Inside Queen Elizabeth’s Massive Jewelry Vault and the Controversy of Meghan Markle’s Borrowed Tiara

The new royal book ‘Finding Freedom’ may focus on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex but its writers Carolyn Durand and Omid Scobie also touched on some pretty interesting stories about Queen Elizabeth.

One such anecdote talked about Her Majesty’s jaw-dropping jewelry vault and Meghan Markle’s eventful visit to it.

Visiting the Vault

During the preparation for Prince Harry and Markle’s 2018 wedding, the former actress got the chance to explore the Queen’s vault so she can pick a tiara to wear on her big day.

The book described the basement where the Monarch’s prized jewels are kept to be something like a showroom and a bank vault. They mentioned how each one of the tiaras stored in the 150 feet-long space had its own safety box.

What seemingly surprised them more though was the fact that the jewelry vault was not sparse or cold at all and was well-lit like a showroom.

According to the book, Markle was given five options by the Queen and Angela Kelly, Her Majesty’s senior dresser. The winning choice ended up being the Queen Mary Diamond Bandeau, which the bride picked because of how it outshone the other tiaras as she wore it with her dark hair.

Point of Contention

At the time, there were rumors that Queen Elizabeth was not so pleased about Markle’s chosen tiara. However, Scobie and Durand wrote in ‘Finding Freedom’ that the real issue was actually between Prince Harry and Kelly.

The book claims that the groom became frustrated as he thought Kelly was ‘dragging her feet’ in helping Markle get access to the tiara she picked for her wedding. While the situation was eventually taken care of, it reportedly took Prince Harry going directly to his grandmother to address the issue.

The book claims that he called the Queen and demanded that Kelly makes things work for his then-future wife.

Shady Choices

The contention over Markle’s wedding tiara isn’t the only interesting jewelry-related story shared in ‘Finding Freedom’.

Scobie and Durand also touched on a racist brooch worn by one of the Queen’s cousins during a royal event, which also happened to be the first one Markle attended. Princess Michael of Kent notably wore a blackamoor brooch, a design of jewelry that is now considered to be racially insensitive.

Being a half-black woman, Markle wondered whether the Princess was trying to send her a message with her choice of accessory. Princess Michael, later on, released a statement apologizing for the offense and claimed that the brooch was a gift.