Queen wears Diamond Diadem tiara for speech: History of glittering headpiece revealed

Queen Elizabeth, 93, opened parliament today with a speech which covered crime and Brexit. As is custom, she wore a tiara – this time the Diamond Diadem. This is also known as the George IV State Diadem. The stunning headpiece features diamonds and pearls. The Queen wore it in the procession to her coronation, and it was commissioned by King George IV in 1820 for his coronation, and created by the Crown jewelers Rundle and Bridge.

The gorgeous piece includes a whopping 1333 diamonds weighing in excess of 320 carats, including a four carat yellow diamond.

Between the crosses are roses, thistles and shamrocks, the flowers of England, Ireland and Scotland.

Originally, the bill for the tiara was £8,216 which included an £800 hire charge for the diamonds. Hiring diamonds was custom until as late as 1837.

The Royal Collection trust explain this loan system further, and said: “Normally the stones would have been returned to Rundells after the coronation, but in this case there is no sign that the delicately worked diamond sprays and crosses, a masterpiece of the new transparent style of setting, have been disturbed.

“Equally, there is no evidence that the King purchased the stones outright, so it could be that the bill was met by a discreet barter of old stones from George IV’s extensive collection.”

Her Majesty paired the Diamond Diadem with a white and silver silk dress and silver shoes. She carried a silver handbag in one hand to complete the colour theme.

She also wore a pair of eyewatering diamond earrings and the diamond Coronation Necklace.

While riding a carriage in to Parliament, the Queen wore a white fur coat, but changed in to the Robe of State. 

This time, the royal did not wear the widely-recognised Imperial State Crown today.

In her speech today, the Queen focused on crime, and said: “New sentencing laws will see that the most serious offenders spend longer in custody to reflect better the severity of their crimes.”

A Sentencing Bill will change the automatic release point from halfway to two thirds for adult offenders serving sentences of four years or more for serious violence or sexual offences.

Other measures include strengthening environmental protections, reforming adult social care and improving the NHS, and raising living standards through increasing the national living wage to £10.50 an hour.

At the same time, ministers were said to preparing to rush through a bill to ratify any Brexit deal Mr Johnson is able to agree this week in Brussels in time for Britain to leave on the EU on October 31.

The Queen started her speech by saying the government’s priority “has always been to secure the United Kingdom’s departure from the EU on October 31″.

She added the Government wants a new partnership with the EU that is based on free trade.