This week, Meghan Markle has attended two evening events – a Fiji state dinner and formal reception in Tonga. The events were significant, as they marked the Duchess of Sussex’s first formal event as an official member of the Royal Family.
The royal looked stunning in Fiji in a floor-length blue gown, and then again in Tonga in white floor-length gown.
However, many noticed that one thing was missing from both outfits – a tiara.
Meghan’s lack of headdress was only amplified by Kate Middleton’s appearance at a formal banquet hosted by Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace in honour of the Dutch royals visit.
Kate was not only dripping in royal jewellery, she was donning the Cambridge Lover’s Knot tiara.
According to royal tradition, Markle was able to wear a tiara for a very simple reason – Members of the royal family can only wear tiaras when the event is a white-tie event and Meghan and Harry’s Fiji reception was a black-tie event, Hello! reports.
Jewellery expert Geoffrey Munn told Town and Country, explains that the rules around tiara wearing in the royal family extends to all women on one condition – they must be married.
“Any woman may wear one, but ancient tradition has it that they must be a bride or already married,” he said.
That means Meghan, Kate and Princess Eugenie all able to wear one while Princess Beatrice can’t.
This is also why a royal bride’s choice of tiara is always quite significant.
“The tiara has its roots in classical antiquity and was seen as an emblem of the loss of innocence to the crowning of love,” Munn added.
