Later this week, two young future monarchs will likely be making their tiara debuts in Oslo. We’re going to be talking a lot about birthdays and tiaras, so I thought it was the perfect time to survey some of the other tiaras that Scandinavian princesses have received as 18th birthday gifts. We’re starting off with Princess Madeleine of Sweden, who recently celebrated her 40th birthday, and the sleek tiara she received when she turned 18 in June 2000.
Blue-eyed Princess Madeleine has always looked particularly nice in aquamarines, and her collection has grown to include several jewels set with the gemstone. For her 18th birthday, she received an early important diamond and aquamarine jewel. The heirloom Art Deco tiara features a single large aquamarine set between two slender rows of diamonds. It originally belonged to her step-grandmother, Queen Louise of Sweden, and was also previously worn by Madeleine’s royal aunts.
One of Madeleine’s very first appearances in the tiara took place at the Nobel Prize ceremony in Stockholm in December 2000. She wore the tiara with diamond stud earrings, plus two other diamond heirloom jewels: a diamond bow brooch from the family vaults, and the delicate necklace setting incorporating just the drops from the Connaught Diamond Tiara.
In May 2002, two years after the tiara arrived in her jewelry box, Princess Madeleine wore the same combination of tiara and jewels for the wedding of Princess Märtha Louise of Norway and Ari Behn in Trondheim. The light blue-green color of the aquamarine coordinated with her gown and wrap, as well as the sash of the Order of the Seraphim and the ribbon of her father’s Royal Family Order.
Princess Madeleine also chose the tiara for another major Scandinavian royal wedding: the nuptials of Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, held in Copenhagen in May 2004. She paired the tiara with a light pink dress and accessories.
Madeleine also wore diamond drop earrings and the same small diamond bow brooch. And she technically added a second tiara as well! Her necklace is an alternate setting of the Modern Fringe Tiara, which she later wore for her royal wedding in 2013.
Madeleine has also occasionally worn the tiara for diplomatic occasions in Sweden. Here, she wears the aquamarine tiara (and the necklace setting of the Modern Fringe Tiara) for a state dinner during a visit from President Hu Jintao of China in June 2007.
She also wore the tiara in September 2007 for a state dinner during a visit from President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil. This time, she paired the tiara with the family’s diamond drop earrings, plus a diamond necklace with one of the drops from the Connaught Diamond Tiara used as a pendant.
She wore the aquamarine tiara with the diamond drop earrings and a diamond necklace with a round diamond pendant for a gala dinner during a visit from President Traian Băsescu of Romania in March 2008.
Princess Madeleine now lives in America, so she no longer attends state dinners or other receptions on a regular basis. She does sometimes still attend the Nobel Prize festivities in December, but she usually wears other tiaras for that event. One of our most recent glimpses of the aquamarine and diamond bandeau came in February 2015, when she wore the jewel for a diplomatic reception at the Royal Palace in Stockholm. She attended alongside Prince Daniel and Crown Princess Victoria (who wore the Six Button Tiara with jewels from the Cameo Parure).
On that occasion, Madeleine really leaned into the tiara’s Art Deco history, wearing it across her forehead as it was probably originally intended to be worn. She finished off the look with a pair of sparkling earrings with a fluted, triangular shape.
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