Duchess Sophie's wedding tiara is a sweet nod to several members of the royal family's most powerful women and it has the most fascinating history. The Duchess has worn it several times since her wedding day to Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh.
- Duchess Sophie's wedding tiara has an incredibly rich history and was gifted to her by the late Queen Elizabeth II.
- It's also connected to Queen Victoria - but not in the way you might expect.
- This royal news comes after it was claimed that Sophie Wessex's love of red wine and Pilates is the secret to her 'physical wellbeing'.
Although Sophie Wessex had a 'private' second wedding dress, there was only one tiara for the Duchess - who received the stunning piece from her late mother-in-law Queen Elizabeth.
The youngest of Queen Elizabeth II's children, Prince Edward, married the former PR consultant at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor in June 1999, six years after the couple first began dating. The nuptials were notably less formal than those of more senior royals, with no military or ceremonial state officials present and no politicians invited to the high-profile event.
It may have been a less formal affair - but Duchess Sophie's tiara was fit for a Princess! Known as the Anthemion Tiara, the Duchess' tiara was chosen from Queen Elizabeth II’s private jewelry collection.
According to the fine jewelry and engagement ring experts at UK retailer Steven Stone - it appears that the Duchess was lucky enough to be able to keep her tiara. This assumption is made on the basis that she's worn it at several royal occasions since her big day.
This includes wedding celebrations of European Royals like Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and Mary Donaldson in 2004, and Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and Daniel Westling 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 continue to explain 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."
Interestingly enough, one of the anthemions was designed to accommodate one of the greatest, and most controversial, diamonds from Queen Victoria’s reign - the Koh-i-Noor, which is currently set in the Queen Mother’s Crown.
According to the experts at Steven Stone, the name 'Anthemion comes from its use of anthemion – an ancient Greek technique that features a number of radiating petals.
This, claim the experts, may even symbolise another important member of the Royal Family - the late Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip.
"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," they explain. "Before he married Queen Elizabeth II, the late royal was Prince of Greece and Denmark."
The piece is likely priceless to the Duchess, but according to the experts at Steven Stone - it's worth approximately $1.6M/£1.25M.
