The Mall was lined with Nigerian and Union Jack flags, the grand dining table was laid and the Royal Family were poised and ready in Windsor to greet the Nigerian President and First Lady. This week's official State Visit meant all the stops were pulled out to welcome President Bola Tinubu and First Lady Oluremi Tinubu to the UK. As is tradition, the visit featured a State Banquet which meant (for many royal watchers, at least!) only one thing - tiaras.
Today, the Royal Family only tend to wear crowns and tiaras on especially formal occasions, such as Coronations, weddings and, of course, State Visits. While many of the tiaras worn by the women of the Royal Family are weighty, relatively tall and hung with precious stones, Princess Anne went for a smaller choice - a favourite of hers.
Some many have noticed The Princess Royal's tiara was relatively small in stature compared to those worn by The Princess of Wales and Queen Camilla, with a curious pattern. The piece Princess Anne chose for the occasion was the Grecian-patterned, diamond encrusted Meander Tiara. It's sometimes know as the Greek Key tiara, because of its design, and it came from Greek royalty.
Princess Anne and The King's father, the late Duke of Edinburgh may have been a British Prince, married to Queen Elizabeth II, but he was born in Greece with Greek and Danish royal lineage. Prince Philip's mother was Princess Alice of Greece and Denmark (former of Batternberg), who received the Meander Tiara on her wedding day. The Duke of Edinburgh then passed the heirloom down to his only daughter Princess Anne, who has worn it on many occasions over the years, making it her go-to tiara for formal occasions.
But the family connection doesn't end there as, in a moving gesture, Princess Anne decided to revive the family tradition with her own, only daughter. When Zara Tindall (then Zara Phillips) married rugby star Mike Tindall, she wore her mother's favourite Meader Tiara to walk down the aisle, in a moving mother-daughter gesture. The decision means the piece forever holds a deep connection to Zara for Princess Anne, as well as storing the history of the generations before them both.
For the State Banquet, Princess Anne also turned to another long-serving staple of her wardrobe, re-wearing a white floor-length coat with decorative sleeves that she previously wore at just 18 years old. This time, she removed the embellished collar.
Speaking of the Nigerian State Visit, The King said, "The friendship between our two countries, Mr President, is a partnership of equals that has brought us both enormous benefits. It has been described to me as a deeply spiritual connection – beyond churches and mosques – a deep bond through which we have strengthened our shared security, ensured our economies are more prosperous, and empowered each other to believe in a more hopeful future."
