Princess Margaretha’s Floral Tiara

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An antique diamond tiara that was worn by a French-Danish Princess and later by her Swedish daughter-in-law, who was the aunt of the Kings of Norway and Belgium, Princess Margaretha’s Floral Tiara’s current whereabouts are unknown, and it is speculated that it has been broken up.

The diamond floral tiara in the shape of five loops was probably commissioned by Queen Louise of Denmark, consort of King Christian IX, but its first known owner was her French-born daughter-in-law, Princess Marie of Orleans. Princess Marie was married to Prince Valdemar of Denmark, a brother of the King Frederik VIII of Denmark, King George I of Greece, Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom, and Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia. Princess Marie was photographed wearing the tiara in a series of official portraits.

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After Princess Marie’s death at the age of 44 in 1909, her Floral Tiara passed to passed to her eldest son Prince Axel, and after he married his cousin, Princess Margaretha of Sweden, in 1919, the Tiara was frequently worn for decades, most notably at the Wedding Ball of Prince René of Bourbon-Parma and her sister-in-law, Princess Margaret of Denmark, in 1921, the Wedding of her sister, Princess Astrid of Sweden, to Crown Prince Leopold of Belgium in 1926, the Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and Princess Ingrid of Sweden’s Wedding Gala in 1935, King Christian X’s Silver Jubilee in 1937, King Gustav V’s 80th Birthday in 1938 and King Gustav V’s 90th Birthday in 1948.

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Princess Margaretha also frequently loaned the Tiara to her sister-in-law, Princess Margaret, Prince Axel’s sister, who was married to Prince René of Bourbon-Parma, and was the mother of Queen Anne of Romania. She wore the piece at a variety of events, including the Wedding of Princess Ragnhild of Norway in 1953, the Wedding of King Juan Carlos of Spain and Princess Sophia of Greece in 1962, and the Wedding of Queen Margrethe of Denmark in 1967 .

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In later years, Princess Margaretha wore Princess Marie’s Floral Tiara at a plethora of events, including Crown Princess Margrethe’s 18th Birthday in 1958, the Wedding of Crown Prince Harald of Norway in 1968, and the 70th birthday celebrations of her brother-in-law, King Olav of Norway in 1973, as well as a plethora of Nobel Prize Ceremonies that Princess Margaretha attended in her native Sweden throughout the 1960s and the 1970s. After her death in 1977, the Floral Tiara was inherited by Prince George, the eldest son of Prince Axel and Princess Margaretha, who had married Anne Bowes-Lyon, a niece of the Queen Mother. Princess Anne never wore the tiara, since it was sold by Prince George soon after his mother’s death. The tiara’s current whereabouts are not known.

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