#Princess Andrew's Meander Tiara

[the-jewel-catalogue]

Princess Andrew's Meander Tiara

The term “meander” is another word for the Greek key design that makes up the band of this tiara. No one seems to know precisely when Princess Andrew, who was born Princess Alice of Battenberg, acquired the tiara, but it would make sense that she received a Greek key tiara after marrying Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark in 1903.

The tiara is made of diamonds, and the Greek key design is punctuated by a central laurel wreath element and two honeysuckle elements. 

The tiara was handed over to Princess Anne, who still owns the piece today. 

Zara paired her great-grandmother’s tiara with a veil for her Scottish wedding, paying tribute to her lesser-known royal heritage.

~ The Court Jeweller

[ifreakingloveroyals]

[slipdressdiary]

The Meander pattern originated in ancient Greece, named after the winding Meander river of what is now Turkey. It often symbolizes eternity and all things infinite.

A notable example of the use of this pattern is Princess Andrew's Meander Tiara, which made its way to the British royal family through Prince Philip (more specifically, his mother). This more 'alternative' tiara is a personal favorite of Princess Anne, the only daughter of the late Queen Elizabeth II; she has worn it on many different occasions throughout the years.

[aimeedaisies]

How may tiaras does Anne own

These are the tiaras that she has worn in the past

(Descriptions from The Court Jeweller)

What I think are in her personal collection;

✨ Festoon tiara

This delicate diamond festoon tiara was given to Princess Anne in 1973 when she christened a ship. (Not a bad thank-you present!) It’s intricate and pretty, which made it a perfect wedding tiara for Anne’s daughter-in-law in 2008. Anne still wears it regularly, including an appearance at a Guildhall banquet during the Spanish state visit in July 2017.

✨ Princess Andrew’s Meander Tiara

Princess Anne has been wearing this diamond bandeau, featuring laurel wreaths, anthemions, and a Greek Key (or meander) pattern, since she was a young woman. The tiara originally belonged to her grandmother, Princess Andrew of Greece and Denmark, who had given it to Queen Elizabeth II as a wedding present. The Queen loaned it to Princess Anne for some of her early tiara appearances (including a state visit to Austria in May 1969) before giving her the tiara in 1972. Anne still wears it regularly today, and she also loaned it to her daughter, Zara, as a bridal tiara in 2011.

✨ Aquamarine Pineflower tiara

This Cartier diamond and aquamarine tiara, which has a unique pinecone design theme, was a wedding anniversary gift from King George VI to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother in the 1940s. In November 1973, the Queen Mother offered it to Princess Anne as a wedding present. She’s been wearing it ever since (including at a state banquet in June 2019), and has even made a few design tweaks along the way.

In the family vault;

✨ Queen Mary’s Fringe Tiara

In November 1973, Princess Anne borrowed Queen Mary’s diamond fringe tiara from her grandmother, the Queen Mother, for her wedding to Mark Phillips. Anne was the second royal bride to wear the tiara after her mother, Queen Elizabeth II (who now owns it). Most recently, it was worn by another family bride: Princess Beatrice of York.

✨ Double Row Meander Tiara

This diamond kokoshnik tiara, made of two rows of Greek Key (or meander) patterns, is a little bit of a mystery. Made in the nineteenth-century, it originally also accommodated an aigrette plume. It belonged to the Queen Mother, but we’ve only seen it worn once by a royal woman: Princess Anne’s outing in the tiara for a state banquet at Buckingham Palace during the Chinese state visit in November 2005.

✨ Cartier Halo Tiara

Like two other members of the royal family — Princess Margaret and the Duchess of Cambridge — Princess Anne’s very first tiara was the delicate scrolling halo tiara made by Cartier for the Queen Mother. The piece was loaned to Anne by her mother, Queen Elizabeth II, and she wore it often in her teen years for events like the State Opening of Parliament (October 1967)

✨ Birthday Portrait Tiara

For her twenty-first birthday, Princess Anne sat for a series of official commemorative portraits. She wore an ice green gown with a diamond scroll tiara and posed in front of a background specially painted by Gordon Davies for the portrait session. The tiara has never been seen on a royal woman before or since, so there’s a general consensus that it was probably a loan. (Why would the Brits borrow a tiara? Hard to know. Perhaps they wanted a specific look?) The images were published in British newspapers in August 1971.

✨ Pearl Bandeau

Princess Anne has also worn one more mystery tiara in recent memory: a gold-hued bandeau, which appears to be set with large pearls. She donned the tiara for a state banquet at Windsor Castle during the Indian state visit in October 2009. We still don’t know anything more about it, including its provenance, and we haven’t seen it in public since.

I would love to see her wear the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara (although she probably won’t now that Cam has 🥲), there is also an absolutely gorgeous tiara called the Teck Tiara that has crescent moons, roses and leaves (I don’t even know if it’s still in the main family anymore) 😍

Please drop your favourite tiaras that you’d love to see Anne wear in the comments 😍

[houseofbrat]

Poll: Princess Anne's tiara next week

Since the possibility of a shake-up on who wears what tiara exists within the BRF, aka tiara sharing/rotation, will Anne wear a different tiara at the state banquet for Qatar next week? Or a tiara she has not worn for more than a decade?

[grandmaster-anne]

🤡 Coronation and Tiara talks 🤡

(All options are taken from THE COURT JEWELLER; see pictures below for reference)

(Tbh, if it's possible, I want her to wear the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara or maybe even the Queen Alexandra's Diamond Kokoshnik Tiara)

[detournementsmineurs]

"Meander Tiara" received by Princess Alice of Battenberg for her wedding to Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, 1914.

[loiladadiani]

favorite tiara^^

I love the Kokoshnik Tiara that Eugenie wore for her wedding and the runner-up is Princess Andrew's Meandering tiara that Princess Anne wears.

[theroyalwatcher]

Princess Andrew’s Meander Tiara | Diamond Necklace Tiara | Pearl Star Tiara | Aquamarine Tiara | Queen’s Engagement Ring | Wedding Gift Bracelet

[thepompandcircumstance]

The Meander Tiara

With the immense collection of jewels the British Royal Family has amassed through the ages, it is no surprise that they have a meander tiara in their vaults.

The Meander Tiara was a wedding gift from HRH Princess Alice of Battenberg to the then Princess Elizabeth, the bride-elect of her only son Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, in 1947.

The word “meander” stems from the motifs found along the band of the tiara. A meander or meandros is a decorative Greek key border design; this makes the tiara fitting for a Battenberg princess who wed into the Greek Royal Family in 1903.

Princess Elizabeth never wore the jewel, as only 5 years into her marriage, she would ascend to the throne and thus meaning more grander pieces at her disposal. Princess Andrew’s tiara would then be regularly lent to her granddaughter, Princess Anne. The austere design of the tiara was quite befitting to the young, strong-minded princess.

HM The Queen would officially give the tiara to the Princess Royal in 1972, upon her engagement to Captain Mark Phillips.

The most notable outing of the tiara was on top of the head of Princess Anne’s daughter, the blooming bride Zara Phillips, during her 2011 wedding to Mike Tindall.

[tiaramania]

If the designs of the BRF tiaras had been on point, which ones would you have like to have seen on s3 of The Crown?

I think the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara is the biggest missing piece on all three seasons of The Crown.  

Another nice addition to the new season would have been Princess Anne wearing Princess Alice’s Meander Tiara because I loved the Alice and Anne bonding scenes.  I’m not finished with the whole season yet but so far Erin Doherty who plays Anne has stolen every scene she’s in.  I wish they had given her better story lines and better tiaras.

Other than that I would have been happy with them just repeating the tiaras used in the first two seasons.

[omgthatdress]

Princess Andrew Meander Tiara

Princess Alice of Battenberg received this tiara in 1903 for her wedding to Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark. In 1947, she gave it to then Princess Elizabeth as a wedding gift when she married her son, Prince Phillip. Since then, it has been a favorite of Princess Anne’s. Her daughter, Zara, wore it on her wedding day.

[ifreakingloveroyals]

30 July 2011 | Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall are married at Canongate Kirk before members of the royal family. (c) Bauer Griffin

[royal1979]

Princess Anne with Meander Tiara.

The Meander Tiara was originally owned by Princess Andrew of Greece, who was the mother of Prince Philip. Princess Andrew of Greece gave the tiara to her daughter-in-law, the then-Princess Elizabeth, as a wedding gift on the day the British monarch married her son. It was eventually passed down to Princess Anne, and since Prince Philip was Princess Anne's father, it was a sentimental tiara for her to wear. The headpiece features the classical Greek "key pattern," and its center has a diamond-encrusted wreath. Princess Anne eventually bestowed the tiara to her daughter, Zara Phillips, on her own wedding day in 2011. 

[princesscatherinemiddleton]

The Bridal Tiaras of the Granddaughters of HM Queen Elizabeth II & Prince Philip

Autumn Kelly (now Ms Autumn Phillips, m. 17 May 2008, d. circa 2020) – Princess Anne’s Diamond Festoon Tiara

Catherine Middleton (now HRH The Duchess of Cambridge, m. 29 April 2011) – Queen Elizabeth’s Halo Scroll Tiara

Zara Phillips (now Mrs Michael Tindall, m. 30 July 2011) – Princess Andrew’s Meander Tiara

Rachel Meghan Markle (now The Duchess of Sussex, m. 19 May 2018) – Queen Mary’s Diamond Bandeau Tiara

HRH Princess Eugenie of York (now HRH Princess Eugenie, Mrs Brooksbank, m. 12 October 2018) – Margaret Greville’s Emerald Kokoshnik Tiara

HRH Princess Beatrice of York (now HRH Princess Beatrice, Mrs Mapelli Mozzi, m. 17 July 2020) – Queen Mary’s Fringe Tiara

[houseofbrat]

Poll Results: Tiara Guesses for The Princess Royal at the State Banquet for Qatar

57.1% say that Anne will not wear a new tiara on Tuesday night.

33.3% say that Anne will wear Princess Andrew's Meander Bandeau Tiara.

23.8% say that Anne will wear her Festoon Tiara.

42.9% say that Anne will wear a new/different tiara Tuesday night.

19% chose the Queen Mother's Double Meander Tiara.

9.5% chose that Anne will wear a tiara not listed in the poll.

Lastly, there was a three-way tie between

Queen Mary's Fringe Tiara

The Indian/Oriental Circlet

and Queen Mary's Sapphire Bandeau.

21 votes