Harriet Sperling arrived at All Saints Church in Kemble wearing a pearl and diamond tiara for her wedding to Peter Phillips. Despite speculation she would maybe forgo a tiara due to it being her second wedding, Harriet decided to embrace the family she is marrying into and added a little royal glamour to her wedding day. The tiara is not one of the five tiaras Princess Anne has worn during her lifetime; instead, it is a piece from Pragnell, the jeweler that designed her engagement ring.
The tiara, called the Pragnell Tiara, is on loan from Pragnell. Per the jeweler, “This intricate tiara dazzles the eye by showcasing a design typical of both the Edwardian and Deco periods – which is very rare in all jewellery. Diamonds highlight a festoon of glittering laurel leaves and articulated floral motifs, bearing great resemblance to the tiara owned by The Princess Royal, in the official photograph celebrating her fiftieth birthday in 2000. Favoured as a bridal headpiece and owned by the Pragnell family, this delicate tiara has been worn by generations of Pragnell family members and was present at the Coronation of both King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II.”
Additionally, Sperling wore diamond and pearl earrings, also by Pragnell.
There’s no real protocol for tiaras at second weddings: Meghan Markle, a divorcée, wore Queen Mary’s Diamond Bandeau Tiara when she married Prince Harry at Windsor Castle in May 2018, while both Princess Anne and Queen Camilla (then Camilla Parker Bowles) opted to go tiara-less for their second weddings. Camilla did, though, wear a golden feathered headpiece by Philip Treacy in place of a royal diadem.
Both Anne and Camilla, however, wore tiaras on their first weddings. Anne chose Queen Mary’s Fringe Tiara, which was created by Garrard in 1919 and worn by Queen Elizabeth on her wedding day, for her 1973 nuptials to Captain Mark Phillips. Camilla wore a family heirloom upon her first marriage to Andrew Parker Bowles in 1973. Her daughter Laura Lopes later wore the same tiara at her 2005 wedding.
It’s unlikely Harriet Sperling, a NHS nurse, wore a tiara for her first wedding to fitness instructor Antonio St. John Sperling, but no photos have been publicly shared of that wedding.
Emily Burack (she/her) is the Deputy Digital Editor for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, celebrities, the royals, and a wide range of other topics. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma, a Jewish culture site. Follow her @emburack on Instagram, Twitter, and other social media platforms.
