The Princess of Wales made us all gasp in awe when she arrived beside her husband, Prince William, last night for the German state banquet at Windsor Castle. Despite all the guesses from royal watchers about which tiara the Princess of Wales would wear, nothing prepared us for this striking ruby-and-diamond piece

Arriving in a sparkling blue Jenny Packham gown, the princess debuted the Queen Victoria Oriental Circlet Tiara, a piece that hasn't been seen butonly a handful of times in recent decades.

The tiara is a treasure from the royal collection, created by Garrard for Queen Victoria in 1853 under the direction of her beloved husband and consort, Prince Albert. The piece was beloved by Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, but was only worn once by Queen Elizabeth II in 2005 during a trip to Malta. 

What made this a huge tiara moment is that ever since the Princess of Wales joined the royal family 14 years ago, she had been seen wearing the Lover’s Knot Tiara and four other pieces from the royal collection.

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Another major tiara moment took place in November 2023, when the Princess of Wales dazzled us in a custom Jenny Packham ivory gown, which featured structured cape sleeves and metallic embellishments paired with the Strathmore Rose Tiara at the state visit of the President of the Republic of South Korea.  The diamond-encrusted floral diadem, which once belonged to the Queen Mother, made its first public appearance in nearly a century, after the Queen Mother had last worn it in the 1930s.

According to royal watchers, the Princess of Wales’ openness to exploring more options from the royal collection is seen as a major sign of her and her husband’s evolving roles.