Princess Ilyana of Malaysia married British racing driver Christopher Froggatt in an extraordinary ceremony in Kuala Lumpur over last weekend.
While she wore a custom dress from Malaysia designer Radzuan Radziwill, all eyes were on the princess’ jewellery, principally a diamond tiara that has been in her family for several generations.
Ilyana wore the Queen Azizah Diamond Tiara, an art deco piece originally belonging to her mother who has previously loaned out to the piece to other Royals in the Malaysian monarchy for their weddings.
Acquired by the monarchy from Belgian jeweller Wolfers in the early 1990’s, the tiara underwent an extensive renovation in 2018 with three diamond stars added to the middle for more sparkle.
Before the renovation, the tiara was seen on the head of Queen Azizah many times throughout the 1990’s, while she also wore the newer version to the first opening of the Malaysian Parliament in 2019.
Much was made recently of Catherine, Princess of Wales wearing her first tiara of the year, donning the the Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot to an important Royal event.
At the Nigerian state banquet at Windsor Castle, Middleton donned a vintage tiara which has been passed down through generations of royals.
The tiara the Princess chose was Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot tiara, which was commissioned for Queen Mary in 1913 from the House of Garrard.
It features pearls and diamonds which are set in silver and gold and due to the weight of the elements it has been unfortunately known for causing the wearer to suffer from headaches.
The tiara was also designed as a replica of her grandmother’s Cambridge Lover’s Knot Tiara.
The piece has an interesting link to her late mother-in-law, Princess Diana. It was originally handed down to Queen Elizabeth II who then passed it onto Diana where it reportedly became a known favourite of hers.
Kate paired the tiara with Queen Elizabeth’s sapphire tassel earrings. The full ensemble included a green gown thought to be bespoke chiffon by Andrew Gu, with a Silver Clutch by Jenny Peckham.
Just before Christmas last year, Catherine wore Queen Victoria’s Oriental Circlet, the first time the tiara had been seen in public for 20 years.
The resplendent headpiece was originally made for Queen Victoria by Garrard in 1853, when its diamond-set floral motifs were originally set with shimmering opals. These were known to be one of the favourite gemstones of Queen Victoria’s husband and consort, Prince Albert, who helped to direct the creation of the circlet. 2,600 diamonds also lent the piece its spectacular sparkle.
The circlet was altered in 1858, when a small space was added to the back so it was no longer a complete circle shape (hence its name) and then again in 1902, when Queen Victoria’s daughter-in-law, Queen Alexandra, who believed that opals were unlucky, had the stones replaced with a set of rubies which had been presented to Queen Victoria 26 years beforehand. She also apparently had some of the arches removed to make the tiara smaller.
Like this? Zara Tindall’s royal tiara is being celebrated on this special anniversary
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