Happy Birthday to Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway, who turns 49 today! The once controversial single mother set to be the future Queen of Norway, who is now suffering from pulmonary fibrosis, to mark the day, we are featuring one of the most important heirlooms in her possession: The Vifte Tiara!
The Norwegian Royal Tiaras | Vifte Tiara | Queen Maud’s Pearl Tiara | Crown Princess Märtha’s Silver Wedding Earrings | Pendant Earrings | Aquamarine Brooch | Diamond Flowers | Diamond Filigree Brooch | Diamond Bracelet
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Believed for years to to have been an 18th Birthday Gift to Queen Maud from her grandmother, Queen Victoria, the tiny Vifte (Fan) Tiara was discovered (by Vincent Meylan and the wonderful Beth of HFJCMB), to have been a wedding gift from Alfred, Leopold, and Marie de Rothschild when Princess Maud of Wales married Prince Carl of Denmark in 1896.
Princess Maud notably wore the Vifte Tiara for the British State Opening of Parliament in 1901, and took it to Norway after becoming Queen in 1905, with a notable appearence in 1930, during King Haakon VII’s Silver Jubilee Celebrations. In 1938, Queen Maud brought her jewels with her to England while she was having an operation, and where she passed away of heart failure. Queen Maud’s jewels remained in England, throughout the Norwegian Royal Family’s exile during WWII, and were only reclaimed during a visit for the Queen’s Coronation in 1953. Soon afterwards, her daughter-in-law, Crown Princess Martha passed away, and the brooch remained in the vaults for years until the Norwegian Royal jewellery collection was divided up following the Wedding of then Crown Prince Harald in 1968.
The Vifte Tiara was among the jewels inherited by Crown Prince Harald and began to be worn by Crown Princess Sonja soon afterwards, with a few appearences during the 1970s, and a couple in the late 1990s, after Queen Maud’s Pearl Tiara was stolen. Queen Sonja last wore the Tiara at a Gala for the Norwegian Consular Corps in 1998 and the piece as a Necklace for the 50th anniversary of the Society of Norwegian Publishers.
In 2001, King Harald and Queen Sonja gave the Vifte Tiara to Mette-Marit Tjessem for her Wedding to Crown Prince Haakon of Norway in 2001, with the piece worn as a necklace with Crown Princess Märtha’s Silver Wedding Earrings for the Wedding Gala at the Akershus Fortress in Oslo. The necklace was also worn again for a State Banquet in 2006.
The only time that Crown Princess Mette-Marit has worn the piece as a Tiara was in 2017, for King Harald and Queen Sonja’s 80th Birthday Banquet at the Royal Palace of Oslo. There is no doubt we will continue to see this Royal heirloom for years to come!
The Norwegian Royal Tiaras | Vifte Tiara | Queen Maud’s Pearl Tiara | Crown Princess Märtha’s Silver Wedding Earrings | Pendant Earrings | Aquamarine Brooch | Diamond Flowers | Diamond Filigree Brooch | Diamond Bracelet
