Tiara for a 21st Century Princess

Which tiara will Kate wear when she walks the aisle of Westminster Abbey tomorrow?

Will she don the Cambridge tiara? Or, perhaps she’ll wear the diadem known as the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland? Or, maybe even -- as a tribute to her mother-in-law, the late Diana, Princess of Wales -- the Spencer family tiara?

Most likely, she’ll wear The Fringe Tiara.

Also known as the Russian Fringe Tiara, the King George Fringe Tiara and the Princess Elizabeth wedding tiara, the dramatic headpiece is a powerful style statement. And, for all its modern, clean lines, it’s nearly two centuries old.

This impressive circlet of diamonds – a gradually increasing line of vertical rows of diamonds -- was made in 1830 of brilliant cut stones belonging to King George III. It first gained fame the evening it was worn by George III’s niece, Queen Victoria, on a visit to the Royal Opera in 1839.

The tiara was inherited by Queen Victoria’s daughter-in-law, Queen Alexandra, who, in turn, gave it to Queen Mary when she became Queen Consort in 1910. Queen Mary gifted it to her daughter in law, Queen Elizabeth, (you know her as the Queen Mother and mother of the present queen) in 1937.

The Queen Mother loaned it to her daughter Princess Elizabeth as “something borrowed” for her wedding in 1947. The Queen Mother also loaned it to her granddaughter, Princess Anne, in 1973 for her marriage to Captain Mark Phillips.

It is now part of Queen Elizabeth II's collection.

There are a bevy of tiaras from which Kate could have chosen. But smart money is on the Fringe Tiara. I think the grapevine is right on this one – and here is why:

Catherine is a very modern lady with very conservative tastes. The sleek lines of the Fringe Tiara complement both her forward-thinking ways and her Jane Austen sensibilities. And, as such, it will complete what is rumored to be a Renaissance-inspired wedding dress, which the bride herself designed.

We’ll know for sure in a few hours.

Lady Betty

Before there was Kate, before there was Lady Diana, there was Lady Betty.

You all know her better as the Queen Mother.

Lady Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes Lyon was the youngest daughter of one of the oldest of Scottish nobility, the fourteenth Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne. As a dark-eyed, self-assured debutante, she caught the eye of Prince Albert -Bertie --the second son of King George V.

There's much evidence Elizabeth's heart may have been engaged elsewhere, to a young man named James Stuart. Stuart later claimed that he and Elizabeth were in love, but that Queen Mary --Bertie's mother-- had intervened and friends of the Royals offered Stuart a lucrative position in the oil business --in Texas!

The rest of the Royal family and their courtiers, realizing the depth of Bertie's devotion to Lady Elizabeth -- swung into action. Princess Mary, Bertie's sister, asked Elizabeth to be one of her bridesmaids. Queen Mary enlisted her ladies-in-waiting to sing Bertie's praises to the young Scottish aristocrat.

After several rejections, Bertie finally won Elizabeth's consent to be his bride. He sent a coded telegram to his parents, sharing the news of Elizabeth's "yes."

Prince Bertie was never meant to be King – he was the spare to the heir. But, the heir -- Edward, Prince of Wales, showed no signs of settling down. Therefore public attention upon Lady Elizabeth was relentless. From January 16, 1923, when the engagement was announced, until the wedding in late April, the newspapers were full of every kind of information and misinformation about "Lady Betty."

The bride-to-be herself -- who initially received no guidance from Buckingham Palace -- was so well-mannered and obligingly kind that she gave two interviews to reporters, before realizing this was not in her best interest. (They were the last interviews she was to give for 80 years.)

Elizabeth was never known as “Betty” to any of her family or intimates– but that didn’t stop the broadsheets from portraying her that way. They couldn’t resist shortening her name to the popular diminutive. And, the British public began a lifelong love affair with the woman who eventually became known as "the Smiling Duchess," "Our Brave Queen," and, finally, "The Queen Mum."

However, her first sobriquet was "Lady Betty."