Confirmed: on Tuesday 20 October 2026, Queen Camilla wore a blue gown and the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara to the state banquet for Sultan Haitham bin Tarik of Oman at Windsor Castle, according to People and The Court Jeweller, who both reported the banquet in detail. The tiara was, as People put it, one of Queen Elizabeth II’s favourite tiaras, and Camilla had first worn it in 2023. Reported: People described the Oman banquet as Camilla’s second tiara moment of 2026. That count is a press count of reported public appearances, not an official Palace tally, and it is flagged as such at the top of this draft. This article explains which tiara it was, why its history matters, and how it differed from the tiara worn the same evening by the Princess of Wales — a separate story, covered in the Kate Middleton tiara explainer, which this article links to rather than repeating.
The banquet closed the first day of the Sultan of Oman’s state visit to the United Kingdom, which ran from 20 to 22 October 2026, according to the UK–Oman joint statement published on GOV.UK. It was a white-tie event in St George’s Hall at Windsor Castle, with the King and Queen hosting the Sultan alongside the Prince and Princess of Wales and other members of the Royal Family.
What Camilla wore on the night
Queen Camilla, 79, wore a blue gown paired with the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara, People reported. The Court Jeweller described the gown as a royal blue evening gown, worn with the King’s Royal Family Order. She also wore the sash and star of the Order of Oman, a decoration conferred on her only that morning, according to reporting of the banquet summarised in the press coverage of the evening. The King wore the sash and star of Oman’s Order of Al Said, which he had received earlier the same day, The Court Jeweller reported.
The tiara was paired, The Court Jeweller noted, with earrings with an even longer royal history: amethyst and diamond earrings that had belonged to Queen Victoria’s mother, the Duchess of Kent. The combination — a tiara with a 133-year history, earrings older still, and a brand-new Omani order — is typical of state-banquet jewellery: the historic pieces signal continuity, while the visiting head of state’s own order signals the diplomatic occasion.
The Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara: an 1893 wedding present
The tiara takes its name from the committee that paid for it. In 1893, a committee of young women led by Lady Eva Greville, calling themselves the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland, raised money by subscription to buy a tiara as a wedding gift for Princess Mary of Teck — the future Queen Mary — on her marriage to Prince George, Duke of York, the future George V. They purchased the tiara from the royal jeweller Garrard in June 1893, The Court Jeweller and Garrard’s own history both record. An entry in Garrard’s Royal Ledger dated 26 June 1893 describes the commission as “a diamond band and scroll pattern tiara surmounted by fine drop pearls,” Garrard records.
The fundraising was so successful that there was money left over. At Princess Mary’s request, the surplus was donated to a fund supporting the widows and children of sailors killed when the battleship HMS Victoria sank in a collision in 1893, killing more than 350 sailors, according to The Court Jeweller and Garrard.
The tiara as first made was topped by large pearls and could be worn in more than one way — as a tiara, as a smaller coronet on a second frame, and with its upper section removed from the frame and worn as a necklace, according to The Court Jeweller. In 1914, Queen Mary had Garrard alter it: the pearls were removed and replaced with diamonds, and the bandeau base was separated so it could be worn independently as a headband. The removed pearls were repurposed into what became the Lover’s Knot tiara, The Court Jeweller records. Sources differ on the exact number of pearls and replacement diamonds involved, so this article does not state a number.
Queen Mary gave the tiara to her granddaughter, the then Princess Elizabeth, as a wedding gift for her marriage to Prince Philip in 1947, Garrard, The Court Jeweller and the Royal Collection Trust account all agree. It became one of Elizabeth II’s most recognisable jewels: she wore it for her first official portraits as monarch in 1952, photographed by Dorothy Wilding, and it appeared in depictions of her on British and Commonwealth banknotes and coins, People and Garrard both note. In 1969, Elizabeth II had Garrard reunite the bandeau base with the tiara into the configuration seen today, Garrard records.
| Date | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| June 1893 | Girls of Great Britain and Ireland committee buys the tiara from Garrard as a wedding gift for Princess Mary of Teck | Garrard Royal Ledger, 26 June 1893; The Court Jeweller |
| 1893 | Surplus subscription funds donated, at Mary’s request, to families of HMS Victoria victims | The Court Jeweller; Garrard |
| 1914 | Pearls removed and replaced with diamonds; bandeau base separated | Garrard; The Court Jeweller |
| 1947 | Queen Mary gives the tiara to Princess Elizabeth as a wedding gift | Garrard; The Court Jeweller; Royal Collection Trust account |
| 1952 | Elizabeth II wears it for her first official portraits as monarch | Garrard; People |
| 1969 | Bandeau base reunited with the tiara | Garrard |
| 2023 | Queen Camilla first wears the tiara (Mansion House, then Diplomatic Reception) | People |
| 3 Dec 2025 | Camilla wears it to the German state banquet at Windsor Castle | Press reporting, Dec 2025 |
| 20 Oct 2026 | Camilla wears it to the Oman state banquet at Windsor Castle | People; The Court Jeweller |
Why it matters: Elizabeth II’s favourite, worn by her successor
The significance of the tiara is not its sparkle alone. It is that it was, in People‘s words, “known as one of the late Queen Elizabeth’s favorite tiaras,” worn numerous times across her 70-year reign, including in the images of her that appeared on banknotes and coins. For a successor Queen Consort to wear it is a visible statement of continuity: the same jewel, worn by the previous monarch in her defining portraits, now worn by the present Queen at a state occasion. People reported that Camilla first wore the tiara in 2023, at Mansion House and then, less than two months later, at the Diplomatic Reception at Buckingham Palace. She wore it again at the German state banquet on 3 December 2025 — a 2025 outing, not part of the 2026 count.
The second tiara outing of 2026 — and the first
People described the Oman banquet as Camilla’s “second tiara moment of the year.” The first, on 18 March 2026, was the state banquet for the President of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and First Lady Oluremi Tinubu, at Windsor Castle. USA Today reported that both the Princess of Wales and Queen Camilla wore tiaras “for the first time this year” at that banquet, and that Camilla wore the Belgian Sapphire Tiara with matching earrings, jewels from the late Queen Elizabeth’s collection, with a cream embroidered gown by Fiona Clare. The Court Jeweller confirmed the Belgian Sapphire Tiara and described the same cream gown, Garter sash and star, and King’s Royal Family Order.
The March banquet was itself unusual: The Court Jeweller noted it was the first state banquet hosted by a British monarch for a Muslim head of state during Ramadan in almost a century. Between March and October 2026, no other public tiara wearing by Camilla was reported in the sources checked. That is the basis for the “second” description, and it should be read as a press count of reported public appearances, not as a Palace-certified inventory.
Not Kate’s tiara: the Lover’s Knot, kept distinct
The same evening, the Princess of Wales wore a different historic tiara: the Lover’s Knot tiara, with a yellow cape gown. Garrard made the Lover’s Knot for Queen Mary in 1914, it was worn by Diana, Princess of Wales, and it has become Catherine’s most frequently worn tiara, according to the banquet reporting. The two tiaras are connected by history — the pearls removed from the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara in 1914 were repurposed into the Lover’s Knot — but they are different jewels, worn by different people, and should not be merged into one article.
Readers who want the full detail of Catherine’s outfit and jewellery should read the Kate Middleton Oman tiara explainer. This article covers Camilla’s tiara only. The wider context of the visit is covered in the joint-statement explainer.
What the tiara does — and does not — tell us
What can be said on the evidence is narrower: the Queen chose, for a first Omani state visit in 44 years, a tiara with a direct line to Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth II, a history of public subscription and charitable donation, and a previous association with the defining portraits of the last reign. The choice placed the present reign visibly in continuity with the last one, on an evening whose purpose was to mark a long friendship between two countries.
Frequently asked questions
Which tiara did Queen Camilla wear to the Oman state banquet?
The Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara, worn with a blue gown by Fiona Clare. It was a wedding gift to the future Queen Mary in 1893, given by Queen Mary to Princess Elizabeth in 1947, and was one of Queen Elizabeth II’s favourite tiaras.
Why is the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara famous?
Because of its history and its wearer: bought by public subscription from Garrard in 1893, altered in 1914, given to Elizabeth II on her marriage in 1947, worn for her first portraits as monarch in 1952, and depicted on banknotes and coins. It became one of her most recognisable jewels.
Was the Oman banquet Queen Camilla’s first tiara outing of 2026?
No — her second, according to People. Her first reported tiara outing of 2026 was the Nigerian state banquet on 18 March 2026, when she wore the Belgian Sapphire Tiara. She first wore the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara in 2023.
Did Kate Middleton wear the same tiara?
No. The Princess of Wales wore the Lover’s Knot tiara with a yellow cape gown at the same banquet. The two tiaras are historically connected — pearls from the Girls tiara were reused in the Lover’s Knot in 1914 — but they are different jewels. See the separate Kate tiara explainer linked above.
Updated: 29 October 2026. Banquet details are as reported by People and The Court Jeweller for 20 October 2026; the “second tiara outing of 2026” description is a press count of reported public appearances.
SOURCES
- People, “Queen Camilla Sports One of Queen Elizabeth’s Favorite Tiaras for State Banquet at Windsor Castle”, October 2026 — https://people.com/queen-camilla-wears-queen-elizabeth-favorite-tiara-oman-state-banquet-windsor-castle-12181725
- The Court Jeweller, “Four Royal Tiaras Sparkle at Windsor Castle for the Omani State Banquet”, October 2026 — https://www.thecourtjeweller.com/2026/10/four-royal-tiaras-sparkle-at-windsor-castle-for-the-omani-state-banquet.html
- Garrard, “Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara: A Powerful Symbol of the Elizabethan Age” — https://www.garrard.com/blogs/house/girls-of-great-britain-and-ireland-tiara-a-powerful-symbol-of-the-elizabethan-age
- USA Today, “Princess Kate, Queen Camilla don royal jewels in rare tiara sightings”, 19 March 2026 — https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2026/03/19/princess-kate-queen-camilla-tiaras-state-visit/89225882007/
- GOV.UK, “UK-Oman joint statement on Omani State Visit”, October 2026 — https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-oman-joint-statement-on-omani-state-visit
