Today marks the Anniversary of the Birth of Queen Victoria of Sweden, who was born on this day in 1862! Born Princess Viktoria of Baden, she brought a plethora of jewels into the Swedish Royal Family when she married the future King Gustav V of Sweden in 1881, including this spectacular Diamond Fringe Tiara!
Baden Fringe Tiara | Leuchtenberg Sapphire Parure | Pearl Corsage Brooch | Diamond Stars | Swedish Processional Necklace | Queen Josefina’s Diamond Stomacher | Pearl and Diamond Ivy Brooch
When Princess Victoria of Baden married Crown Prince Gustav of Sweden and Norway in 1881, she received this spectacular Dimond Fringe Tiara as a wedding gift from her parents, Grand Duke Frederick I of Baden and Princess Louise of Prussia. Originally inspired by the Kokoshniks at the Russian Royal Court, examples of Diamond Fringe Tiaras can be found in the British, Swedish, Danish, Thai, Monaco, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, and the Greek Royal Collections.
Crown Princess Victoria first wore the Baden Fringe Tiara as a necklace on her Wedding day in Baden and then wore the piece as a Tiara for a notable portrait with the Leuchtenberg Sapphire Necklace soon after her wedding in 1881.
Crown Princess Victoria most most notably wore the Baden Fringe as a massive corsage with the Leuchtenberg Sapphire Parure and her Diamond Stars for the Wedding of her son, Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, and Princess Margaret of Connaught at Windsor Castle in 1905.
Queen Victoria was last depicted wearing the Baden Fringe Tiara with Queen Josefina’s Diamond Stomacher for a series of portraits taken around 1920, when she had largely retired from royal duties.
After Queen Victoria’s death in 1930, the Baden Fringe Tiara was left to the Bernadotte Family Foundation and passed on to her daughter-in-law, the future Queen Louise of Sweden, who began frequently wearing it in the early 1930s, for a visit to New York, the Dutch State Visit to Sweden in 1946, Queen Juliana’s Inauguration Gala in 1948, King Gustav V’s 90th Birthday in 1948, the Nobel Prize Ceremony in 1948.
Queen Louise only had five tiaras at her disposal; The Braganza Tiara, the Leuchtenberg Sapphire Parure, Queen Sofia’s Nine-Prong Tiara and her Diamond Tiara, that was usually worn by the Haga Princesses, along with the Baden Fringe which was worn for all but the most important Galas, including a Banquet at Royal Naval College in Greenwich in 1955, the British State Visit to Sweden in 1956, the Order of Amaranth Ball in 1956, the Thai State Visit to Sweden in 1960, the Wedding Ball of Princess Birgitta of Sweden and Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern in 1961, the Anglo-Swedish Society Dinner in London in 1961, and the Wedding Ball of Princess Margaretha and Princess Désirée of Sweden in 1964 in addition to several Nobel Prize Ceremonies.
After Queen Louise’s passing in 1965, and especially after the death of her mother, Princess Sibylla , in 1972, Princess Christina served as the First Lady of the Swedish Court first for her grandfather and then for her brother, King Carl XVI Gustaf, and thus she wore the Baden Fringe Tiara for the Wedding of her cousin, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, in 1967 and also for an Official Portrait, the Wedding of the Duke of Anjou and Cádiz in 1972, King Gustaf VI Adolf’s 90th Birthday Banquet in 1972 and the last Swedish State Opening of Parliament in 1974.
The other Haga Princesses also wore the Baden Fringe in the period before the King’s marriage, with Princess Margaretha wearing the Fringe for the Swedish State Visit to Britain in 1975, while Princess Désirée wore the Baden Fringe with the Pink Topaz Parure for King Carl XVI Gustaf’s Wedding Gala in 1976.
Queen Silvia has worn the Baden Fringe Tiara on only a few occasions over the years, including King Olav V of Norway’s 75th Birthday Celebrations in 1978 and the Swedish State Visit to the Vatican in 1991. More recently, the Tiara was worn on the Swedish State Visit to Germany in 2016, with Queen Victoria’s Pearl Corsage Brooch, at the Finland Centenary Banquet in 2017, and at the King’s Dinner for Nobel Laureates in 2018.
Since it was rarely worn by Queen Silvia, the Baden Fringe became a favourite of Princess Lilian, who wore it for the first time as a newlywed at the Nobel Prize Ceremony in 1976, and continued to wear it over forty times over the next thirty years, including at 10 Nobel Prize Ceremonies, for the Spanish State Visit to Sweden in 1979, the Mexican State Visit to Sweden in 1980, the British State Visit to Sweden in 1983, the Luxembourg State Banquet at the Royal Palace of Stockholm in 1991, the Russian State Visit to Sweden in 1997, and the Norwegian State Banquet at the Royal Palace of Stockholm in 2005, which was one of her final tiara appearances.
It was Queen Victoria’s wish that the Tiara be reserved for the use of the Swedish Crown Princess and after Crown Princess Victoria debuted the Baden Fringe Tiara at the Wedding of Crown Prince Haakon of Norway in 2001, it soon became a favourite, being worn for over thirty-five occasions in the next decade, including for the Jordanian State Visit to Sweden in 2003, the Swedish State Visit to Finland in 2003, the Wedding of Prince Manuel of Bavaria and Princess Anna of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg in 2005, the Enthronement of Prince Albert II of Monaco in 2005, King Carl XVI Gustaf’s Birthday Banquet in 2006, King Harald’s 70th Birthday Banquet in 2007, and the Luxembourg State Visit to Sweden in 2008 in addition to numerous Nobel Prize Ceremonies and Official Portraits. The Tiara became such an iconic piece on Crown Princess Victoria that it is even included on her Barbie.
The Haga Princesses have also continued to wear the Tiara in recent years, with Princess Margaretha wearing the Baden Fringe for the Wedding of Princess Madeleine of Sweden in 2013 while Princess Birgitta wore the Tiara for the Wedding of Prince Carl Philip of Sweden in 2015 and at King Carl XVI Gustaf’s 70th Birthday Banquet in 2016.
Crown Princess Victoria has continued to regularly wear the Baden Fringe Tiara in recent years, though there are noble less appearances since she began to wear Princess Lilian’s Laurel Wreath Tiara. In addition to Nobel Prize Ceremonies in 2011, 2014 and 2015, the Tiara has been worn for the Wedding Ball of Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene of Monaco in 2011, King Harald and Queen Sonja’s 80th Birthday Banquet in 2017, Crown Prince Frederik’s 50th Birthday Gala Dinner at Christiansborg Palace in 2018, a Representationsmiddag, the South Korean State Visit to Sweden, the Nobel Prize Ceremony in 2019, and in a series of portraits released for her 10th Anniversary in 2020. There is no doubt this spectacular Heirloom will be worn for years to come!
In 2023, Crown Princess Victoria wore the Baden Fringe Tiara with the Leuchtenberg Sapphire Brooch and the Duchess of Albany’s Sapphire Bracelet for King Carl XVI Gustaf’s Jubilee Banquet at the Royal Palace of Stockholm.
Baden Fringe Tiara | Leuchtenberg Sapphire Parure | Pearl Corsage Brooch | Diamond Stars | Swedish Processional Necklace | Queen Josefina’s Diamond Stomacher | Pearl and Diamond Ivy Brooch
Swedish Aquamarine Kokoshnik Tiara
Princess Lilian’s Laurel Wreath Tiara
