The Duchess of Gloucester dons a treasured family heirloom tiara at the Oman state banquet

Mostly, when the public sees the Duchess of Gloucester, she is busy working away to support some of the royal family's less immediately glamorous causes. It is, then, always a great pleasure to see the 80-year-old unsung hero of the Firm taking a dip into her vast Gloucester jewellery vaults – bigger than those possessed by some entire royal families – to don a tiara at a dazzling state banquet.

And this Tuesday's dinner in honour of the Sultan of Oman was no different. Birgitte, fresh off her royal tour of Botswana this month, joined King Charles, Queen Camilla, Princess Anne, and the Prince and Princess of Wales to celebrate the Sultan with a banquet at Windsor Castle. For the occasion, the Duchess of Gloucester wore one of her family's most impressive pieces.

The Gloucester Honeysuckle Tiara was originally commissioned by Queen Mary after the succession of her husband, King George V, in 1910. The Gloucester Honeysuckle repurposed the diamonds previously used in Queen Mary’s wedding gifts – the Ladies of England Tiara and the Surrey Fringe Tiara. So significant was the Tiara that it once bore the Cullinan V diamond, cut from the largest diamond ever found.

The Tiara was passed on to the Gloucesters after the wedding of Queen Mary’s son, Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, to Lady Alice Montague Douglas Scott in 1935. The new Duchess wore the piece for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, and it became a fast favourite for Princess Alice until she passed away in 2004 as the oldest ever member of the royal family.

Illustrious shoes to fill when it comes to a lifetime of royal duty, but a legacy that has been continued with grace by Birgitte, who has worn the Honeysuckle Tiara at numerous royal engagements, including the 1995 wedding of Princess Alexandra of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg to Count Jefferson von Pfeil und Klein-Ellguth, and that American state visit in 2019. More recently, she wore it to honour President Macron of France at a dinner at the London Guildhall in 2025 – pairing the tiara with the same smart white ensemble as she wore for the Oman state visit this evening.

Indeed, the Oman state banquet has been a triumphant display of royal tiaras, with the Duchess of Gloucester proving that, when it comes to family heirlooms, she can more than hold her own. Queen Camilla wore the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara, known as Queen Elizabeth II's most popular tiara, because the late monarch wore it for more royal engagements than any other piece, and even posed with it for the portrait that was used on official British currency throughout her reign.

The Princess of Wales, meanwhile, turned to an old favourite at the banquet, wearing the Lover's Knot tiara that was so dear to her late mother-in-law, Princess Diana. After Queen Mary’s death in 1953, she bequeathed the Lovers’ Knot to her granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II. After wearing the tiara throughout the 50s, the late Queen is said to have loaned it to Princess Diana as a wedding present in 1981. In a somewhat iconoclastic move, the late Princess of Wales instead chose to wear the Spencer Tiara, which had been in her family for decades. Diana did, however, soon become closely associated with the Lovers’ Knot, in spite of the fact that it was so heavy to wear that it is said to have given her headaches.

During her own royal career, Catherine has worn the Lover’s Knot tiara at six such diplomatic dinners, as well as for a 2017 state banquet in honour of King Felipe and Queen Letizia, a 2019 dinner for King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima and a 2025 dinner for President Macron. When the royals gathered to welcome US President Donald Trump to Buckingham Palace in 2019, Kate was wearing her favourite tiara, and she also chose it for her first state banquet as the Princess of Wales when the Firm hosted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2022 and later for the Nigerian state banquet in 2026.

Princess Anne, meanwhile, wore The Princess Andrew Meander Tiara, also known as the Greek Key Tiara – a poignant piece in her own jewellery collection.

The tiara holds extra sentimental value as it is one that she inherited via her father, the late Duke of Edinburgh. The full diamond bandeau, which features a Greek key pattern and honeysuckle motifs, belonged to her paternal grandmother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, who was given it as a wedding present upon her marriage to Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark. Supremely elegant, there is a large brilliant-cut diamond encircled within a pavé laurel wreath at the centre of the piece.

When her son married the then Princess Elizabeth in 1947, Princess Alice gave the Meander Tiara to her daughter-in-law as a gift. Whilst Queen Elizabeth has not been seen wearing the tiara herself, the precious legacy was bequeathed to their only daughter, Princess Anne in the late 1960s. Anne has worn the tiara many times since, including to the State Opening of Parliament in 1970 and the 1988 Guildhall Banquet.

As a touching tribute to her grandfather, Zara Phillips paired her mother’s Meander Tiara with a Stewart Parvin dress for her 2011 wedding to English Rugby player Mike Tindall. The tiara is now synonymous with one of the greatest royal weddings in recent years.

Family history, glorious displays of jewels, and a glamorous outing for the Duchess of Gloucester? All in a day's work during a state banquet…