The Best Royal Jewelry Moments from Norway’s Sparkling Royal Wedding

10. A pair of sparkling Swedish fringe tiaras

The entire Swedish royal family attended the wedding of Crown Prince Haakon of Norway and Mette-Marit Tjessem Hoiby on August 25, 2001, including King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia’s three children. Both of the glamorous young Swedish princesses wore their signature diamond fringe tiaras for the event. Crown Princess Victoria reached for the Baden Fringe Tiara—with the base still wrapped in silver velvet for Princess Lilian—while Princess Madeleine sported the Modern Fringe Tiara. Interestingly, Madeleine would later choose this tiara for her own wedding day.

9. An heirloom German royal topaz brooch on a former Queen of Greece

For a gala dinner held the night before the wedding at Akershus Castle, Queen Anne-Marie of Greece wore pearls with a stunning antique jewel: a diamond and topaz cluster brooch. The impressive jewel speaks to Anne-Marie’s extensive royal heritage: she inherited it from her mother, Queen Ingrid of Denmark, who received it as a wedding gift from her great-aunt, Grand Duchess Hilda of Baden. The golden shade of the central topaz is just delicious.

8. Queen Margrethe’s go-to “love heart” wedding tiara

For gala wedding celebrations, the Queen of Denmark often reaches for the Baden Palmette Tiara, which features palm leaf designs that come together to resemble romantic hearts. Like the brooch worn by her sister, Queen Anne-Marie, the tiara originates at the royal court of Baden: reportedly it was a wedding gift to Grand Duchess Louise of Baden from her father, Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany. Margrethe had just inherited the tiara from her mother, Queen Ingrid, at the time of this royal wedding.

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7. Princess Astrid brings out Queen Alexandra’s terrific turquoises

The Norwegian royal family is descended from the British royal family via Queen Maud, daughter of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. For this royal wedding, Princess Astrid (aunt of the groom) underscored the connection by wearing Alexandra’s intricate suite of turquoise jewels. They popped brightly against the red sash and ribbon of Astrid’s Norwegian royal orders.

6. Queen Anne-Marie wears the Danish royal family’s treasured royal wedding tiara

Less than a year before this royal wedding, Queen Ingrid of Denmark passed away, leaving the grand Khedive of Egypt Tiara to her youngest daughter, Queen Anne-Marie of Greece. The tiara has become a beloved bridal diadem in the family, worn by all of Ingrid’s female descendants on their wedding days. Starting with this royal wedding, Anne-Marie has also begun wearing it for other family weddings and galas. She upped the heirloom-jewelry ante even more by wearing Crown Princess Margareta of Sweden’s aquamarine pendant and Queen Alexandrine of Denmark’s diamond bracelets. Not too shabby!

5. The Countess of Wessex makes her European tiara debut

Two years after her own royal wedding, Sophie brought out her wedding tiara again for this royal celebration—the first of many royal weddings and galas that she and Edward would attend abroad as the Queen’s representatives. She paired the tiara with another sentimental jewel: a pearl necklace with a diamond clasp in the shape of interlocking hearts, a first wedding anniversary present from her husband.

4. Queen Sonja makes a rare appearance in Norway’s royal amethysts

We’re more used to seeing the Norwegian royal family’s amethyst suite on Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Princess Märtha Louise these days, but for the pre-wedding gala at Akershus Castle, Queen Sonja took them out for a spin. She wore the convertible tiara/necklace in my preferred format—in its necklace setting. She’s only been pictured in the set a handful of times.

3. Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s sleek antique wedding bandeau

King Harald and Queen Sonja purchased an elegant wedding present for their new daughter-in-law: an antique bandeau-style tiara featuring daisy designs set in diamonds. The tiara, made in 1910, was perfect for Mette-Marit’s minimalist Scandinavian wedding aesthetic. It’s still her most-worn royal tiara today.

2. Máxima’s very first tiara moment

Crown Princess Mette-Marit wasn’t the only royal wearing a tiara for the first time in public on her wedding day! Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti, fiancée of the Prince of Orange, wore the diamond base of the Antique Pearl Tiara for the wedding in Oslo, which was held several months before her own royal nuptials in Amsterdam. She paired the tiara with diamond and pearl jewelry. A sign of great things to come!

1. Mette-Marit’s heirloom Norwegian royal jewelry debut

Lots of royal brides wear new tiaras on their wedding days, but the moment that they begin wearing pieces of jewelry from generations past is the most special moment for me. On the night before her wedding, Mette-Marit wore heirloom pieces from Queen Maud (the Vifte Tiara, in its necklace form) and Crown Princess Märtha (her Silver Wedding Earrings) for a gala dinner at Akershus Castle. Nothing says “you’re part of the family now” quite like the moment when those sentimental, special jewelry pieces are shared!