Meghan Markle: Future Tiaras and Jewels


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I am hoping (and expect) her hair to be up for the wedding!


LaRae
 
I found the gifting policy.

150 pounds. There is a staffer who arbitrates what is "personal" property. All the rest goes to the Crown. But do read/scan all the language - it's all about encouraging not-valuable gifts.

BTW - any private gifts are taxable. Which is one of the reasons members of the family are sanguine about official gifts not being personal. They get the use of baubles, while avoiding all tax.

https://www.royal.uk/sites/default/files/media-packs/gifts_policy_2003.pdf
 
I have the same belief that the Queen only allots one tiara to female family members but I believe that the Queen allows switching, so in my scenario, over the years, Meghan will transition from starter tiara(s) to big gun tiara(s). I also agree that Charles may do things differently when he is monarch.


I don't think that's correct because QEII has already loaned 3 different tiaras to Kate (Cartier Halo, Cambridge Lovers Knot, Lotus Flower) and Sophie has been seen in 4 tiaras but only 3 were loaners (wedding tiara, a "button" tiara, and two aquamarine tiaras). Camilla also has a bunch, so it seems like the queen has no problem loaning multiple tiaras to each woman.



There is a difference in a ring gifted to you by your fiancee and priceless jewelry from the government of another country even if it was a "wedding gift"


True. I was just trying to distinguish between personal gifts and those received when on official duty/"work" for queen and country.
 
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No one in the general public knows what all Diana got as gifts during her marriage.

The gift policy was not in effect when Diana was Princess of Wales.
As far as is known, all gifts to her from foreign royals and governments were her personal property and are in the possession of Princes William and Harry.

So amongst other items there are the Saudi Diamond and Sapphire set, which included a jeweled box, diamond necklace with huge sapphire drop, bracelet, earrings, a watch at that time, a ring,

Another suite of sapphire and diamond jewels from the Sultan of Oman. Including earrings, necklace, and bracelet.

Diamond and ruby and diamond and sapphire necklaces, that convert into bracelets that are suspected to be from another middle eastern royal.

And much much more, including personal jewels from Prince Charles like the gold and pearl heart necklace, and the art deco emerald and diamond bracelet, and other gifts from members of the royal family that may or may not be available to Catherine and Meghan, like the enormous Sapphire from the Queen Mother, that Diana set into a pearl choker or the Cambridge emerald choker from the Queen.

We've only seen a very few items so far, like the Lover's Knot Tiara, the Collingwood diamond and pearl earrings, the engagement ring, and possibly some small sapphire earrings.

I HIGHLY recommend people go to :

Diana's Jewels

And get an idea of what might be available to Catherine and Meghan from the late Princess.
There are many pearl chokers, gold jewelry, aquamarine earrings and ring, emerald and diamond bracelet, etc etc, etc,,
 
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Wouldn't the death duties on all that jewelry have been astronomical? If indeed it was all Diana's personal jewelry to leave to William and Harry?
 
I thought there was a way around it?


LaRae
 
It was all Diana's personal jewelry except possibly the aforementioned Lover's Knot Tiara, the Cambridge emerald choker, the Queen Mother's Sapphire, and one or two other items.
There seems to be conflicting reports over the decades as to whether the above mentioned items were "lifetime loans" to Diana or outright gifts to her. Anyhow...everything else really, was Diana's.

A cursory google search shows her estate was valued at 21 million pounds when she died, and about 4 million was paid in "death duties", after which William and Harry received 17 million pounds worth of her estate.
Most of this was held in trust for the boys until they reached the age of 30. By then the estate was worth an additional 10 million pounds or so.
 
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If I remember correctly, it was stipulated in the divorce that she did not keep the jewels gifted to her by governments or in her role as Princess of Wales and that included much of her wedding gifts. I don’t think her personal jewelry or the inheritance that William and Harry received is as large as people assume.
 
Anna Catherine

As far as I can find online, you're not remembering correctly.
All I can find is at the time of her divorce she was to keep all of the jewelry she had acquired over the years of being Princess of Wales.

Quoting from the New York Times article outlining the divorce settlement : "she gets to keep all the jewelry she has amassed during her marriage"

Charles and Diana Agree on Divorce Terms - The New York Times

As I've previously mentioned, back in her day, all gifts given to her during official visits were kept for her personally. They didn't have to report them or turn them over to anyone back then.

So...to bring this back on topic, there should be a bunch of Diana's jewels available to Meghan after her marriage.

I think the sums mentioned by me in my previous post are accurate and the boys received roughly what was published at the time. And all publications from that time mention the same sums, and base most of the estate on the 17 million pounds Diana received in the divorce settlement. All of this is public record and you can view Diana's actual will online.
 
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I don't think that's correct because QEII has already loaned 3 different tiaras to Kate (Cartier Halo, Cambridge Lovers Knot, Lotus Flower) and Sophie has been seen in 4 tiaras but only 3 were loaners (wedding tiara, a "button" tiara, and two aquamarine tiaras). Camilla also has a bunch, so it seems like the queen has no problem loaning multiple tiaras to each woman.
As I noted, the Queen allows switching. Kate has been loaned three different tiaras but once she debuted a new tiara we have not seen her wear the previous ones. This is better illustrated with Sophie and Camilla who have been members of the BRF longer and have gone to more tiara events. Once Sophie debuted the Five Aquamarine Tiara, she has not been seen in her wedding tiara. Camilla wore the Delhi Durbar Tiara in 2005 but once she debuted the Greville Tiara, Camilla has not been seen in the the Delhi Durbar or any other royal collection tiara.

So in Meghan's case we may see her wear, for example, the Cartier Bracelet Bandeau Tiara for an event or two, but if she then debuts the Queen Mary's Diamond Lozenge Bandeau Tiara she will no longer be seen in the Cartier Bracelet Bandeau Tiara. And from there if she transitions to the Delhi Durbar Tiara, we will no longer see her in the Queen Mary's Diamond Lozenge Bandeau Tiara. Again this is my observation of how the current monarch does things, the next monarch may do things differently.
 
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Anna Catherine

As far as I can find online, you're not remembering correctly.
All I can find is at the time of her divorce she was to keep all of the jewelry she had acquired over the years of being Princess of Wales.

Quoting from the New York Times article outlining the divorce settlement : "she gets to keep all the jewelry she has amassed during her marriage"

Charles and Diana Agree on Divorce Terms - The New York Times

As I've previously mentioned, back in her day, all gifts given to her during official visits were kept for her personally. They didn't have to report them or turn them over to anyone back then.

So...to bring this back on topic, there should be a bunch of Diana's jewels available to Meghan after her marriage.

I think the sums mentioned by me in my previous post are accurate and the boys received roughly what was published at the time. And all publications from that time mention the same sums, and base most of the estate on the 17 million pounds Diana received in the divorce settlement. All of this is public record and you can view Diana's actual will online.


Interesting! Thanks for all this info. :flowers:
 
As I noted, the Queen allows switching. Kate has been loaned three different tiaras but once she debuted a new tiara we have not seen her wear the previous ones. This is better illustrated with Sophie and Camilla who have been members of the BRF longer and have gone to more tiara events. Once Sophie debuted the Five Aquamarine Tiara, she has not been seen in her wedding tiara. Camilla wore the Delhi Durbar Tiara in 2005 but once she debuted the Greville Tiara, Camilla has not been seen in the the Delhi Durbar or any other royal collection tiara.

So in Meghan's case we may see her wear, for example, the Cartier Bracelet Bandeau Tiara for an event or two, but if she then debuts the Queen Mary's Diamond Lozenge Bandeau Tiara she will no longer be seen in the Cartier Bracelet Bandeau Tiara. And from there if she transitions to the Delhi Durbar Tiara, we will no longer see her in the Queen Mary's Diamond Lozenge Bandeau Tiara. Again this is my observation of how the current monarch does things, the next monarch may do things differently.


I guess I just don't consider that "switching" because we haven't seen someone else in the previously worn tiara (although I'm interpreting what you're saying as "sharing" but maybe that's not what you're really saying?). And, there's no reason to assume, IMO, that Kate would not re-wear the Lotus Flower at some future event (unless the queen gives her a fresh tiara to wear for that event)...it doesn't seem to make sense to just have worn it once, over a lifetime! Anyway, to me, I interpret "switching" as (e.g.) seeing Kate wear the Delhi Durbar after Camilla has already worn it and then seeing Camilla wearing it again. IMO, switching/sharing is what the Swedish royal family does - multiple tiaras worn by multiple women...

IMO, what is going on with BRF is that the women are loaned a new tiara from the queen so they opt to wear the new one rather than their old one. But, the old one remains in their possession and would not be worn by any other royal women. Basically, each woman is loaned a group of tiaras for their lifetime use (or, since things may change when Charles becomes king, for the life of the monarch).

Anyway, I'm not trying to be argumentative :) Basically, I want to see as many tiaras as possible, as often as possible!! Meghan's doing the dishes? Throw on a tiara! Walking Guy? Tiara-time!
 
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I guess I just don't consider that "switching" because we haven't seen someone else in the previously worn tiara (although I'm interpreting what you're saying as "sharing" but maybe that's not what you're really saying?). And, there's no reason to assume, IMO, that Kate would not re-wear the Lotus Flower at some future event (unless the queen gives her a fresh tiara to wear for that event)...it doesn't seem to make sense to just have worn it once, over a lifetime! Anyway, to me, I interpret "switching" as (e.g.) seeing Kate wear the Delhi Durbar after Camilla has already worn it and then seeing Camilla wearing it again. IMO, switching/sharing is what the Swedish royal family does - multiple tiaras worn by multiple women...

IMO, what is going on with BRF is that the women are loaned a new tiara from the queen so they opt to wear the new one rather than their old one. But, the old one remains in their possession and would not be worn by any other royal women. Basically, each woman is loaned a group of tiaras for their lifetime use (or, since things may change when Charles becomes king, for the life of the monarch).

Anyway, I'm not trying to be argumentative :) Basically, I want to see as many tiaras as possible, as often as possible!! Meghan's doing the dishes? Throw on a tiara! Walking Guy? Tiara-time!
IMO if Sophie still had access to her wedding tiara then she would have worn it in the past five years, but she has not worn that tiara since she debuted the Five Aquamarine Tiara in 2012, however she is not so enamored with the Five Aquamarine Tiara that it is the only tiara she sports, she wears a third tiara but it is not a royal collection tiara.

Camilla is even more acute, she wore the Delhi Durbar Tiara to a public event once and then debuted the Greville Tiara in 2006, so it's been ten plus years and quite a few tiara events and the Delhi Durbar Tiara has not reappeared. Like Sophie, Camilla does not wear her royal collection tiara exclusively, she alternates between the Greville Tiara and a family tiara.

My conclusion is that switching is allowed but once that switch happens, the previously worn tiara goes back into the vault and is no longer available to the royal. So, for example, if Meghan wears the Delhi Durbar (or Lotus) Tiara, it is not because Camilla (or Kate) loaned it to her, rather it is because the Queen loaned it to her because the tiara is back in her possession.
 
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I think it's a simply because Sophie's wedding tiara isn't that attractive, and she prefers others. In my opinion, there's no reason she wouldn't have access to her wedding tiara. Doesn't make sense to me.

Anyhow, I think your conclusion is wrong, but we are veering off topic debating Sophie's use of her jewels in THIS thread.

I suspect Meghan will be wearing at the very least, one tiara , and probably will have two at her disposal. But None of us know for sure. :)
 
I like that little roundel tiara SOphie wore once; a good 'starter' tiara for Meghan.
 
The Duchess of York took it upon herself to order / borrow that tiara. If I remember reading correctly, the Queen purchased it because they couldn't have her seen in a borrowed tiara.
 
Queen Mary, in her younger years, wore a few different diamond aigrettes. If any of them have survived in that form, an aigrette would be charming on Meghan.
 
Okay, I have been Team Strathmore Rose up till now. I'm feeling a very strong tug to the Diamond Lozenge Bandeau. It's so striking without being a big gun.

I am the same way. I can't get that Lozenge Bandeau out of my mind.
 
I’m also team Strathmore but honestly, I flip flop everyday teck/lozenge. They’re all so great. Whatever one it will be, it will be the right one.
 
I hope the Lozenge is still intact. Would be great to see it again.


LaRae
 
IMO if Sophie still had access to her wedding tiara then she would have worn it in the past five years, but she has not worn that tiara since she debuted the Five Aquamarine Tiara in 2012, however she is not so enamored with the Five Aquamarine Tiara that it is the only tiara she sports, she wears a third tiara but it is not a royal collection tiara.

Camilla is even more acute, she wore the Delhi Durbar Tiara to a public event once and then debuted the Greville Tiara in 2006, so it's been ten plus years and quite a few tiara events and the Delhi Durbar Tiara has not reappeared. Like Sophie, Camilla does not wear her royal collection tiara exclusively, she alternates between the Greville Tiara and a family tiara.

My conclusion is that switching is allowed but once that switch happens, the previously worn tiara goes back into the vault and is no longer available to the royal. So, for example, if Meghan wears the Delhi Durbar (or Lotus) Tiara, it is not because Camilla (or Kate) loaned it to her, rather it is because the Queen loaned it to her because the tiara is back in her possession.

Interesting observations. I wonder about Kate’s tiaras though. She has worn both the Cambridge Lovers knot and the Lotus Flower at different formal state dinners. Both are beautiful on her but from what I recall, Diana preferred her the Spencer tiara because the Cambridge Lovers knot was quite heavy and gave her a headache. I wonder if that was a consideration for Kate so the Queen lent her both to alternate as the occasion allows.
 
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The Duchess of York took it upon herself to order / borrow that tiara. If I remember reading correctly, the Queen purchased it because they couldn't have her seen in a borrowed tiara.

I recall that story as well.
 
Ok Pranter-I’ve never read it and now I’m looking for it
 
Ok Pranter-I’ve never read it and now I’m looking for it

Just google Sarah Ferguson's tiara ..you should see articles (I read it again in an article a couple days ago).


LaRae
 
Everyone is talking about tiaras, but I would LOVE to see her in Diana's pearl and sapphire choker. I think it would look knock out on her. :D
 
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