Diana’s sparkling Spencer Tiara on show for Jubilee jewels display
The princess wore the family heirloom on her wedding day in 1981.
![](https://www.guernseypress.com/resizer/v2/2ANW7MJLUJF2TNEQXDRQGALY2Y.jpg?auth=1ac7896ffded3aa608d73bb7eaa0575e7a48f93685d2032972d548efe771fe2c&width=300&height=225)
The famous Spencer Tiara, worn by Diana, Princess of Wales on her wedding day, is to go on display as part of the UK’s largest exhibition of tiaras in 20 years.
Some 50 glittering treasures of aristocratic and royal provenance, many seen for the first time in public in decades, will be on view as part of Sotheby’s’ Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
Diana’s brother Earl Spencer has loaned the priceless family heirloom to the auction house – the first time the piece will have been exhibited in London since the 1960s.
![The Spencer Tiara, Garrard, mid-1930s, (Sotheby’s/PA)](http://content.assets.pressassociation.io/2022/05/18104347/fcae197c-1a8c-4318-8307-28b03a7f5f3d.jpg)
Lord Spencer later recalled how the sparkling jewellery gave Diana a splitting headache on the day of her nuptials because she was not used to wearing it.
The princess wore the historic tiara on many occasions afterwards, including at state dinners on royal overseas tours.
![Royalty – Prince and Princess of Wales Canada Visit](http://image.assets.pressassociation.io/v2/image/production/fbaafb3e6c93b0ca8ff5d2163af42363Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNjUyOTUzNzg1/2.1264295.jpg?w=640)
The heart-shaped section was said to be particularly sentimental to Diana, with her grandmother Lady Cynthia Hamilton receiving it as a wedding present from her husband Jack, later the 7th Earl Spencer, in 1919.
Kristian Spofforth, head of jewellery at Sotheby’s London, said: “The Queen’s Jubilee celebrations have given us the perfect opportunity to put on public display an outstanding selection of tiaras from noble and royal provenance, many of which have not been exhibited in decades.
“The sourcing of these jewels has been a labour of love, resulting in an exhibition that showcases the best iterations within the tiara style register, through some of its most famous incarnations – including the much-loved and photographed Spencer Tiara.
“This is also a wonderful moment for us to shine a special light on the dazzling craftsmanship delivered by generations of mainly British-based jewellers across several centuries of tiara making.”
![Queen Victoria’s Emerald and Diamond Tiara](http://content.assets.pressassociation.io/2022/05/18110159/efb43d39-0ebe-42d7-b632-32107e10162d.jpg)
It was reportedly Victoria’s favourite and is widely seen as one of the most elegant and sumptuous coloured gemstone tiaras ever created anywhere in the world.
Set in gold, cushion-shaped diamonds are interspersed with step-cut emeralds lined across its base, topped by further diamonds and emeralds shaped in scrolls and surmounted by a graduated row of 19 inverted cabochon pear-shaped emeralds, the largest of which weighs 15 carats.
Others tiaras include Josephine Bonaparte’s Gold, Cameo and Enamel Diadem, which takes inspiration from the head ornaments of ancient Greece and Rome.
![Josephine Bonaparte's gold, cameo and enamel diadem](http://content.assets.pressassociation.io/2022/05/18105953/17371398-498e-48e8-ab37-2d70bc7c2304.jpg)
Tiaras which were worn for the Queen’s coronation in 1953 will feature including the Derby Tiara initially created for the Duchess of Devonshire in 1893, and the Westminster Halo Tiara, commissioned to Paris-based jewellers Lacloche Freres in 1930 by the Duke of Westminster for his bride Loelia Ponsonby.
Artworks depicting the queens who have ruled throughout history will also feature at the Jubilee Arts Festival at Sotheby’s, ranging from Andy Warhol’s pop art print of the Queen to the famous Armada portrait of Elizabeth I.
The event at Sotheby’s, 34-35 New Bond Street in London, will run from May 28 to June 15 – entry is free and tickets can be booked in advance.