A Sparkling Century of Tiaras for Countess Marianne Bernadotte

Today, a member of the extended Swedish royal family reaches a remarkable milestone. Countess Marianne Bernadotte, aunt of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and Queen Margrethe of Denmark, celebrates her 100th birthday, and in her honor, we’ve got a closer look at some of her sparkling gala jewels!

Marianne Lindberg, a Swedish actress, model, and philanthropist, married the artist and designer Sigvard Bernadotte in the summer of 1961. The two had been drawn together by a mutual love for the arts. Both had been married before. Sigvard, who was the second son of King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden and Princess Margaret of Connaught, lost his royal title in 1934 when he married a commoner, Erica Patzek. That marriage ended in 1943. With his second wife, Sonja Robbert, he had a son, Michael. That marriage also ended in divorce. Marianne had previously been married to Gabriel Tchang, the son of a former Chinese ambassador to Sweden, with whom she had two sons and a daughter.

The loss of his royal title bothered Sigvard for the rest of his life and often put him at odds with the royal court. In 1951, he was granted a hereditary noble title, Count of Wisborg, by Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg. The connection between the Swedish and Luxembourgish royals goes back to Queen Sofia of Sweden (1836-1913), whose half-brother was Grand Duke Adolphe of Luxembourg (1817-1905). Grand Duke Adolphe set a precedent in 1892 when he made his nephew, Oscar, Count of Wisborg. (Oscar had also married a commoner and lost his royal title.) Sigvard was ennobled in 1951 along with his younger brother, Carl Johan, and his cousin, Lennart. 

In the 1980s, Sigvard briefed the media that his proper title was Prince Bernadotte, a claim he appears to have based on the creations of titles for Oscar Bernadotte a century earlier. Sigvard’s nephew, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, has always declined to discuss the matter of his uncle’s title.

There was another bone of contention between Sigvard and the rest of the royal family: a tiara. When his mother, Crown Princess Margaretha, died in 1920, she left him a diamond and ruby tiara that had been given to her as a wedding present by her British uncle and aunt, King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. At some point, Sigvard handed the tiara back to his father, King Gustaf VI Adolf. There were subsequent disagreements over the nature of that transaction. Many (presumably including the King) believed that Sigvard had sold or given the tiara to his father, while Sigvard would later claim that it was merely a loan.

When King Gustaf VI Adolf died in 1973, he apparently tried to right the possible wrong by bequeathing the ruby tiara to Sigvard’s son, Count Michael Bernadotte. Michael, though, decided to sell the tiara back to his cousin, King Carl XVI Gustaf. In subsequent years, perhaps as a gesture of reconciliation or kindness, the tiara was made available for Sigvard’s wife, Countess Marianne, to wear on gala occasions. In the photograph above, she wears the ruby tiara with her own diamond brooch and bracelet at the Royal Palace in Stockholm. Today, the tiara is worn by Queen Silvia.

Even though family relationships between Sigvard and the rest of the Bernadottes were sometimes strained, Sigvard and Marianne have appeared often over the years at gala functions with the rest of the family. Above, they’re pictured arriving at the Royal Palace in Stockholm for a black-tie gala in 1983. Marianne is wearing a suite of jewelry made of yellow gold and set with amethysts. The necklace from the set can also be placed on a frame and worn as a tiara.

Here, in 1985, Countess Marianne wears another tiara from her collection. This diamond and pearl sparkler is said to have come from the collection of Gabriel Tchang’s mother, Gabrielle, who passed away in 1956. This has perhaps been Marianne’s most-worn tiara over the years. She’s loved to pair it with multi-stranded pearl necklaces, often with her beautiful antique diamond brooch as an enhancer, for gala moments. She wears the tiara, necklace, and brooch together, along with more diamond and pearl pieces, in Stockholm in 1985. That year she was also named as one of the ten best-dressed women in the world by the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode in Paris.

Sigvard Bernadotte passed away in 2002 at the age of 94, but Marianne has still made occasional gala appearances with the royal family in the decades following his death. Above, in December 2012, she wears the diamond and pearl tiara, plus a pearl necklace with her diamond brooch, pearl drop earrings, and diamond bracelets and rings, for the Nobel Prize banquet in Stockholm.

And here, in June 2013, she wears her amethysts for the wedding of Princess Madeleine and Christopher O’Neill. On this occasion, she wore the tiara setting of the suite’s necklace, plus the earrings, bracelet, and ring from the set.

And here, two years later, she wears her diamonds and pearls again for the wedding of Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia in Stockholm. This image gives you a particularly wonderful view of that incredible diamond brooch!