On her wedding day in 1960, Princess Margaret made a striking royal bride, wearing a stunning silk organza dress by favoured couturier Norman Hartnell. Even more spectacular was her headpiece, the Poltimore Tiara.
This sparkling beauty is of note not just because of its considerable size, but because, unlike those worn by most royal brides, this tiara wasn’t part of the family’s collection. Margaret had proudly bought it herself, at an auction.
Tellingly, she had wanted something of her own – and the significance of this can’t be ignored. Margaret, forever in the shadow of her elder sister Elizabeth, had found that she led an existence where most things were chosen for her, or dictated by tradition.
Her father’s joy
Born in 1930, the second child of the then Duke…
