It's not often we get to see a dazzling royal tiara moment, which is why the Duchess of Edinburgh's decision to recycle her bridal headpiece for another royal wedding has piqued our interest.
Sophie, then 39, had only been married for five years when she joined her husband Prince Edward in Copenhagen for then-Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and Mary Donaldson's wedding in 2004. While Edward stuck to a classic black suit, decorated with his military medals, Duchess Sophie turned heads in a hot pink satin wedding guest dress with off-the-shoulder straps, a fitted waist and an A-line skirt.
© Pool BENAINOUS/DUCLOS/TRAVERSA candy pink shawl was draped over her shoulders and she was dripping in diamonds, teaming her oval and heart-shaped diamond engagement ring with a diamond necklace, dazzling earrings and, most notably, her wedding tiara.
Nestled in her dark blonde bob, Sophie's tiara is thought to have been made out of four anthemion elements from Queen Victoria’s Regal Circlet. On her wedding day in 1999, Sophie teamed the tiara with pearls gifted to her by her husband Edward, and a Samantha Shaw coat dress which hid her embellished V-neck second wedding dress underneath.
© Anwar HusseinThe royal – who shares children Lady Louise Windsor and James, Earl of Wessex with her husband – has embraced every opportunity to recycle her special headpiece in the years following her wedding. Sophie wore it alongside a regal blue satin gown for the wedding of Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway in August 2001 and paired it with a grey strapless dress for Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel of Sweden's big day in 2010.
Two decades on from her wedding it appears as though Sophie has tweaked the tiara. In 2019, she debuted the newly designed headpiece, which featured rearranged anthemions that were closer together on a larger base.
© Anthony HarveySophie has fine-tuned her sartorial skills over the years without the help of a stylist, favouring designers such as Erdem and Emilia Wickstead. This has cemented her place as one of the most influential style icons in the royal family, but the former PR boss admitted that she struggled with the interest in her fashion since she was used to keeping her clients in the spotlight.
She told The Sunday Express: "It was all about my clients, not me. It’s still not about me, it’s about my charities but I recognise that I’m on display.
© WPA Pool"I remember having a chat with somebody and them saying, 'You know you’ve got to recognise that this is part and parcel of what you’re doing. When you walk into a room, yes people are going to talk about what you’re doing there, but they’re also going to want to know what you’re wearing.'
"I sort of wrestled with that one for a little while and slightly caved in at the end of the day."
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