Designed by Cartier, the Halo Scroll tiara was a gift from the then Duke of York to his wife, Elizabeth, three weeks before they became King and Queen. It was a bit of a poor relation of British royal tiaras in its early years. The new Queen was only seen in it once in public. She gave the tiara to her daughter Princess Elizabeth, but the Princess never wore it publicly. The tiara did eventually see its day in the sun. As Queen, Her Majesty lent it out very generously, to Princess Margaret, Princess Anne, and famously, to the Duchess of Cambridge for a wedding tiara.
The Facts
The tiara is designed in a series of small scrolls (or waves, depending on how you view it) that roll away from the center to each side of the bandeau. The base is platinum and the stones are all diamonds of varying sizes. The tiara is designed in Art Deco-light, containing some elements of the period without being overwhelmed by them.
The Case for the Tiara
LG: To me, this is the perfect starter tiara: not too big and not too small. It seems to work on pretty much everyone, although it did get lost in Kate’s veil a bit. I’d love to see her take it for another spin.
LiL: I have to agree with Luckey Girl. While Kate was obviously born for the job, she was still young at the time, and not used to blinging it up like that. The Halo Scroll was the perfect way to kick off her new career.
The Case Against the Tiara
The Bag – I don’t hate it by any means. I just don’t find it universally flattering. I don’t think it worked for the Queen Mother (for what little we saw of it). It was saucy on Margo, but I feel that the Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding veil somewhat obscured it on her big day. Maybe I just need to see her wear it again.
The Case of OC Wants Edits Again
OC: It is a great starter piece as LG mentions above, even considering that this piece is probably larger than we all think. I think the shapes are universally flattering and all diamonds work all the time. That being said, I wouldn’t mind this piece being scaled up to an even larger size…perhaps even to the proportions of Albania’s Goat.
What say you?