Princess Anne is preparing for a major family moment as her son Peter Phillips gets ready to marry fiancée Harriet Sperling at All Saints Church in Kemble, Cirencester, on 6 June. Yet one detail is still up in the air before the ceremony: whether Harriet will wear a tiara. According to Hello!, the decision rests with Anne, who may choose to lend a piece from her own collection. The question matters because Harriet is joining the royal family through marriage, but she will not receive a royal title after the wedding.
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Harriet Sperling Enters the Family Without a Title
NHS nurse Harriet Sperling is not expected to take on a royal title when she marries Peter. That is because Peter himself does not hold one. Princess Anne declined royal titles for her children when Peter was born in 1977, a decision that has long shaped his place within the monarchy. Harriet also does not bring an aristocratic title into the marriage. Even so, a tiara is still possible. Royal brides without titles have worn historic pieces before, especially within Anne’s close family circle, making this one of the most closely watched style details of the day.
Autumn Kelly Wore Anne’s Festoon Tiara in 2008
There is already a clear family precedent. Peter’s first wife, Autumn Kelly, wore the antique Festoon Tiara when she married him in 2008. The headpiece had been borrowed from Princess Anne, linking the bride directly to the family through jewelry rather than rank. As reported by Hello!, the tiara has been part of Anne’s collection since 1973, when it was given to her by the World-Wide Shipping Group after she christened one of their ships. That history gives the piece extra meaning if Anne decides to lend it again for her son’s second wedding.
Princess Anne Chose Two Very Different Bridal Looks
Anne’s own wedding choices show how varied royal bridal traditions can be. For her first marriage to Captain Mark Phillips in 1973, she wore Queen Mary’s Fringe Tiara, a Russian-style kokoshnik made from 47 diamond bars. The piece was loaned by her grandmother, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, making it Anne’s something borrowed. But when she married Sir Timothy Laurence in 1992, Anne skipped the tiara entirely and wore flowers in her hair instead. That contrast adds a little uncertainty to Harriet’s bridal prospects, even with family examples pointing toward a diamond diadem.
Zara Tindall’s Wedding Offers Another Royal Clue
Another sign Harriet may wear a tiara comes from Peter’s sister, Zara Tindall. When Zara married former rugby player Mike Tindall in 2011, she wore Princess Andrew’s Meander Tiara despite not holding a royal title herself. The design includes a Greek key pattern, a central laurel wreath, and honeysuckle elements, with early photographs of Princess Alice wearing it dating back to 1914. Other royal women of the same generation, including Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie and the Princess of Wales, also wore tiaras on their wedding days. That family pattern keeps attention on Anne’s next move.
