Nobel Prize Tiaras 2022: Queen Silvia of Sweden

Queen Silvia was seated on the stage for the Nobel Prize ceremony, the first full, bejeweled edition of the event since December 2019, with King Carl XVI Gustaf, Crown Princess Victoria, and Prince Daniel.

She was a vision in violet for the ceremony and banquet, wearing a purple lace gown with a satin overskirt.

Her decorations for the evening were the Royal Family Order of King Carl XVI Gustaf, a diamond-framed portrait on a light blue ribbon, and the sash and star of the Order of the Seraphim.

She accessorized with the tiara and jewels from the family’s remarkable Napoleonic Amethyst Parure. As the name of the suite suggests, the jewels have French imperial roots. They’re said to have been given to Princess Augusta of Bavaria, later Duchess of Leuchtenberg, by her mother-in-law, Empress Joséphine, as a wedding present in 1806. They came to Sweden with Augusta’s daughter, Princess Joséphine of Leuchtenberg, who married the future King Oscar II of Sweden in 1823.

The circlet-style tiara from the set was originally an imposing necklace; it was set on a tiara frame at Queen Silvia’s direction early in her tenure as Sweden’s queen consort. The bracelets from the set are able to be joined together to be worn as a smaller necklace option, with or without a pendant.

Though Silvia has been wearing the amethysts since the earliest years of her marriage, she’s only worn them once before for the Nobel Prize ceremony. Here, she’s pictured arriving at the banquet on December 10, 1986, wearing the amethysts with a Jørgen Bender gown.

Queen Silvia wore nearly the same combination of jewels from the parure for this year’s banquet as she did in December 1986: the tiara, the earrings, the necklace (without the pendant this time), and the large brooch.

Here’s another view of the jewels. Some of the amethysts in the suite have a warmer tone, while some of them lean slightly more blue in cast.

Silvia finished off the look with a pair of gold and diamond bangle bracelets and her usual stack of rings, plus her unique watch with two faces. Helpful for keeping track of time when you’ve got family members in other time zones, or when you’re making royal visits to other nations!