Credit to Harriet Sperling: When she stepped out at the All Saints’ Church in Kemble to marry Princess Anne’s son Peter Phillips, she looked every bit the royal bride. It was her Emilia Wickstead dress, absolutely, but also her decision to don a tiara—something that was the subject of much royal debate leading up to the big day.
Harriet Sperling Breaks Tradition with Choice of Tiara—and It Has a Tie to Queen Elizabeth
Second wedding? That’s no matter here
Published Jun 8, 2026
•7:46pm
Associated Newspapers Ltd/Shutterstock
Victoria Jones/Shutterstock
This all has to do with the fact that it was a second marriage for both. Of course, members of the royal family have gotten remarried before (ahem, King Charles), but they typically haven’t worn a tiara for the occasion.
For example, Princess Anne opted to wear a floral fascinator of sorts when she wed Sir Timothy Laurence in 1992, her second marriage. Ditto Queen Camilla, who upon her nuptials to then-Prince Charles in 2005, opted for a gold feathered headpiece instead of a sparkly jewel-encrusted tiara. It’s not an official rule that royal brides can’t wear one when celebrating a second marriage, but it’s not tradition either. We love that Sperling decided to chart her own path.
Zak Hussein/Shutterstock
As for the tiara she chose, it has as much personal meaning as it does royal significance. No, it wasn’t plucked from the royal vault, but the delicate and understated Pragnell Tiara is from the same family-owned jewelry house that designed Sperling’s engagement ring, but also happens to have acquired the archives of the jeweler (Philip Antrobus, per the Court Jeweller) that made Queen Elizabeth II’s engagement ring, too. There’s also a fun fact about the tiara, listed on the Pragnell website: It was worn by generations of family members and present at the coronations of both King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II, too.
Something borrowed that breaks from tradition? We approve.
