This was a question I posed to my daughter, when she remarked on the variety I had.
“How many crowns do you think is a reasonable number?” I asked her.
She shrugged. “Probably about two.”
I followed with another question. “How many do you think I have?”
Her expression said a lot. “A lot more than two.”
So, there you have it; my child thinks my collection of crowns and tiaras is excessive.
I disagree, but I’m a fantasy author, so of course I would. They’re just something I sort of started collecting, along with teacups–which I’ll share a look at eventually, too.
My first was the tiara I wore for my wedding. It was also, perhaps humorously, the most expensive of the crowns despite being tiny. It’s just a little thing on a comb, meant to be worn in an updo, but it definitely made me feel like a princess.
It was many, many years before I added another crown to the collection. I decided I needed a few for photo prop purposes, so I picked out a couple online and ordered them.
Fun fact: That last one is my only circlet.
I liked having them and they definitely added to the photos I was taking for my Instagram page. But me and my daughter both enjoyed wearing them–especially the little green one–and they were nice to add to my shelves, too.
But I have a lot of bookshelves, and eventually, it just made sense to keep adding more.
My sister ordered tiaras for her wedding and somehow received duplicates. She gave me two of them for my collection.
Those live in my bedroom. The rest are upstairs, on my bookshelves with my books, but they’re prone to traveling around the house.
You never know when you might need a crown, after all.
I’m working on broadening my collection to include more colors and styles.
This was a brighter blue than I expected, but I think it works.
The white ones are beautiful and classy and all a bit different.
…and this one was a favorite right away. It’s also the largest and most masculine crown in my collection. I photograph it a lot with the Spectrum Legacy books, even though the hero isn’t royalty. Zaide definitely has no crown.
Compared to that big one, this little blue and gold one is my smallest of the traditional crowns…
…but this red one is the smallest circle, it’s just visually more impressive.
Funnily enough, that’s not even all of them. There’s a halo that’s hard to photograph when it isn’t being worn, and there are probably a few stragglers I didn’t manage to round up for this because as I said, they tend to wander around the house.
Overall, they don’t collect dust easily and they make a nice addition to my household decor, so I think I’ll keep adding to my collection over time.
Besides, I’ve got teacups and tiaras–isn’t that the perfect setup for a princess tea party?