Queen Alexandra’s Turquoise Circlet

Two days ago, we received the sad news of the passing of the beloved Princess Astrid of Norway, Mrs Ferner at the age of 94! Queen Alexandra’s spectacular Turquoise Tiara worn for decades by the late Princess Astrid will now return to the main line of the Norwegian Royal Family.

In 1902, it was reported in the British Press (h/t to Knightship) that King Edward VII gave a Turquoise Tiara as a Gift to Queen Alexandra for her 58th Birthday:

“Monday was Queen Alexandra’s 58th birthday and amongst the presents she received was a turquoise and diamond tiara from King Edward, and a jewelled tortoise -shell box from the King of Portugal”.

“Last week we all united in congratulating our beautiful Queen on having attained her fifty-eighth birthday. The King’s birthday present to his Queen was a splendid diamond and turquoise tiara, turquoises being extraordinarily becoming to her fair hair and still lovely complexion”

While Queen Alexandra was mentioned wearing Turquoise Jewels on various occasions, there do not seem to be any public photographs of her wearing this piece, though the historian Trond Noren Isaksen has seen photos of the Tiara in Queen Alexandra’s Inventory.

After Queen Alexandra’s death in 1925, the Turquoise Tiara was inherited by her younger daughter, Queen Maud of Norway, who was notably pictured wearing it for the Wedding Gala of her only son, Crown Prince Olav of Norway, and Princess Martha of Sweden in 1929. The Tiara paired particularly well with Queen Maud’s extensive collection of Turquoise Jewels, many of which were wedding presents.

While it was long believed that Queen Maud’s jewels remained in England after her death and during the Second World War, only being reclaimed during a visit for the Queen’s Coronation in 1953, but Trond Noren Isaksen writes that they were smuggled out of Norway during the Nazi Occupation and only sent to Britain during the communist scare in 1948.

When I wrote my biography of Princess Astrid, «Kvinne blant konger», she told me that the reason why Crown Princess Märtha barely wore any of her mother-in-law’s jewels was that Queen Maud took all her jewels with her to London in the autumn of 1938 to have them cleaned, and after the Queen died during her stay in England, her jewels remained at Windsor Castle until 1953, when Crown Prince Olav, Crown Princess Märtha and Princess Astrid brought them back to Norway after Elizabeth II’s coronation. However, when I wrote my book on Crown Princess Märtha during WWII, «Kronprinsessens krig», I realised that this could not be quite correct, as the diaries of the Marshal of the Court, Peter F. Broch, show that he smuggled Queen Maud’s jewels out of the Palace after the German attack in 1940 and had them sent to Crown Princess Märtha, who at that time was in Sweden.

The answer to how they ended up in Britain can be found in the correspondence between King Olav and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother in the British Royal Archives to which His Majesty King Charles III has kindly given me access. The answer lies in the war scare of 1948.

In February 1948, the communists seized power in Czechoslovakia, which caused widespread fear that Norway was next on the USSR’s list – indeed, this led to Norway abandoning its neutrality and becoming a founding member of NATO. In the summer, Crown Prince Olav took a large trunk containing his mother’s jewels with him when he and his family travelled to London for the Olympics. Before returning home, he deposited it at the Norwegian Embassy and wrote to the then Queen Elizabeth that he feared they might not be be able to get the jewels out of Norway if they had to flee a second time and asked if she might store them where she kept her own jewels, to which Queen Elizabeth agreed.

Not long afterwards, Crown Prinhttps://royalwatcherblog.com/2026/09/13/queen-alexandras-turquoise-circlet/cess Martha passed away, and the jewels 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. Queen Alexandra’s Turquoise Circlet was given to Princess Astrid along with several other heirloom jewels, which included the Vasa Tiara, a Ruby Aigrette Tiara, and a Diamond Aigrette Tiara among others.

Princess Astrid began wearing Queen Alexandra’s Turquoise Circlet with Queen Lovisa’s Turquoise and Diamond Necklace in the early 1970s, with notable appearances during King Olav’s 70th Birthday in 1973, the Swedish State Visit to Norway in 1974, King Olav’s 75th Birthday in 1978, the British State Visit to Norway in 1981, and the Spanish State Visit to Norway in 1982.

Queen Alexandra’s Turquoise Circlet was also worn for Crown Prince Harald’s 50th Birthday in 1987, King Olav’s 85th Birthday in 1988, Crown Prince Haakon’s 18th Birthday in 1991, and King Harland and Queen Sonja’s Silver Anniversary in 1993.

Princess Astrid continued to wear Queen Alexandra’s Turquoise Tiara over the next few decades, including for the British State Visit to Norway in 2001, the Wedding of Crown Prince Haakon of Norway in 2001, an Official Visit to the UK in 2005, and the Norwegian Centenary Ball at the Royal Palace of Oslo in 2005.

Princess Astrid also wore Queen Alexandra’s Turquoise Circlet with Queen Lovisa’s Turquoise and Diamond Necklace for King Harald and Queen Sonja’s 80th Birthday Banquet in 2017, the Diplomatic Banquet at the Royal Palace of Oslo in 2019, and Princess Ingrid Alexandra’s 18th Birthday Banquet in 2022.

Queen Alexandra’s Turquoise Circlet was also worn by Princess Astrid for the Danish State Visit to Norway in 2024, the French State Banquet at the Royal Palace of Oslo in 2025, and most recently the Diplomatic Banquet at the Royal Palace of Oslo earlier this year.

In line with the agreement made at the time of the division of the jewels in 1968, Princess Astrid stated that Queen Alexandra’s Turquoise Circlet and Queen Lovisa’s Turquoise and Diamond Necklace are among her jewels that will eventually return to the main line of the Royal Family. Lets hope we see it worn again soon!