The Top Ten: Tiaras at Crown Princess Victoria’s Wedding (#3)

The third spot on our countdown of the best tiara moments from Crown Princess Victoria’s royal wedding goes to: the heirloom jewels worn by her sister, Princess Madeleine!

At this wedding, Madeleine made her debut in one of the family’s most important sentimental jewels: the Connaught Diamond Tiara, which they call “Princess Sibylla’s Tiara” because it was such a favorite of Madeleine’s late grandmother. Madeleine had previously worn one of the necklace settings of the piece (featuring just the drops on a delicate chain), but this was her first outing in the tiara.

The choice to wear the Connaught tiara was apparently a very last-minute decision. On the wedding day, the Swedish court put out a press release describing all of the jewelry worn by members of the royal family. In the English version of the document, the tiara is not included in the description of Madeleine’s jewelry, suggesting that she may have planned to wear something totally different.

Indeed, in this close-up of the tiara from the wedding, you’ll note that the base of the piece is still wrapped in dark brown velvet, to match the hair of the piece’s usual wearer. At this point in time, that was Madeleine’s mother, Queen Silvia.

The press release did get one part of the jewelry ensemble correct: the necklace. This is the piece commonly referred to as Intågssmycket, or the Processional Jewels. The diamond, pearl, and Ceylon sapphire necklace was a gift to Queen Victoria of Sweden on her arrival in Stockholm in 1881.

Madeleine also reached for one of the family’s small diamond bow brooches to secure the sash of the Order of the Seraphim.

On her left wrist, Madeleine wore her sapphire tennis bracelet…

…and on her right wrist, she stacked diamonds and her Cartier Love Bracelet.

Here’s one more look at Madeleine’s ensemble and heirloom jewels from the wedding!