Crown Princess Victoria’s Dazzling Gala Diamonds

For the Nobel Prize ceremony and banquet in Stockholm on December 10, 2005, Crown Princess Victoria wore a silvery gown with an embellished waist. She paired the dress with silver shoes and a silver bag. She also wore the sash and star of the Order of the Seraphim, plus her father’s Royal Family Order. She arrived at the banquet on the arm of Dr. Roy J. Glauber, the American professor of physics who had won that year’s Nobel Prize in his field.

That evening, Crown Princess Victoria wore a tiara that quickly became one of her signature pieces of royal jewelry. The Baden Fringe Tiara dates to 1881. The sparkling diamond fringe tiara was given to Princess Victoria of Baden by her parents when she married the future King Gustaf V of Sweden. She left it to the Bernadotte family jewelry foundation, and it’s been worn by the women of the Swedish royal family ever since. For years, the tiara was a favorite piece of Princess Lilian; you’ll note that, on this occasion, the base of the piece is still wrapped in gray velvet to match Lilian’s hair. Later, the velvet was changed to dark brown.

With the tiara, Crown Princess Victoria wore another important piece of jewelry linked to Victoria of Baden. Her necklace, known in the family as the Processional Jewels, was given to Princess Victoria when she arrived in Stockholm in 1881. The piece is set with diamonds, sapphires, and pearls. Crown Princess Victoria paired the necklace with diamond and pearl earrings for the banquet.

One of the best things about the annual Nobel banquet is the unusual angles photographers are able to capture of the jewels. Here, you get an idea of just how far the diamond fringe tiara wraps around the wearer’s head. You’ll also catch a glimpse of a diamond brooch securing the back of Victoria’s order sash.

She also wore a small diamond rosette brooch on the front of the sash. And here, you get another glimpse of the impressive halo effect of the tiara, as well as a look at the sparkling bracelet Victoria wore on her left wrist.

Fringe tiaras can sometimes be divisive, but I think there’s little doubt that this particular sunray sparkler and the Swedish crown princess are a match made in royal jewelry heaven.