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Sparkling Royal Jewels From Around the World

All My Tiaras: Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway

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Happy birthday to our Magpie of the Month, Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway! To celebrate, we’re taking a look at every tiara that M-M has worn in public since she married Norway’s hunky Crown Prince Haakon. Which sparklers are your favorite, and which Norwegian pieces do you hope Mette-Marit will debut next?

Queen Maud’s Vifte Tiara

This petite fan-shaped diamond necklace/tiara (the word vifte means “fan” in Norwegian) was Queen Maud’s eighteenth-birthday present from her grandmother, Queen Victoria. (The eighteenth-birthday gift tiara has become a tradition in Scandinavia — see more over here!) Mette-Marit wore the tiny tiara as a necklace for the first time at her pre-wedding gala in 2001. Her diamond chandelier earrings, also Norwegian heirlooms, coordinate nicely with the piece.

The Diamond Daisy Bandeau

Mette-Marit’s wedding tiara, a bandeau of small diamond daisies, was a gift from her parents-in-law. Since her wedding day, it’s become her most-worn tiara, worn both traditionally and more like a headband.

The Norwegian Amethyst Parure Tiara

There are conflicting reports about whether or not Mette-Marit actually owns this parure of amethyst jewels — a magazine reported that Sonja gifted the set to Mette-Marit, possibly to mark the birth of Princess Ingrid Alexandra. She’s been wearing the convertible necklace from the set as a tiara in public since (I think) 2004.

Queen Maud’s Pearl Tiara (Small Setting)

The grandest Norwegian sparkler to grace Mette-Marit’s head so far is Queen Maud’s Pearl Tiara — or, rather, the replica version made after the original tiara was stolen in the 1990s. She wore the small version of the diamond and pearl tiara at Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden’s wedding in 2010.

Which Norwegian tiara would you like to see Mette-Marit wear next?

This Week(ish) in Royal Jewels: July 25-August 13

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July 25-August 13
August in the world of royalty is vacation time, and with our favorite royal jewel-wearers off on holiday, we’ve got a small slate of appearances to chart from the past two-ish weeks. Vote for your favorites in the poll below!

10. The Danish royal family gathered for their annual photo call at Grasten in late July, and Queen Margrethe wore earrings featuring one of her favorite symbols: the daisy. (Margrethe’s nickname is Daisy, based on the French name for the flower, marguerite.) I believe these are by Georg Jensen, a Danish jewelry firm whose daisy pieces are one of their trademarks.

9. Margrethe also wore the earrings, plus a large daisy brooch, in August during a visit to an art exhibition curated by Prince Henrik in France. The exhibition features pieces by Greenlandic artists.

8. At Grasten, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark layered necklaces, including a large statement piece.

7. In Palma de Mallorca in August, Mary was spotted wearing delicate necklaces and bracelets.

6. Mary also donned the same necklaces with a petite pair of earrings at Copenhagen Fashion Week on Friday.

5. As we discussed earlier this month, Crown Princess Mette-Marit wore statement earrings to the religious nuptials of Pierre Casiraghi and Beatrice Borromeo. (Unfortunately, photos of the other guests aren’t available for me to use here.)

4. In late July, Princess Eugenie wore glittering pendant earrings at the Goodwood Festival.

3. The Duchess of Cornwall donned pearl earrings with her diamond and sapphire dragonfly brooches at the Sandringham Flower Show on July 29.

2. On August 5, Queen Sofia of Spain donned golden earrings and layered gold necklaces at an official reception in Palma de Mallorca.

1. Queen Letizia (and King Felipe) also attended the reception in Mallorca; she wore a beautiful pair of modern pendant earrings.

Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s Chandelier Earrings

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When Crown Princess Mette-Marit gussies up for a white-tie event, she often selects a specific pair of diamond earrings. And no wonder — these petite diamond chandelier ornaments are seriously sparkling and seriously pedigreed.

In 1954, Crown Prince Olav of Norway — who would later reign as King Olav V — was on the hunt for a silver wedding anniversary present for his wife, Crown Princess Märtha. Olav and Märtha, who was a Swedish princess, married on March 21, 1929, in Oslo. He selected these diamond chandelier earrings as her anniversary present, but sadly, Märtha never got to wear them. She died of cancer exactly one month after their anniversary.

Fast forward half a century, and a new crown princess was joining the Norwegian royal family. Olav and Märtha’s son, King Harald V, and his wife, Queen Sonja, needed a wedding present for their new daughter-in-law, Mette-Marit. They decided to give her Crown Princess Märtha’s silver anniversary earrings.

It was a sentimental gift, but also a fitting one: the diamond earrings would finally be worn by a Norwegian crown princess, albeit two generations later. Mette-Marit debuted the earrings at a gala dinner held the night before her wedding in August 2001. She paired them with Queen Maud’s Vifte tiara/necklace.

Since then, the earrings have been a major part of Mette-Marit’s jewelry collection. Above, she wears them with her wedding tiara at the wedding of her sister-in-law, Princess Märtha Louise.

She also wore the earrings with her wedding tiara at another important Scandinavian wedding: the 2004 nuptials of Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark.

She wore the earrings to commemorate the anniversary of Norway’s independence…

…and on a state visit to the United Kingdom (birthplace of the buyer of the earrings, King Olav).

Mette-Marit has slowly been adding new pairs of lovely earrings to her jewelry box over the years, but for me, these are hard to top!