Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s Inspiring Royal Wedding Tiara

Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit were part of a large group of Norwegian royals who attended the wedding of Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel of Sweden on June 19, 2010. The event was one of the most important Scandinavian royal events of their generation, so naturally Mette-Marit had to wear both a gorgeous gown and important family jewels in Stockholm.

Because this royal event was held in Sweden, Mette-Marit wore the sash and star of her highest Swedish decoration: the Order of the Polar Star. The order’s sash is a vivid blue color, edged in gold, echoing the colors of the Swedish flag. The order is frequently awarded to junior members of royal families (like Crown Princess Mette-Marit), while the senior decoration, the Order of the Seraphim, is awarded to higher-ranking members (like King Harald, Queen Sonja, and Crown Prince Haakon). You’ll spot Haakon wearing the light blue Seraphim sash in these photos.

Mette-Marit also wore one more piece of chivalric insignia: the star of the Order of St. Olav, her highest Norwegian decoration. Both stars are pinned on her left side, near her waist, with the Polar Star insignia placed above the St. Olav star.

Mette-Marit chose a ruffled gown in a shade of light blue for the event. The color is one frequently used by the Swedish royals—it is, after all, the color of the Seraphim sash—so Mette-Marit coordinated beautifully with lots of design elements at the wedding. Note that she even matches the runner placed over the stones in the courtyard! Now that’s serious sartorial planning.

The wedding was the perfect occasion for Mette-Marit to wear some of the most important heirloom jewelry from the family vaults. The diamond and pearl tiara, which she wore tilted back in her hair like a halo, is the small setting of Queen Maud’s Pearl Tiara. Technically, of course, it’s more correct to say that it’s the replica of Maud’s tiara. The original diamond and pearl diadem was Maud’s wedding gift in 1896 from her parents, King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom. Almost a century later, the tiara was stolen from the Garrard workshop in London, where it was taken to be cleaned. The tiara was never recovered.

In the wake of the theft, Garrard made an exact replica of the original tiara for the family. That’s the piece that is used today. It’s often worn by Queen Sonja, and the smaller setting was worn by Princess Martha Louise as her wedding tiara in 2002. On this occasion, Mette-Marit also donned the smaller setting. Many have noted that the pearls on the tiara were a bit askew. While I’m sure that wasn’t intentional, it does play into the “tousled” overall look, echoing both Mette-Marit’s hairstyle and the ruffled design of her gown.

Queen Maud was also the original owner of another of Mette-Marit’s jewels for the wedding: the Drapers’ Company Brooch. This diamond and pearl brooch with a delicate scroll design was Maud’s wedding gift from the Drapers’ Company, one of the livery companies in the City of London, in 1896. The brooch is a favorite jewel of Mette-Marit’s mother-in-law, Queen Sonja. On this occasion, Mette-Marit positioned the brooch at the center of her gown’s neckline.

Mette-Marit also added additional diamond and pearl jewels to her ensemble. Her earrings featured diamond studs and pear-shaped pearl pendants. She wore a diamond bracelet on her right wrist, and on her left hand she wore a ring which also featured a pear-shaped pearl pendant.

The overall effect of Mette-Marit’s look for this wedding was particularly enchanting, and it’s often cited as one of her most successful gala outings. The outfit was so impressive, in fact, that it is rumored to have inspired the artists creating the characters for Disney’s famous Frozen franchise. The film was developed shortly after this royal wedding, and the production’s art director made several trips to Norway during the research phase of development. In the movie, Elsa’s textured blonde hair and her icy blue gowns definitely share similarities with Mette-Marit’s gala outfit. At the very least, I think we can certainly say that Elsa would have approved!