A circlet (known in greek as stephanos, and in Latin as corona operta, or simply "open crown") is a crown with neither arches nor a cap (internal covering).
Many ancient crowns were circlet in style, notably the original St. Edward's Crown, the coronation crown of English monarchs, which was destroyed by Oliver Cromwell during the Commonwealth of England. In fairy tales, crowns often continue to be represented in circlet form.
In the twentieth century two British consort crowns, the Crown of Queen Mary, and the Crown of Queen Elizabeth, were designed with detachable half-arches connected to crosses pattee so that they could be worn as either hoop crowns or circlets.
Former Queens Consort whose husbands had died sometimes only wore their consort crowns as circlets after their husbands' death. Alexandra of Denmark (Queen Alexandra, widow of Edward VII of the United Kingdom), Mary of Teck (Queen Mary, widow of King George V of the United Kingdom) and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, widow of King George VI of the United Kingdom) all followed this practice.