Are the days of royals wearing tiaras numbered?

[Elly C]

I know I 'm not alone in regretting the occasions when after much anticipation, a royal has let us down by omitting to wear a tiara. (I'm not just thinking of Charlene). The trouble is, this seems to be an annoying trend which I fear will only gather apace. Yes I know there's a world recession, but what do others think? Will tiara wearing come back with a vengeance one day? I can't bear to think of more & more becoming museum pieces.

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Is it true that royal protocol reportedly allowed women to wear tiaras if they were married?

If a royal princess already owned some tiaras before she married a foreign royal, could she wear these tiaras in her new country? Or was that forbidden?

 

[JR76]

Is it true that royal protocol reportedly allowed women to wear tiaras if they were married?

Depends on the country. In UK that seems to be the case yes but in the Scandinavian countries princesses gets their first tiaras when they turn 18 while in Morocco 11-year old Lalla Khadija have been wearing tiaras for years.

 

[Mbruno]

I know I 'm not alone in regretting the occasions when after much anticipation, a royal has let us down by omitting to wear a tiara. (I'm not just thinking of Charlene). The trouble is, this seems to be an annoying trend which I fear will only gather apace. Yes I know there's a world recession, but what do others think? Will tiara wearing come back with a vengeance one day? I can't bear to think of more & more becoming museum pieces.

I think tiaras will still be around for a long time..State dinners for incoming heads of state will continue to be white tie iin all European monarchies and that’ alone guarantees at least one or two tiara appearances per year in most monarchies. In outgoing state visits on the other hand, even when the dresscode is only black tie, most queens still choose to wear tiaras, which guarantees another one or two chances per year to dust off the sparklers. . Then there are other miscellaneous official occasions where tiaras are worn at least in some courts. ( diplomatic receptions , New Year’s receptions, the Nobel events, etc.).

What is gone IMHO are the good old days of multiple social events in the court calendar where tiaras were worn throughout the year. At most, we can count on an occasional wedding or birthday gala when some monarchies, today mostly the Scandinavian countries only , hold tiara events.

In conclusion, rumors of an end to the age of tiaras are definitely premature, but we probably can anticipate the number of annual tiara appearances for most senior royal ladies to be in the range of two to four or five at most in the near future.

 

[jacqui24]

Depends on the country. In UK that seems to be the case yes but in the Scandinavian countries princesses gets their first tiaras when they turn 18 while in Morocco 11-year old Lalla Khadija have been wearing tiaras for years.

Even in UK, it seems to be a more recent thing. Princess Margaret wore tiaras before she's married. However, both Eugenie and Beatrice went without tiaras at the CHOGM dinner. Granted, white tie dinners rarely happen now. And that wasn't considered a state dinner either, and thus made tiara seem optional.

As for generally fewer tiara events, I agree that it seems to be trending towards less and less. I don't think it's the economy itself, and the economy has improved. I do think it's sensitivity to the changing feelings towards royals. We are definitely not in the 70s and 80s where people lined the streets to see the royals. People's attitude towards these things have changed. In the old days, people used to gift things to royals willingly, including jewels. Don't see that happening anymore. The amount of deference royals get automatically for being who they are have decreased while the attitude of challenging status quo has increased.

I don't think we'll see tiara events disappear completely for as long as there are monarchies around. As much as it's a bad idea to flaunt the wealth, it's also a bad idea to not give any of the magic and bedazzle of having a royal family.

 

[Moonmaiden23]

What's a queen or a princess without a tiara??

Whatever it is I am not interested...I mean what's next..move out of Windsor and Berg and Drottningholm in favor of high rise condos or apartment complexes?

 

[Mbruno]

I think there is a consensus that tiaras won’t go away for now, but do you think the decreasing number of tiara or similarly formal events will impact the acquisition of new grand jewelry items by the royal families ?

Quite surprisingly, even in fairly recent times, we have seen royal families acquiring or being gifted new tiaras as well as other more commonly worn pieces like necklaces and brooches. That has happened despite the economic downturn and the frequent complaining about the royals’ lavish lifestyle and their cost to the taxpayers,

 

[JR76]

If a royal princess already owned some tiaras before she married a foreign royal, could she wear these tiaras in her new country? Or was that forbidden?

Many princesses brought with them much jewellery to their new home that they'd received either as gifts, through inheritance or as wedding presents. When Louise of Sweden married Frederik of Denmark in 1869 it's said she had so much jewellery that it covered an entire pool table without the cloth being visible underneath among which was atleast two tiaras. The same when Ingrid of Sweden married another Frederik of Denmark in 1935. Her dowry included much jewellery and several tiaras that she had inherited from her mother Crown Princess Margareta and her grandmother Queen Victoria of Sweden.

 

[Stefan]

If a royal princess already owned some tiaras before she married a foreign royal, could she wear these tiaras in her new country? Or was that forbidden?

If it was their personal Proerty why should it have been forbidden?

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

Society has changed. In old times peeresses wore diadems at the State Opening of Parliament. Now we hardly see diadems. Reason: the Reform of the House of Lords which removed the bulk of hereditary peers. The peeresses these days often are life peeresses or spouses of life peers. They do not have the same means at their disposal as a Countess of Caernarvon or a Duchess of Norfolk.

Another change is that the Royal Households are open for applicants. No longer it is required to have blue blood to become a Dame du Palais or a Chamberlain. The arrival of commoners as partners also means that usually no jewels are brought in. Of course ww have a Camilla, but thanks to her aristocratic family, she came with her own diadem and beautiful jewels, but you will understand the point.

Another change is that dresscodes have changed. No longer white tie at many events or even State Visits.

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Society has changed. In old times peeresses wore diadems at the State Opening of Parliament. Now we hardly see diadems. Reason: the Reform of the House of Lords which removed the bulk of hereditary peers. The peeresses these days often are life peeresses or spouses of life peers. They do not have the same means at their disposal as a Countess of Caernarvon or a Duchess of Norfolk.

Another change is that the Royal Households are open for applicants. No longer it is required to have blue blood to become a Dame du Palais or a Chamberlain. The arrival of commoners as partners also means that usually no jewels are brought in. Of course ww have a Camilla, but thanks to her aristocratic family, she came with her own diadem and beautiful jewels, but you will understand the point.

Another change is that dresscodes have changed. No longer white tie at many events or even State Visits.

Who would be responsible to change the rules back to white tie for royal events and State Visits?

 

[Iluvbertie]

The reason for the change in the first place was that many people didn't have the resources to actually attend white tie events and that has only continued.

The rules were relaxed as more and more people who become eligible come from middle and even working class backgrounds without the means to buy or even hire these sorts of glitter.

There is no way to turn back time and go back to the days when only aristocrats with large estates were attending these events. Over time much of the wealth has had to be sold (except for the royals thanks to monarch to monarch tax free inheritance) to pay for the death duties so many families that may have even had a tiara or two a generation or so back has had to sell it in order to keep up other parts of their homes and estates.

 

[CyrilVladisla]

It is an absolute sad day when an heirloom tiara that has been in a family for generations has to be sold. I mention this not from the financial amount, but all the fond memories of the ladies wearing the tiara.

 

[KMD]

I wonder if Royal ladies will have an opinion about the reduced opportunities for tiara wearing? Are there any statistics or comments about the weight and comfort of various tiaras? Do Royals with abundant hair find it easier to anchor their tiara? I noticed that Royals with soft, fine hair don’t seem to wear their tiara as well as those with luxuriant length. Think Princess Diana and Sophie Wessex. That droopy fringe is NOT an asset.

 

[Denville]

I think many of them are heavy and uncomfortable to wear and women are not that bothered about not being expected to wear them much any more. and I agree that they don't look the best on women with short hair..

 

[jacqui24]

I think the fullness of the hair has a lot more to do with it than length. Obviously length can make it look like there is more body. However, I thought Diana and Camilla both wore tiaras well. Both never had really long hair. At least not the length the younger royals have.

 

[MARG]

When the UK Government informs the Palace that they want a State Banquet for this or that visiting HOS, they the want the works for exactly the same reason that they send members of the BRF off on a soft diplomacy tour, they expect them to be the best they can be.

This State Banquet saw the Queen in all her dazzling splendour and wearing a brooch we hadn't seen since her father's coronation;

http://i58.tinypic.com/fcqkix.jpg

The following article provides an in-depth description of what is involved in that soft diplomacy.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/features/3637378/State-Banquet-a-feast-for-all-of-the-senses.html

There will be white tie state banquets as long as it suits the government to use them.

 

[jacqui24]

I think most state banquets today are black tie, right? Even though the women still wear tiaras.

 

[VictoriaB]

I think most state banquets today are black tie, right? Even though the women still wear tiaras.

In the UK they are still white tie.

This is a photo from the banquet given when President Obama visited the UK just a few years back. You can see that most (?all) of the men seem to be in white tie.

https://www.gettyimages.com.au/license/114637893

 

[Tarlita]

Tiara wearing is alive and well. The many State banquets. The Diplomatic Corp reception. The Danish royals also wear them for the New Years banquet/reception. The Swedish Royals also wear there's for the Nobel Prize banquets. That event is coming up soon.
All the Crown Prince weddings were awash with magnificent bling.
So the main difference today is that the weddings are over.

Don't forget to look up the Malayasian ladies jewels. Thailand and Brunei too. They have stunning jewels. Try to google the crown prince of Brunei's wedding and That is a floral bouquet of Real diamonds and gold the bride is carrying. His sister also carried a jeweled bouquet.

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

Let us not overdramatize. A diadem is just a metal frame with some stones, no more, no less. Often when you see a presidential visit, you see a sea of diadem-less ladies and oh yes, there in the middle a lady with sparklers in the hair. It is nice to have diadems but when the dots meets the i, it is only a hair ornament.

 

[Winnie]

Let us not overdramatize. A diadem is just a metal frame with some stones, no more, no less. Often when you see a presidential visit, you see a sea of diadem-less ladies and oh yes, there in the middle a lady with sparklers in the hair. It is nice to have diadems but when the dots meets the i, it is only a hair ornament.

Thank you for your correct down-to-earth observation. I agree. Most of the youth feel that they are just another showy sign of social and status division. A part of segregating social snobs from others. Not proper political correct in today's society. I enjoy seeing on all the Queens as most are absolutely lovely. I love to see beautiful jewelry done properly. My generation always wore a lot more than the current PC ladies. Times change along with trends. Proper royals will always wear. JMHO