leaked' earlier on in the week that Catherine would be wearing a floral headdress. It stirred the pot a bit, but what she wore was beautiful.

 

[MsJulie]

I looked again. I really do not like Kate’s head piece. It is okay on Charlotte, smaller simple one arc. Kate’s is too heavy looking and all I see is a glob of sliver. That’s just my opinion. I like her hair style. Having it up with the rain, the hair style stayed nice. No matter everyone looked very elegant today….my favorite was Charlotte!

 

[yukari]

It reminded me of the flower tiara Crown Princess Mary wore on the baptisms of her children.

This! Thank you for pointing this out.

When I saw her headpieces, my first thought was I've seen similar tiara, but I couldn't recall which, alhough I was quite sure it doesn't belong to BRF, maybe European's or some peer's. I should have checked Mary's since she's often seen wearing wreath-like tiara.

 

[Mbruno]

This! Thank you for pointing this out.

When I saw her headpieces, my first thought was I've seen similar tiara, but I couldn't recall which, alhough I was quite sure it doesn't belong to BRF, maybe European's or some peer's. I should have checked Mary's since she's often seen wearing wreath-like tiara.

I believe it would be uncommon to find a real diamond wreath tiara with "leaves" as large as in Catherine's headpiece today. It would be a quite impressive tiara if it were made to that design.

 

[CrownPrincessJava]

Here are some other angles of the headpiece Catherine wore

Pic 1

Pic 2

I am really liking it. I'm tempted to call it a tiara as in my eyes, it's really a modern interpretation of a tiara, like the steel cut ones in Sweden

 

[yukari]

You know what, stick a diamond or two on that headpiece and people will call it tiara.

 

[Asteria12]

Every photo I see of her I love even more. She looked immaculate, just stunning, and her headpiece was perfect (as was Charlotte's)!

 

[MARG]

I have to admit that my initial glimpse of the headpiece was that I really liked it but, looking full face on I find it too heavy but yes, make it in gold and jewels and it would make an amazing tiara. Unfortunately, it is not a tiara and depending on the light, it was either a pretty piece or a lifeless dull wannabe tiara.

 

[southwind]

I don't like the headpieces at all. Not only looked too big on their heads but looked like a costume tiara bought on ebay. Tasteless and cheap looking.

 

[Mbruno]

I don't like the headpieces at all. Not only looked too big on their heads but looked like a costume tiara bought on ebay. Tasteless and cheap looking.

There wasn't much they could do with a self-imposed "no diamonds on your hair" rule.



In fact, it was not just the lack of tiaras. Everyone was relatively low key in terms of jewelry in general, especially when you see the old footage of the 1953 coronation plus the "after" clips and notice the sheer amount of sparkling back then.



I understand the circumstances, but one cannot help wonder what the point is of owning so many grand jewels when you cannot wear them.

 

[ppetrica]

This headpiece looks lovely from the side, but the central part is too pointy and upright for my taste. Since it's not a tiara, I think it would look much better if it lay on the head more (like a real floral wreath would), like Sophie's headpiece did.
From the point of sustainability, as someone already pointed out on another discussion, commissioning this headpiece costed a certain amount of money, while wearing jewels that are already in the family (for generations) doesn't cost anything.

 

[Royalist.in.NC]

I agree - the tiaras are “free” and if Katherine (and Sophie) had worn more modest ones, I don’t see how that could offend. If the point is being sensitive to cost, I wonder what the expense was for those new headpieces?

 

[W.Y.CII]

This headpiece looks lovely from the side, but the central part is too pointy and upright for my taste. Since it's not a tiara, I think it would look much better if it lay on the head more (like a real floral wreath would), like Sophie's headpiece did.

Exactly. Sophie's looks perfect to me while I'm still not sure about Kate's, even Charlotte's looks fine to me. Kate's is trying too hard to minic a tiara in an occasion that no one (except the Queen) are expected to wear a tiara.

 

[Elly C]

I really think she was stuck between a rock and a hard place. If the decision was made by the King for no tiaras, yet ceremonial robes were to be worn, what else could she have worn on her head?
Edited to add that as Princess of Wales, with a place in the King’s procession, her headdress needed to be more prominent than Sophie’s or the others Duchesses who were in robes.

 

[SirGyamfi1]

I really think she was stuck between a rock and a hard place. If the decision was made by the King for no tiaras, yet ceremonial robes were to be worn, what else could she have worn on her head?
Edited to add that as Princess of Wales, with a place in the King’s procession, her headdress needed to be more prominent than Sophie’s or the others Duchesses who were in robes.

She could have worn a brooch or a small flowery ornament in her hair

 

[Asteria12]

I really think she was stuck between a rock and a hard place. If the decision was made by the King for no tiaras, yet ceremonial robes were to be worn, what else could she have worn on her head?
Edited to add that as Princess of Wales, with a place in the King’s procession, her headdress needed to be more prominent than Sophie’s or the others Duchesses who were in robes.

Agree.


It was made from silver bullion, crystal and finished with silver thread work. A beautifully embroidered piece and hardly something that would break the bank.

 

[An Ard Ri]

The Princess of Wales wore the e Bahrain Pearl Drop Earrings
to the Pre Coronation reception at Buckingham Palace on Friday evening.
https://www.thecourtjeweller.com/20...earl-earrings-for-kate-on-coronation-eve.html

 

[LadyFinn]

At the group photo we see Catherine's diamond necklace
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fvn41EDXsBMRkd7?format=jpg&name=large

 

[Princess B]

At the group photo we see Catherine's diamond necklace

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fvn41EDXsBMRkd7?format=jpg&name=large

Not excited about her wearing such a substantial piece yet, while Camila hasn’t worn anything that big. The coronation jewels don’t count.
Also this diamond necklace is huge, I’d have preferred it be left for the Queen. Catherine’s turn would come.

 

[Ista]

Not excited about her wearing such a substantial piece yet, while Camila hasn’t worn anything that big. The coronation jewels don’t count.
Also this diamond necklace is huge, I’d have preferred it be left for the Queen. Catherine’s turn would come.

Camilla has already worn the festoon necklace with all five strands when she was Duchess of Cornwall, so this seems appropriate for Catherine to wear now, especially in its smaller form.

 

[JGio]

I’m not sure but it looks like that during the Service her dress had a neckline while in the group picture it had another. At the Service we couldn’t see the festoon necklace. In the group picture she has a very evident V-neckline that showcases it.

 

[Lilyflo]

Camilla has already worn the festoon necklace with all five strands when she was Duchess of Cornwall, so this seems appropriate for Catherine to wear now, especially in its smaller form.

I think Camilla has worn the Greville Festoon Necklace but not this one worn by Catherine, which I think is the one given to QE2 by her father.

 

[Ista]

I think Camilla has worn the Greville Festoon Necklace but not this one worn by Catherine, which I think is the one given to QE2 by her father.

That's interesting, what are the differences that you see? The strands do look shorter, but that's all I can tell from the photo.

 

[Lilyflo]

That's interesting, what are the differences that you see? The strands do look shorter, but that's all I can tell from the photo.

I agree it's very hard to see in the photo but from a distance, it looks more like the George VI festoon than the Greville festoon. I wish we had a close-up!

 

[Ista]

I agree it's very hard to see in the photo but from a distance, it looks more like the George VI festoon than the Greville festoon. I wish we had a close-up!

I do too, I can't see if it has the little side pieces or not, but I suspect you are probably correct. If so, that is a lovely gesture to allow her to wear something so close to the late Queen and her family.

 

[Stefan]

I agree it's very hard to see in the photo but from a distance, it looks more like the George VI festoon than the Greville festoon. I wish we had a close-up!

Yes Catherine is wearing the George VI. festoon necklace in the official pic and not the Greville festoon necklace
Camilla has worn the Greville festoon necklace only with all 5 strands but never with either 3 or 2 row as the Queen Mother sometimes did.

 

[An Ard Ri]

At the group photo we see Catherine's diamond necklace
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fvn41EDXsBMRkd7?format=jpg&name=large

It's wonderful to see Catherine wearing the bigger jewels and about time too and perfect for the occasion too!

 

[tihkon2]

It's wonderful to see Catherine wearing the bigger jewels and about time too and perfect for the occasion too!

Exactly. Wearing big jewels when you're 40 ish, Princess of Wales, married for over a decade, and with 3 kids, is totally appropriate. She's not a kid or a "junior" member of the family. She's the next Queen.