Battle of the tiaras: Catherine and the Queen shine at royal dinner

The Queen of Spain gave Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge a run for her money in the fashion stakes at the extravagant state banquet held at Buckingham Palace last night.

But it was the tiaras that each of the royals wore, including Queen Elizabeth II, that had people talking. 

Kate arrived first and stunned onlookers by wearing the diamond and pearl Cambridge Lover’s Knot tiara, a favourite of her husband’s late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales. 

She’d previously worn the same tiara to her first state banquet last year but this time, Kate paired it with a dusky Marchesa pink dress with a plunging neckline and her favourite pearl and diamond earrings. 

Queen Letizia of Spain went for her country’s national colour and impressed with a bejewelled ruby red gown, highlighting her curves. 

She also wore her husband’s mother’s tiara which was made in 1906 as a wedding gift from King Alfonso XII to Queen Victoria Eugenia, the great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria.

The tiara, which is called the Fleur de Lys tiara or La Buena, was passed down the generations to King Felipe’s mother, Queen Sofia. 

Queen Elizabeth II also wore a Brazilian Aquamarine tiara, one of her dresser’s favourites. 

It was commissioned by the Queen from the then Crown jeweller Garrad in 1957 to match a gifted necklace and earrings from the President of Brazil to mark her 1953 coronation.

The Queen and Prince Philip hosted the Spanish royals with Princes William and Harry, the Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Charles and Camilla.

 Whose tiara do you like best?