Kate Middleton is stepping out in style for her third tiara moment of 2025, and it’s the biggest one to date!
In honor of German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s state visit to the U.K., the royals and their guests celebrated with a glittering state banquet at Windsor Castle on Dec. 3. The Princess of Wales, 43, joined Prince William, King Charles, Queen Camilla and more for the glamorous evening, which called for a white-tie dress code.
Princess Kate made her debut in Queen Victoria’s Oriental Circlet Tiara, paired with a sparkling blue Jenny Packham dress. She accessorized with earrings that belonged to the late Queen Elizabeth along with the Royal Family Order and the Royal Victorian Order sash and star.
The royal headpiece marks Kate’s fifth different tiara ever — and her biggest yet.
According to Garrard, the royal accessory was crafted in 1853 for Queen Victoria under the direction of her husband, Prince Albert. Princess Kate may have chosen the tiara for the German state banquet to pay tribute to their guests, as Prince Albert was from Germany.
While the tiara — which features 2,600 diamonds — was originally set with opals, Queen Alexandra later replaced the gems with rubies. The headpiece was also worn by the Queen Mother and Queen Elizabeth, although the late monarch wore it only once during her reign, during a 2005 trip to Malta. Princess Kate’s decision to sport the tiara to the German state banquet marks the first time it’s been worn in public since.
READ: More Than Style: The Symbolic Messages Behind Princess Kate’s Germany State Visit Outfit
Since becoming part of the royal family, the Princess of Wales had previously worn four different tiaras for events such as state banquets, diplomatic receptions and royal weddings.
Kate’s first tiara wear came when she wed Prince William in 2011, sporting the Cartier Halo Tiara for her walk down the aisle. She’s also worn the Lotus Flower Tiara, the Strathmore Rose Tiara and the Queen Mary Lover’s Knot Tiara.
Most recently, the Princess of Wales sported Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot Tiara for the state visit of United States President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump in September. The accessory complemented her couture gown by British designer Phillipa Lepley with a full-length, hand-embroidered gold Chantilly lace evening coat over a silk crepe gown.
In July, she wore the same royal headpiece for the French state visit, marking her first tiara moment since 2023, as she largely stepped out of the public eye for most of 2024 while she underwent cancer treatment. She announced in January that she was in remission.
Princess Kate recently missed the chance for another tiara moment when she did not attend a reception for members of the Diplomatic Corps at Windsor Castle on Nov. 18. Despite attending in previous years, she missed the white-tie event after stepping out solo earlier in the day at the Future Workforce Summit in London, where she delivered her first royal speech in years.
The evening’s menu included ingredients from the royal estates, including Windsor partridge.
One of the wines, Chateau la Fleur-Petrus, Pomerol, was from 1995, the year that the German president and his wife celebrated their wedding. There is also a specialty cocktail, keeping with the tradition of creating a drink with nods to the visiting nation that started with the change of reign in 2022. The evening’s cocktail featured cherry brandy (a throwback to the first time Charles drank alcohol at school), flavored with cherry and chocolate meant to evoke Black Forest Gateau.
The banquet table for the 152 guests, which started being set up on Sunday, features 152 spoons, 320 knives and a corresponding number of forks. There are 760 glasses and 158 candles that will light the table and the room. The table was decorated with seasonal flowers and foliage from the grounds of Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace. Flowers that can’t be used after the event will be donated to Floral Angels, a charity for which Queen Camilla is a patron, to be taken to hospices, care homes for the elderly and local shelters.
English