Twenty-two years ago today, the eyes of the world were on Oslo, where Norway’s future king married his Cinderella bride. To celebrate Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s wedding anniversary, we’ve got a look at the royal tiaras worn for their glittering wedding ceremony.
Crown Prince Haakon, the only son of King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway, married Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby at Oslo Cathedral on August 25, 2001. The wedding was attended by family, friends, and royal dignitaries from across Europe. And, like all grand Scandinavian royal weddings, the event had a white-tie and tiaras dress code.
The bride’s tiara was a new one—or new to her, anyway. The antique jewel, a bandeau of diamond daisies, was actually almost a century old. Mette-Marit’s new in-laws, King Harald and Queen Sonja, acquired the tiara, which was made around 1910, for their new daughter-in-law as a wedding gift. It’s been her primary tiara for gala occasions ever since.
For her son’s wedding, Queen Sonja pulled out all the stops, wearing the grandest historical tiara in the Norwegian royal collection. The diamond and emerald sparkler, which is part of a complete early nineteenth-century parure, originated with the Leuchtenbergs. From them, it traveled to Lisbon (with Empress Amelie) and Stockholm (with Queen Josefina) before landing in the jewelry box of Princess Ingeborg of Sweden. She gave the suite to her daughter, Crown Princess Märtha of Norway, and it’s been the jewel of the Norwegian royal collection ever since.
The groom’s sister, Princess Märtha Louise, wore modern jewelry for the wedding, including the tiara she’d received from her grandfather, King Olav V of Norway, as an eighteenth-birthday gift.
Both of King Harald’s sisters were also in attendance at the wedding. Princess Astrid, who is also her nephew’s godmother, wore the grand suite of diamond and turquoise jewels that once belonged to her great-grandmother, Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom.
Princess Ragnhild (pictured here standing behind Queen Margrethe II of Denmark) wore the Boucheron Pearl Circle Tiara that is now worn by Haakon and Mette-Marit’s daughter, Princess Ingrid Alexandra.
The entire royal family of neighboring Sweden was in attendance for the Norwegian crown prince’s wedding. (King Carl XVI Gustaf is also one of Crown Prince Haakon’s godparents.) Queen Silvia wore a glittering diadem, Queen Sofia’s Tiara, that belonged to Crown Princess Märtha of Norway’s grandmother, Queen Sofia of Sweden. She paired the tiara with several other diamond pieces, including the Karl Johan Earrings.
Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden made an early appearance in a jewel that would become one of her signature pieces: the Baden Fringe Tiara. She paired it with the earrings that were once part of Queen Josefina’s Diamond Stomacher, plus the top portion of the family’s Floral Pearl Drop Brooch.
Princess Madeleine of Sweden wore the tiara that would later become her bridal diadem: the Modern Fringe Tiara.
Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, another of the groom’s godparents, was decked in diamonds for the Norwegian royal wedding. Her tiara, the Baden Palmette Tiara, is one she chooses often for weddings, perhaps because the palmette motifs resemble hearts. She also wore other important diamonds, including earrings made from pieces that belonged to Princess Anne of Orange and Hereditary Princess Caroline of Denmark and her stunning diamond engagement ring.
I’ve read that Prince Joachim and Princess Alexandra of Denmark were also present in Oslo for the wedding, but I haven’t been able to track down photographs of them attending the ceremony. Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark was there, front and center, as he served as Crown Prince Haakon’s best man. At the time, Frederik was in the middle of a secret, long-distance courtship with his future wife, Mary Elizabeth Donaldson, whom he’d met at the Olympics in Sydney in September 2000. The press revealed their relationship in November 2001, just a few months after this wedding.
Both of Queen Margrethe’s sisters were also at the wedding with their families. Princess Benedikte is pictured here with her husband, Prince Richard of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg. She wore several pieces of jewelry with Swedish royal roots, including Queen Sofia’s Star and Pearl Tiara, which belonged to Queen Sofia of Sweden and Norway, and a set of diamond stars that belonged to Queen Victoria of Sweden. Benedikte’s diamond earrings came from her Swedish-born mother, Queen Ingrid of Denmark, and her diamond necklace is part of a sautoir that once belonged to Queen Alexandrine of Denmark.
Here’s Princess Benedikte’s elder daughter, Princess Alexandra, pictured with her first husband, Count Jefferson von Pfeil und Klein-Ellguth. She borrowed her mother’s Floral Birthday Tiara for the wedding, pairing it with a seed pearl choker necklace.
The third Danish royal sister, Queen Anne-Marie, wore the Khedive of Egypt Tiara for the royal wedding. The diadem is the unofficial wedding tiara for all female descendants of Queen Ingrid of Denmark. (Interestingly, you’ll note that all three of the sisters wore tiaras for this wedding that they had recently inherited from Queen Ingrid.) Anne-Marie also wore diamonds and aquamarines from her jewelry box, including an aquamarine pendant that belonged to Princess Margaret of Connaught, and wore pieces of Queen Alexandrine’s Diamond Sautoir as bracelets.
King Constantine and Queen Anne-Marie’s daughter, Princess Alexia, attended the wedding with her husband, Carlos. She wore her usual glittering diamond tiara for the ceremony.
King Constantine’s sister, Queen Sofia of Spain, attended the ceremony with her son, the Prince of Asturias. Sofia wore diamonds for the wedding, including the gorgeous Spanish Floral Tiara.
Interestingly, Prince Felipe’s girlfriend, the Norwegian model Eva Sannum, was also at the wedding (and even sat beside him during the ceremony). There was intense speculation that the appearance signaled an upcoming royal engagement. But that all was unfounded, of course. In October 2002, Felipe met the journalist Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano at a dinner party—and the rest was history.
While royal wedding prospects were still up in the air in Spain, the question of succession had been settled already in Belgium, which was represented at the wedding by King Albert II and Queen Paola. Albert and King Harald V of Norway are first cousins—their mothers, Queen Astrid and Crown Princess Märtha, were sisters. For the wedding, Queen Paola wore Queen Elisabeth’s Art Deco Bandeau.
Albert and Paola were accompanied by their elder son, the Duke of Brabant, at the wedding. Philippe was there without his new wife, Princess Mathilde, because they were expecting their first child in a matter of weeks. The baby, Princess Elisabeth, was born in October 2001.
More cousins were in attendance from neighboring Luxembourg. Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte of Luxembourg was also a daughter of Queen Astrid, and therefore a first cousin of King Harald. Her son, Grand Duke Henri, had recently ascended to the throne. His wife, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, wore the Chaumet Choker Tiara with its pearl toppers for the wedding.
Grand Duke Jean and Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte were present for the wedding, too. You’ll spot Josephine-Charlotte in the group photo (in the third row, behind Princess Astrid) wearing the Belgian Scroll Tiara.
The royal family of the Netherlands was represented by two of Queen Beatrix’s sons. The Prince of Orange attended with his fiancée, Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti. She made her very first tiara appearance at the wedding, wearing the base of the Antique Pearl Tiara without its pearl toppers.
Willem-Alexander’s youngest brother, Prince Constantijn, was there with his new wife, Princess Laurentien, whom he had married that May. Laurentien chose the Dutch Ears of Wheat Tiara for this wedding.
Two royal bachelors—the Hereditary Prince of Monaco and the Prince of Wales—are pictured here attending the wedding. Both had already met their spouses. Prince Albert had met Charlene Wittstock in 2000 at a swim meet in Monaco, but it would be six years until they made their public debut as a couple and five more before they married. And, of course, Prince Charles would marry Camilla Parker Bowles in April 2005.
Charles was accompanied by his youngest brother, the Earl of Wessex, and Edward’s new wife, Sophie. She wore her diamond wedding tiara for the Norwegian celebrations, paired with a three-row pearl necklace with an interlocking diamond heart clasp. That jewel was one of her first wedding anniversary presents from Edward in June 2000.
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