Queen Camilla wears Queen Elizabeth II's most famous tiara for the Oman state banquet

Queen Camilla was a vision in royal blue as she joined King Charles, Prince William, and the Princess of Wales to celebrate a state banquet in honour of the Sultan of Oman at Windsor Castle this evening. But, as royal watchers have come to expect from such glittering diplomatic occasions, it was the Queen's choice of tiara that truly stood out – with Her Majesty combining a number of family heirloom accessories with one of Queen Elizabeth II's most treasured tiaras.

The Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara, which was made by royal jeweller Garrard, was commissioned by a fundraising committee chaired by Lady Eva Greville, daughter of the 4th Earl of Warwick, as a gift to Princess Mary before her wedding to Prince Albert, the heir to the British throne – who died before the nuptials aged just 28.

So successful was the committee’s fundraising to purchase the tiara that a £3,000 surplus was donated, at Mary’s request, to the widows and children of 350 lost sailors after the HMS Victoria maritime disaster in 1893. Designed to be transformable, the festoon-and-scroll diamond tiara can be worn as either a necklace or coronet and, after marrying Albert's younger brother, King George V, Queen Mary requested that Garrard replace the original pearls with diamonds and separate the bandeau from the base so that she could wear it as a headband.

In 1947, Queen Mary gave the tiara to her granddaughter, Princess Elizabeth, as a wedding present, and in 1969 the late Queen Elizabeth II asked for the bandeau and tiara to be reunited, as it remains today. It is seen every day on English coins and banknotes, and was worn in the late Queen Elizabeth’s official accession photographs in 1952. She wore it more frequently for royal duties than any of her other jewels, from banquets at the White House to historic events in Dublin – a fitting tribute, then, from Queen Camilla to her late mother-in-law.

Queen Camilla has worn this historic tiara before, notably for the German state banquet in December 2025 and for a dinner at Mansion House in 2023.

The Princess of Wales, too, wore a historic heirloom tiara for the Oman state banquet this evening, but one that is perhaps more associated with Princess Diana than with Queen Elizabeth II. Catherine, who wore a butter-yellow Elie Saab gown for the occasion, stepped out in the Lover's Knot tiara. This will be no surprise to royal watchers – the tiara is far-and-away Catherine's most treasured royal diadem, but the sentimental value of the piece is immense for both the Prince and the Princess of Wales. After all, the Lover's Knot was beloved by Princess Diana.

It was first created in 1914 by the House of Garrard for Queen Mary, who was inspired by a similar headpiece owned by her grandmother, Princess Augusta of Hesse. 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.

This glittering banquet marks the culmination of the Sultan of Oman's visit to Britain, which began with an official welcome from Prince William on Tuesday morning before the pair travelled together to Windsor, where the majority of the royal engagements will take place. The Sultanate of Oman owns a number of London residences, including Nuffield Lodge, 35 Upper Brook Street, and the embassy at 167 Queen’s Gate.

The Sultan made his way to the Royal Dais on Dachet Road in Windsor, where he was officially welcomed by King Charles and Queen Camilla as the sound of a Royal Salute was fired from the Home Park and the Tower of London. The trio then joined the Prince and Princess of Wales for a carriage procession to Windsor Castle – as has become tradition in recent state visits.

State visits are traditionally hosted at Buckingham Palace, but it remains under renovation.

Upon arrival in the Quadrangle of the Castle, the royals were greeted with a Royal Salute by a Guard of Honour while the regimental band played the Omani and British National Anthems. The Sultan and King Charles inspected the Guard before all five royals viewed a military parade. This was followed by a lunch in the State Dining Room with other members of the royal family, and a special exhibition of Oman-related items in the Green Drawing Room.

On Wednesday morning, the King and the Queen will bid farewell to the Sultan of Oman, who will then make his way to London to meet with Prime Minister Andy Burnham at Number 10 Downing Street. But there is more royal pomp and ceremony to come, as His Majesty is then invited to join the Duke of Gloucester for a Guildhall banquet hosted by the Lady Mayor.

A fleeting visit, but one imbued with centuries of royal history in the form of some stunning heirloom tiaras – exactly what one expects from the women of the House of Windsor.