#britishroyalty

The Spencer headpiece, was made by Garrads, it has an elaborate design of stylised flowers decorated with diamonds in silver settings. Said to date back to the 18th century, it was given to Diana's grandmother, Cynthia, Viscountess Althorp, by a distant relative called Lady Sarah Spencer as a wedding gift in 1919.

It wasn't until the 1930s that the family enlisted the help of fine jeweler Garrard to remount the tiara with new elements, making it the iconic tiara it's become today. It features large gold scrolling foliage adorned with tulips, stars and a central heart, each decorated with diamonds and set in silver. Its curved shape and whimsical design make it different to the more formal style of royal headpieces.

Lady Sarah McCorquodale, 1980

Diana's eldest sister, Lady Sarah, wore the Spencer tiara on her wedding day to Neil McCorquodale in 1980 in Northamptonshire.

Lady Jane Fellowes, 1978

Diana's second oldest sister, Lady Jane, also sported the tiara on her wedding day to Robert Fellowes, Baron Fellowes in 1978, who was then the assistant private secretary to the Queen.

Lady Diana Spencer, 1981

Lady Diana Spencer for her 1981 wedding to Prince Charles, she chose a Spencer family heirloom, the Spencer tiara, over a precious royal family diadem and gift from her mother-in-law (the Queen), the Queen Mary's Cambridge Lover's Knot tiara.

Victoria Aitken, 1989

Charles Spencer's first wife, Victoria Lockwood, wore the Spencer tiara for their nuptials in 1989.

Lady Celia McCorquodale, 2018

Princess Diana's niece was the last family member to have worn the Spencer tiara for her wedding to George Woodhouse in June 2018.

Fun facts -

While all three of the Spencer sisters donned the jewels for their nuptials, their mother, Frances Shand Kydd, did not wear it when she married into the Spencer family in 1954.

Surprisingly, Charles Spencer's second wife, Caroline and third wife Karen did not wear the Spencer tiara at their wedding.

Meghan Markle was offered the Spencer tiara, but chose the Queen Mary's tiara for her big day.

Part III

Princess Diana’s family, the house of Spencer, is a long-lasting British dynasty, reaching back to the 16th century. The Windsors, on the other hand, are of German descent, having adopted their current name only in 1917.

The marriage of Lady Diana Spencer to Prince Charles had a significant impact on the Spencer family. It brought them into the spotlight, increased their social status, and brought both positive and negative attention to their family dynamics.

Diana, Princess of Wales, succeeded where another Lady Diana Spencer failed. Her namesake, the second daughter of Charles Spencer, the third Earl of Sunderland, is remembered for a failed arranged marriage to Frederick, Prince of Wales in the 1730s.

This Lady Diana Spencer was born in 1710 to Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sutherland and Lady Anne Churchill, ancestors of Diana, Princess of Wales. Orphaned by the age of 6, Lady Diana, known by her family as "dear little Di", joined the household of her rich and ambitious maternal grandmother, Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough. She was her grandmother's favourite grandchild and closest confidante.

Lady Diana spent a lot of time in her grandmother's household who like most grandmothers had great plans for her granddaughter. The highly influential Duchess of Marlborough tried to arrange a secret marriage between Lady Diana and Prince Frederick, King George II's eldest son and heir apparent to the throne. However, the marriage plans were not met favourably by either King George II or Prime Minister Robert Walpole.

Lady Diana married John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford and the Prince of Wales married Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.

Diana, Princess of Wales, succeeded where another Lady Diana Spencer failed, but she wasn’t the only Spencer that might have been Princess of Wales – Diana’s older sister Lady Sarah McCorquodale dated Prince Charles first (a fact that is today well known thanks to the fourth season of The Crown).

Even before Diana married into the royal family, she knew them intimately. Diana’s family had multiple connections to the Crown. Her brother, Charles, is Queen Elizabeth II’s godson. Her father, the eighth Earl Spencer, was Queen Mary’s godson. And her grandmother, Lady Fermoy, was a lady-in-waiting to the Queen Mother

Queen Elizabeth attended their wedding in 1954.

The marriage of Princess Diana to Prince Charles had a significant impact on the Spencer family and the British monarchy.

One of the Spencer sisters, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, has played a significant role in the British royal family. As a member of the famous Spencer family tree, she is the elder sister of the late Princess Diana.

Lady Sarah’s connection to the royal family can be traced back to her marriage to Neil McCorquodale, who is the son of a baron. Her involvement with the royal family has also been through her children, as her daughter Emily McCorquodale married Viscount Althorp, making Lady Sarah the mother-in-law of the current Earl Spencer. Lady Sarah’s remarkable influence and connection to the royal family have made her an important figure in the Spencer family lineage and the British monarchy as a whole.

In March 2020, Meghan said that she was watching the 1989 version of The Little Mermaid at Kensington Palace home: