The One Tiara Kate Middleton And Meghan Markle Will Likely Never Wear

There are many perks and privileges to marrying into the British royal family, and perhaps one of the best ones is that the brides get to wear jewel-studded tiaras. As part of a longstanding tradition for royal weddings, Catherine, Princess of Wales and her estranged sister-in-law Meghan Markle donned tiaras for their nuptials with William, Prince of Wales and Prince Harry, respectively, with both women borrowing headpieces from Queen Elizabeth II. Kate Middleton favored the Cartier Halo Tiara, while the Duchess of Sussex's stunning royal wedding tiara was the Queen Mary Diamond Bandeau Tiara. Meghan's 2018 wedding marked both the first and last time the former actor donned a royal diadem, but Kate has continued to give fans incredible tiara moments over the years with the Strathmore Rose Tiara, Lotus Flower Tiara, and her most-worn sparkler, the Queen Mary Lover's Knot Tiara. While King Charles III can give his daughters-in-law access to more than 50 pieces to choose from, there's one tiara that will likely never appear on Kate's and Meghan's heads: the Spencer Tiara.

Unlike Kate and Meghan, Princess Diana did not wear a tiara from Queen Elizabeth II's collection for her 1981 wedding to Charles. Instead, William and Harry's late mother chose to honor her Spencer heritage by walking down the aisle rocking the diamond-encrusted Spencer Tiara, which was created by Garrard in the 1930s using pieces gifted to members of her aristocratic family. According to The Court Jeweller's Lauren Kiehna, neither of Princess Diana's daughters-in-law wore it to their nuptials because it's a tiara belonging to the Spencer family rather than the House of Windsor. "It was never a royal tiara," the royal jewelry expert told Marie Claire.

The Spencer Tiara, which is passed down to the head of the family, has so far only been worn by Spencer daughters and brides, according to The Court Jeweller. However, in his memoir "Spare," Prince Harry shared that Meghan Markle had initially planned to wear the diadem to their wedding after Princess Diana's sisters offered to loan it to his wife. "My aunts asked if Meg would like to wear my mother's. We were both touched. Meg then spent hours and hours with her dress designer, getting the veil to match the tiara, giving it a similar scalloped edge," he wrote (via Newsweek). Meghan ultimately went with a different headpiece, likely missing her one chance to don Diana's wedding tiara.

Meghan never wore the Spencer Tiara, and it's even more unlikely to happen now that she and Harry have left the royal family. Monarchy expert Emma Forbes also said she believed Meghan was "not really ... a tiara kind of girl," per Page Six, so the chances of her wearing it had never been high to begin with.

As noted by Forbes, Catherine, Princess of Wales is "more traditional" and often wears tiaras on special occasions. For instance, Kate Middleton wore a tiara at a royal wedding in Jordan back in 2023. However, based on how many times Kate has worn the Lover's Knot Tiara (11 of her 16 tiara moments so far), and the fact that she's donned only four tiaras in her 13 years as a working royal, she's more likely to choose a royal tiara than the Spencer Tiara. However, Kate does honor her mother-in-law every time she wears the Lover's Knot, as it was also one of Diana's most well-loved accessories.