Coronation’s Most Searched Jewelry: Kate Middleton’s Tiara and More

Apr 22, 2023

The coronation of King Charles III was a historic moment for the British royal family and the new reigning monarch. The event marked the first coronation for the royal family in the 21st century.

While the significance of the moment will live in history, the fashion for the weekend also took the spotlight.

Designers ranging from established global luxury houses with British heritage, like Alexander McQueen, to long-standing independent British brands, like Catherine Walker, were worn by members of the royal family. Spectators also had their eyes set on the jewelry worn by the royals during the coronation. Here, WWD takes a closer look at the top trending jewelry from the coronation weekend.

While the search for Kate Middleton's tiara might have been a trending term in Google, the Princess of Wales actually didn't wear a formal tiara, but rather a headpiece. Middleton wore a three-dimensional leaf embroidery silver headpiece designed by milliner Jess Collett in collaboration with Alexander McQueen, who designed Middleton's coronation dress.

The headpiece was made from a silver bullion, crystal and finished with silver threadwork. Due to the nature of the more scaled-back ceremony in the wake of the U.K.'s cost-of-living crisis, members of the royal family didn't opt for more ornate headpieces like diamond tiaras. Middleton's headpiece still proved a showstopper given the search interest.

The coronation ceremony also saw Queen Camilla wearing a diamond necklace. The historic piece of jewelry was worn by different royal members during the coronations in 1902, 1911, 1937 and in 1953, when Queen Camilla's mother-in-law Queen Elizabeth II took the throne.

The Royal Collection Trust said the diamonds in the coronation necklace come from Queen Victoria's collection of jewelry.

King Charles III's coronation crown was expectedly one of the hot topics of discussion. He wore St. Edward's crown, a piece considered so sacred it only leaves the Tower of London to be placed on a new monarch's head during the coronation.

The crown is made of solid gold and studded with 444 stones, including rubies, amethysts, sapphires, garnets, topaz and tourmalines. It was commissioned for King Charles II in 1661. The crown itself is a replica of the medieval crown made for Edward the Confessor, who reigned from 1042 to 1066 and was considered the last king of the House of Wessex.

St. Edward's original crown survived for six centuries until 1649, when King Charles I was executed at the end of the English Civil War and the royal jewels were sold or melted down to be turned into coins. When the Stuart monarchy was restored in 1660, the replica was created for King Charles II, and it has served its coronation function since.

King Charles III is the 17th sovereign to wear St. Edward's crown.

Catherine, Princess of Wales, paid homage to the late Queen Elizabeth II by wearing the Festoon necklace for the official royal family portrait. The George VI Festoon necklace was commissioned in 1950 by Queen Elizabeth's father King George VI, when she was still a young princess.

King George asked royal jeweler Garrard to turn 105 diamonds from the Royal Collection into a necklace for then-Princess Elizabeth. The result was a necklace made of three tiered strands of diamonds of different sizes.

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Per a centuries-old tradition, the reigning monarch of England receives "The Wedding Ring of England." The ring, presented to King Charles III before St. Edward's crown was placed on his head, is made from gold and has a sapphire centerpiece with a ruby cross set in diamonds over the top, reminiscent of England's flag. Every monarch since King Edward VII has worn the ring, which was first made in 1831.

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