Camilla Parker Bowles and Kate Middleton Both Pay Tribute to Queen Elizabeth II By Wearing Tiaras Worth $7.2 Million at King Charles III’s First State Banquet
Camilla Parker Bowles and King Charles III recently hosted their first state banquet at Buckingham Palace. This was the first event of its kind after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, and both Camilla and her daughter-in-law, Kate Middleton, took the opportunity to pay tribute to the late monarch and dazzle guests by wearing some spectacular jewelry.
Camilla Parker Bowles wore the Belgian Sapphire Tiara
The Queen Consort paid tribute to Queen Elizabeth at Charles’ first state banquet by wearing the late queen’s Belgian Sapphire Tiara.
According to the diamond experts at UK retailer Steven Stone, this tiara was refashioned from a 19th century necklace that was once owned by Princess Louise of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The tiara matched the King George VI Victorian Suite that belonged to Queen Elizabeth, which Camilla was also wearing.
The pieces were some of the most meaningful in the late monarch’s collection because the suite was gifted to her by her father on her wedding day in 1947. At the time, the sapphire and diamond cluster line necklace featured 18 sapphires and sat on a gradient, ranging from eight to 30 carats.
In 1952, Queen Elizabeth redesigned the necklace by having four of the sapphire clusters removed from the back and resetting one of the larger stones in the front in order to create a pendant to match the necklace. In the 1960s, Her Majesty commissioned a matching bracelet. There is also a pair of sapphire earrings in the suite, which puts its estimated worth at $6,000,000 (£5,000,000).
Camilla Parker Bowles paid tribute to Queen Elizabeth by wearing a tiara worth millions
As for the Belgian Sapphire Tiara, Stone estimates that single piece to also be worth $6,000,000 (£5,000,000). This means Camilla wore $12,000,000 (£10,000,000) worth of Queen Elizabeth’s jewels at the state banquet.
For the same event, Kate Middleton wore her first tiara as the Princess of Wales. She chose to pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth and Princess Diana by wearing the famous Lover’s Knot tiara. Originally designed in 1913 for Queen Mary, the tiara was handed down to Elizabeth when she became queen.
The estimated value of the Lover’s Knot tiara — which is packed with the finest diamonds and pearls — is $1,200,000 (£1,000,000). Meaning between the two royals, there was $7.2 million worth of tiaras on their heads.
Kate Middleton has worn the Lover’s Knot before
“The jewelry choices at King Charles II’s first royal banquet were magnificent and it’s particularly heartwarming to see both Kate and Camilla paying tribute to previous royal leading ladies through theirs,” said jeweler Maxwell Stone.
Queen Elizabeth gifted the Lover’s Knot tiara to Diana for her wedding day in 1981, but she opted to wear her father’s Spencer family tiara instead. It did, however, become a favorite tiara of Diana’s despite claims that she found it to be so heavy that it hurt her head.
King Charles’ first state banquet as monarch wasn’t the first time that Kate wore the Lover’s Knot tiara. Queen Elizabeth loaned it to her in 2018 for a state dinner at the palace. But, this is the first time Kate has worn the piece since Elizabeth died in September.
