Norwegian Amethyst Parure

Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway will be celebrating her 50th Birthday this week! The once controversial single mother set to be the future Queen of Norway, who is now suffering from pulmonary fibrosis, in the lead to her Birthday, we are featuring the spectacular Norwegian Amethyst Parure today!

In 1997, King Harald gifted this striking antique Amethyst Parure to Queen Sonja around her 60th Birthday, likely as compensation for jewels stolen at Garrard in 1995, along with the Modern Gold Tiara. Consisting of an antique Amethyst and Diamond Necklace which can be worn as a Tiara, along with a pair of earrings, a pair of bracelets that can be worn as a necklace, and a small brooch, the provenance of the Parure is unknown but may have been acquired at Garrard.

Queen Sonja debuted the Amethyst Tiara during a Belgian State Visit in 1997, before the Necklace and Earrings were worn for King Harald and Queen Sonja’s 60th Birthday Dinner in Trondheim a few weeks later.

Queen Sonja also wore the Amethyst Tiara and Parure for the Wedding of Princess Alexandra of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg and Count Jefferson von Pfeil und Klein-Ellguth in 1998, with the necklace being worn for Crown Prince Haakon’s Pre-Wedding Gala in Oslo in 2001. The Amethyst Parure made a final appearance for a Polish State Visit in 2003.

In 2004, Queen Sonja gifted the Amethyst Parure to Crown Princess Mette-Marit to mark the birth of Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway, with the Tiara first being worn for the Wedding Gala of Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark in 2004 as well as a series of Official Portraits.

Crown Princess Mette-Marit wore the Amethyst Parure on several occasions over the following years for State Visits, Stortingsmiddags, and Official Portraits, as well as for the Norwegian Official Visit to Britain in 2005, and King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s Diamond Jubilee Banquet in 2006.