Princess Charlotte might only be nine, but royal watchers are already talking about the tiaras she might wear one day. One of them is the iconic Spencer Tiara that Charlotte's late grandmother Princess Diana wore for her wedding to Prince Charles. Rumors surrounding whether Princess Charlotte—or Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's daughter, Princess Lilibet—could inherit the Spencer family heirloom have been recirculating this month, but is there any truth to the story?
Per royal blog The Court Jeweller, the sparkling diamond headpiece was created in 1937 for Princess Diana's grandmother, Cynthia Spencer, who was married to the 7th Earl Spencer. It was then passed down the family line to Diana's father, and she borrowed it from him for her 1981 wedding and numerous other occasions over the years.
The tiara ultimately became the possession of Diana's brother Charles, the 9th (and current) Earl Spencer, and the late princess went on to borrow it from her brother to wear for formal occasions. Although Charles's eldest daughter Kitty Spencer chose not to wear the family tiara for her lavish Italian wedding (and neither did little sis Amelia), his niece Celia McCorquodale did rock the diamond headpiece for her 2018 nuptials.
Lauren Kiehna of The Court Jeweller previously told Marie Claire that there was a good reason why neither Kate Middleton or Meghan Markle wore the Spencer Tiara on their respective wedding days. As property of the Spencer family, the piece "was never a royal tiara, which is why royal brides like the Princess of Wales and the Duchess of Sussex didn’t wear it for their weddings," she said.
As for Princess Charlotte, multiple outlets have reported over the past few years that the tween will inherit the tiara after Australian publication New Idea ran a story suggesting this could happen.
"William is close with his uncle and has asked if his mother’s namesake tiara can be given to Charlotte someday," a source told the outlet, continuing, “William is quite aware the earl has daughters of his own, but the two have agreed that Diana’s iconic piece belongs to her first granddaughter.”
However, per Kiehna, this simply isn't true. "Eventually, it will be passed along with the rest of the family estate to Earl Spencer’s son, Viscount Althorp," she told Marie Claire, referring to Louis Spencer, who will one day become the 10th Earl. Writing on The Court Jeweller, she continued, "Neither of Diana's granddaughters will inherit the Spencer Tiara, despite the wishful thinking of some of those who remain so singularly devoted to Diana's memory."
Of course, we could be waiting a good two decades or more to see what Charlotte wears for her own wedding. And although it's certainly possible Prince William could ask his cousin Louis to let Princess Charlotte wear the tiara one day, it seems much more likely she'd borrow a royal tiara such as her mother's own wedding day sparkler, the Cartier Halo Tiara, or one of Queen Elizabeth's many headpieces.
