What to Know
For years, Kate Middleton and Prince William have been plagued by rumors that he had an affair with Rose Hanbury — a close friend of Kate’s who happens to have royal ties of her own. Of course, those rumors have always been shot down, but that hasn’t stopped people from believing there may have been some truth to them. And if this new theory is correct, Kate may have been making some petty moves to get back at Rose right under our noses as only a princess could.
The headpiece Kate wore to King Charles’ coronation is sparking conversation all over again.
When King Charles formally took the throne in May 2023, Kate wore a stunning headpiece that is still making headlines three years later. It looked similar to a laurel wreath and, as People reported at the time, may have been her way of paying tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth, since her six maids wore similar headpieces the day of Elizabeth’s coronation.
Royals weren’t expected to wear tiaras to the coronation at all, so Kate’s adornment was a bit unexpected. She still followed the rules, though; technically, it was a headpiece, not a tiara, so she was all good to go on that front.
Apparently, Rose has a very similar tiara.
Looking back on the coronation this week, royal watchers on Reddit pointed out that Kate’s headpiece looked very similar to the tiara that Rose wears when the occasion calls for it — like royal state banquets. As one Redditor pointed out, Rose’s tiara is actually a family heirloom and is known as the Ancaster Heathcote Tiara. Since Kate and Rose were once close friends and have always run in the same circles, it stands to reason that Kate would be well aware of what Rose’s tiara looks like.
Knowing this, some people believe that Kate was copying Rose’s tiara when designing her headpiece just so she could be petty.
“Kate’s been copying William’s crushes and aristocratic socialites since St. Andrew’s,” one commenter wrote. “At first it seemed her mom was coaching her on how to fit in and reinvent herself as upper crust and then it just stuck. I don’t think she even knows who she is at this point.”
Kate’s coronation tiara was created for the occasion.
Though the royals usually wear tiaras from the family’s collection to events that call for them, Kate’s headpiece was custom made for the coronation, so it’s definitely within the realm of possibility that Rose’s tiara was the inspiration.
However, that’s not what Jess Collett, the headpiece’s designer who collaborated with Alexander McQueen on the piece, told People.
“It was a tiara that I made for the princess, but it was very much based on a piece that I have called ‘The Golden Crown’ — a band of leaves made from gold leather,” she said. “When people wear it, and many people have hired it, they always tell me after that they felt fabulous and radiant from inside.”
The mystery lives on!
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