PRINCESS DIANA'S WEDDING TIARA WAS 'VERY VALUABLE' DESPITE NEVER BELONGING TO THE QUEEN

and Prince Charles wowed the nation as they made their way through central London and through the doors of St Paul's Cathedral to the altar. Diana was 20 years old, while Charles was 32. The bride looked stunning in a dress designed by David and Elizabeth Emanuel.

Princess Diana's dress was covered in lace and featured a huge train.

She also wore a veil, kept in place by a stunning tiara on her head.

Many members of the Royal Family opt to don tiaras on their wedding day, but what is the history behind Diana's?

The sparkling piece belonged to the young Princess' own family - the Spencers were an aristocratic English clan which can be traced back for centuries.

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The bridal tiara had been in the Spencer family for almost a century before Diana wore it on her big day.

In 1919, the central part of the tiara was given as a wedding present to Lady Cynthia Hamilton, the new bride of Albert, Viscount Althorp, who was Diana's grandfather.

Lady Cynthia accepted the gift from Lady Sarah Spencer, the unmarried daughter of the Fourth Earl Spencer.

Both ends of the tiara are also understood to be from Lady Sarah's collection, which she had acquired in the 1870s, according to the Court Jeweller.

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By the 1930s, royal jeweller's Garrard had hold of Lady Sarah's various sparkling parts and decided to construct them into a tiara.

This is how the Spencers ended up with the floral diadem still belonging to them today.

It was then passed down to Diana's mother, Frances Burke Roche, who wore the piece at her wedding to the Eighth Earl.

In fact, all three of Frances' daughters, wore the tiara at their weddings.

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Although there is no official value for the tiara, a similar version from the Spencer family with 800-cut diamonds sold for $225,000 in 2018, which equates to around £163,000.

Based on this figure, diamond expert Max Stone from jewellers Stephen Stone has estimated the price of the Spencer tiara.

He said: "Based on the selling price of a similar Spencer family tiara, I'd estimate this piece to be worth around £400,000.

"With its incredible detail and the high-quality diamonds, not to mention its popularity, this is no doubt a very valuable heirloom."

After Diana married into the Royal Family in 1981, she was gifted a tiara from the royal collection.

This was the Queen Mary's Lover's Knot Tiara.

However, the young Princess continued to often wear her own tiara to white-tie events.

This was reportedly because the Spencer tiara was much lighter and easier to wear than the Lover's Knot.

But after her divorce, the Lover's Knot Tiara, as well as the Spencer tiara, were returned to their owners.

The Queen still owns the former, while the latter always belonged to Diana's father, and now her brother.

The Queen Mary's Lover's Knot Tiara, which was commissioned for Queen Mary in 1912 by Garrard's, has since been worn by Kate Middleton.

It is a stunning piece which consists of diamonds and a collection of 19 hanging pearls, all set in silver and gold.

2022-08-13T03:12:41Z dg43tfdfdgfd