the small queenly head, with its wealth of reddish golden curls, and the glittering gems forming the small, star-shaped, red flower which she wore as a diadem in her hair.
Emma Orczy. The Scarlet Pimpernel (1905)
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The Queen of Denmark, a very buxom lady, though no doubt historically brazen, was considered by the public to have too much brass about her; her chin being attached to her diadem by a broad band of that metal (as if she had a gorgeous toothache),
Charles Dickens. Great Expectations (1861)
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The explosion was massive [...] The sky lit up like a fiery diadem and within that crown of fire, objects of all shapes and sizes were blown through the light into the outer shadows.
Robert Ludlum. The Bourne Identity (1980)
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Run barefoot up and down, threatening the flames
With bisson rheum; a clout upon that head
Where late the diadem stodd, and for a robe
William Shakespeare. Hamlet
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Cloaks of turkey feathers fluttered from their shoulders; huge feather diadems exploded gaudily round their heads.
Aldous Huxley. Brave New World, p.72 (1932)
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This pale crescent was “the likeness of a kingly crown;” what it diademed was “the shape which shape had none.”