A decade later, Diana of Wales's favorite tiara that her granddaughter will inherit sees the light again

If Diana of Wales had a piece of jewelry with which she felt favored and —in her fair measure— comfortable, that was the Spencer tiara, the one that bore her own surname and which has belonged to her family since 1919. Along with the so-called Lover's Knot, the Spencer was his favorite, because he dressed her in all the more or less important acts that he had in his life.

And, now, those who wish have the opportunity to see it up close in London, on the occasion of Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

She wore it on her wedding day, held at Westminster Abbey on July 29, 1981. She wore it at the State Opening of the British Parliament in November 1982;

she also in New Zealand, in 1983, on a controversial tour;

for two consecutive nights in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, in November 1986, she was dressed by Emmanuel, the same designers of her wedding dress;

at a banquet in Munich in November 1987;

in Toronto at a gala, in October 1991, next to a Catherine Walker dress;

in Delhi, in February 1992, at a dinner with authorities;

in March 1992, dressed in red down to her feet, at a gala at the Budapest Opera.

She wore it in Seoul, in what was her last official trip as Princess of Wales, just a month before her separation from Charles of England was announced.

And not only her.

her older sisters,

Lady Jane Fellowes and Lady Sarah McCorquodale wore it at their respective weddings in 1978 and 1980;

and her youngest daughter, Lady Celia McCorquodale, in hers in June 2018. Also Diana's older brother and Earl Spencer, Charles, lent it to his first wife, Victoria Lockwood, at their marriage in 1989.

More information

The Spencers, the discreet maternal family of Diana of Wales and Princes William and Henry

Now, this historical piece can be found in an exhibition in the heart of the British capital, at the headquarters of the Sotheby's auction house, from this Saturday May 28 until June 15 (with the exception of Friday June 5) for free.

This is the fourth time it has been exhibited to the public, after showings in March 1997, in the spring of 2000 at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and after being on view for 15 years at Althorp House, the family home.

There it could be seen between 1998 and 2013 in the

where 150 pieces could be seen —including the princess's wedding dress— and which managed to raise more than 1.4 million euros that were donated to various charitable causes.

Wedding of Charles Spencer, then Viscount, with Victoria Lockwood, in Northamptonshire, England, on September 16, 1989. She wore the Spencer tiara. Tim Graham (Getty Images)

On display, called

(Power and image: royal and aristocratic tiaras), the Spencer tiara is the jewel in the crown, but it is accompanied by 49 other pieces of immense value from houses such as Cartier, Fabergé or Van Cleef & Arpels, belonging to countesses, duchesses and even there is one that is attributed to the Empress Josephine, wife of Napoleon.

It highlights a diamond crown with twenty large emeralds that belonged to Queen Victoria, which was designed and given to her by her husband, Prince Albert, in the mid-19th century.

The monarch wore it for a well-known family portrait she painted for her son Alfred's christening in 1859. Victoria gave it to her granddaughter, Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife, who left it to her heirs, and the last time she was carried in public was in 1960.

The Spencer tiara, worn by Diana of Wales at her wedding to Charles of England in 1981, on display at Sotheby's in London in spring 2022.Sotheby's

Earl Spencer, heir to the legacy of the family home to which Princess Diana belonged by birth, has been the one who has given the valuable tiara to Sotheby's temporarily.

The headband is in platinum and diamonds and has a floral theme, with a central area in the shape of a heart with a larger main gem in an oval shape.

Diana of Wales, next to Queen Elizabeth II, at the opening of the British Parliament, in November 1982, dressed in a white fur coat and wearing the Spencer tiara.Princess Diana Archive (Getty Images)

The jewel belongs to the family and was a gift from Lady Sarah Spencer in 1919 to her daughter-in-law, Lady Cynthia Hamilton, when she married her son Albert (who in 1922 would become Earl Spancer), the grandfather of Diana of Wales.

However, it dates from much earlier, because according to the auction house it was created in 1767 for Viscountess Montagu, and Garrard jewelery remodeled it in the 1930s. However, after more than a century, the tiara there are only a few years, if not decades, left in the hands of the Spencer family.

When Charles, Earl Spencer, dies, he will inherit his niece, Princess Charlotte of Cambridge, seven years old, only daughter of William of England and Kate Middleton and granddaughter of the late princess.

Although Charles has seven children - five girls and two boys -