Kate Middleton made history with her Coronation tiara – now the designer has revealed how it really felt to work with the future queen

Collett, a Notting Hill hatmaker, worked on the piece with the Princess of Wales’ favourite fashion house Alexander McQueen. It was an unorthodox design – many had wondered whether Catherine would wear a tiara from the royal vaults – but in its intricacies and craftsmanship there was a touching nod to the firm’s history. The leaf-design seemed to harken back to the tiaras worn by the maids at the late Queen Elizabeth’s coronation, eight decades prior.

And by choosing Collett to…