While Catherine, Princess of Wales, better known as Kate Middleton, continues to undergo her preventative chemotherapy, many other members of the royal family have been stepping up. It’s rumored that Kate could make another public appearance this summer, but for right now, she’s probably staying at home as she battles cancer. However, while we haven’t seen Kate since Trooping the Colour, we did see her go-to tiara on someone else.
In case you missed it, Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, joined many senior royals for the diplomatic dinner held in honor of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako of Japan’s state visit to the UK on June 25, 2024. You can see the photo of it all below, and see that Sophie is, in fact, wearing the Lotus Flower Tiara. See below:
Now, we’ve seen people like Meghan Markle and Rose Hanbury don the same accessories as Kate, but this is a whole other instance. Many see that Sophie was paying homage to Kate, who has been rather MIA this year, by wearing her family member’s go-to tiara she adores. What a royal homage!
For those who have no idea what the Lotus Flower tiara even is, we got you.
According to Court Jeweller, the Lotus Flower Tiara came from a necklace King George VI gave to the Queen Mother on their wedding day, and it was originally made from a mixture of diamonds and pearls. Reportedly worth around $4 million, this tiara was worn by Queen Elizabeth back in the 1930s, Princess Margaret back in the 1960s, and at the wedding of Serena Stanhope, the Countess of Snowdon.
As for Kate, she’s worn this tiara two times over the years. She first donned it in 2015 at a banquet with the President of China, and again at the Diplomatic Reception at Buckingham Palace on Dec 6, 2022. You can see the photos below:
While it may be some time before we see Kate donning tiaras as much as she used to, it’s nice to see her aunt-in-law pay homage to her.
Before you go, click here to see the 100 best photos of the royal family from the past 20 years.