Meghan Markle wore a tiara that is more than a century old on her wedding day, and it can be traced back through many more royal figures before her.
The diamond tiara that adorned Markle’s head during the royal wedding was made in 1911, according to a report by Page Six. It was originally for Queen Mary when she was crowned alongside her husband, King George V. It was made specifically for her, and designed to hold a brooch that commemorated her engagement to George. The brooch was even older — given to Mary in 1893.
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The ornate piece was passed to Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. The ruling monarch has a massive collection of tiaras stored under heavy guard. It is Royal tradition for her to lend one to Markle for her wedding day.
In the exciting lead up to the Royal wedding, many speculated about whether Markle would wear a tiara. Some assumed she would symbolically wear one that had belonged to Princess Diana, her groom’s late mother. Instead, the Queen Mother gave her the 107 year old ornament to welcome her into the storied royal family.
The tiara cemented Markle’s regal look. It was a powerful way of establishing her as a royal presence. A small but persistent minority disagreed with her marriage. There was a constant grumbling of racism during her engagement to Prince Harry, as well as many who felt that a divorcee and an actress with such a long resume wasn’t fit for the scrutiny of royal life.
Markle took it all in stride, and on her wedding day she played the part of a royal bride. Even then, she continued to face criticism. Australian reporter Allison Langdon accused Markle of “copying” her wedding dress from another royal wedding during her live coverage on Saturday morning.
Langdon, a reporter for 60 Minutes, and Channel Nine, was one of the many journalists covering the royal wedding proceedings on Saturday morning. As Markle arrived at St. George’s Chapel and her dress was on display for the first time, Langdon noted that it was similar to the one worn by Princess Mary of Denmark at her own wedding.
“I think it was probably Meghan’s version of Hollywood meets the history of the British family,” said Langon’s co-host Kerri Elstub. “Ali, it was your comment when watching it that the dress seemed familiar.”
“It was Princess Mary,” Langdon said confidently. “My first thought was that we had seen the dress before. I don’t think she’ll be setting wedding trends, because I think she’s copied. It wasn’t an Australian designer in the end, but I think she copied our very own princess, Princess Mary.”
Princess Mary’s wedding was held back in 2004 and has been married to Prince Frederik ever since. Langdon pointed out that Princess Mary also wore a long-sleeve gown with a boat-neckline. She went even further, questioning the color of Markle’s dress.
“I think she did copy Princess Mary. It looked stunning on her but she went with pure white,” she said. “A lot of people thought she might go with an ivory number since this was not her first wedding.”
Despite these few harsh critics, Markle and Prince Harry’s wedding was a massive success.
