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| Crown Princess Mette-Marit wears the tiara at the Ruby Jubilee of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, 2012 (Chris Jackson/Getty Images) |
Occasionally, a tiara finds its perfect match. For Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway, that connection was made on her wedding day. The tiara in question — a delicate bandeau featuring daisies studded with diamonds — has become her signature piece of jewelry.
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| Mette-Marit wears the tiara on her wedding day, 2001 (Anthony Harvey/Getty Images) |
The tiara, which fits perfectly with Mette-Marit’s cool, minimalistic Nordic style, was made in 1910. Exactly how the family got their hands on the sparkler has never been made clear. Some think they may have bought the piece from Garrard in London, but the family has never released any information on the maker or the means by which it was acquired. (I have always seen a major resemblance between this tiara and another Scandinavian sparkler: Queen Margrethe’s turquoise bandeau.)
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| A close-up view of the bandeau (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images) |
Some have speculated that the bandeau is actually the same tiara worn by Cate Blanchett in the 1999 film An Ideal Husband. It’s certainly possible that the pieces could be the same: film companies often borrow real jewels for productions. Either the film features an extremely similar piece (or a copy), or the movie tiara ended up on an actual princess shortly after the film was released.
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| Mette-Marit wears the bandeau and the chandelier earrings at the Danish crown princely wedding, 2004 (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images) |
Regardless of the way that the tiara made it into the Norwegian vaults, we know for sure that it was a wedding gift to Mette-Marit from her new in-laws, King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway, in 2001. She wore the tiara on her wedding day, and it’s continued to be her most-worn tiara since. She often pairs the bandeau with the delicate chandelier earrings that once belonged to her husband’s grandmother, Crown Princess Martha.
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| Mette-Marit wears the tiara on the eve of the royal wedding in Luxembourg, 2012 (Andreas Rentz/Getty Images) |
The bandeau is undoubtedly easier to wear than most grand tiaras, so comfort is probably a factor, along with sentimental wedding/family reasons. It would not surprise me even a little bit, though, if this tiara is eventually passed along to her daughter, Princess Ingrid Alexandra. It seems like a perfect first tiara for a future queen.
