Queen Louise’s Diamond Tiara | The Royal Watcher

Today marks the Anniversary of the Birth of Queen Louise of Sweden, who was born on this day in 1889! The Battenberg Princess who became a Lady and then married the widower future King of Sweden, despite frequently declaring that she would ‘never marry a king or a widower’, Queen Louise not only possessed the magnificent Swedish Royal Jewels, but also had a substantial personal collection, including this Diamond Tiara!

When the widower Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden married Lady Louise Mountbatten in 1923, the new Swedish Crown Princess received much less Jewels than her late cousin and predecessor, Crown Princess Margareta. However, among the wedding gifts was an Aquamarine Bandeau Tiara, given by Prince Andrew and Princess Alice of Greece (the sister of the bride), and this petite Diamond Tiara, which, with its scrolls and composition, suggests an origin in the late Edwardian period. The Tiara was given by her brother and sister-in-law, Lord and Lady Mountbatten.

Despite the massive size of the Swedish Royal Collection, Crown Princess (and later Queen) Louise only had five tiaras at her disposal; The Braganza Tiara, the Leuchtenberg Sapphire Parure, Queen Sofia’s Nine-Prong Tiara, the Baden Fringe Tiara and this petite Diamond Tiara, which was occasionally worn in portraits and at galas from the 1920s to the 1940s, only stopping by the time of the King’s Accession in 1950.

By the mid-1950s, the Haga Princesses, the granddaughters of the King, began attending Royal Events, with the Diamond Tiara often being worn by Princess Margaretha in the 1950s, including the British State Visit to Sweden in 1956, the Swedish Opening of Parliament, the Order of Amaranth Ball in 1956, and the Dutch State Visit to Sweden in 1957.

Queen Louise’s Diamond Tiara was also worn by Princess Birgitta for a variety of Galas and Weddings in the late 1950s, and also during the Thai State Visit to Sweden in 1960.

Princess Désirée wore Queen Louise’s Tiara to several Nobel Prize Ceremonies, as well as a Masked Ball at National Art Gallery of Stockholm in 1963, the Wedding Ball of Princess Alexandra and the Hon. Angus Ogilvy at Windsor Castle in 1963, and the Order of Amaranth Ball in 1964.

Princess Christina was only rarely pictured wearing Queen Louise’s Diamond Tiara, with the most notable appearence during King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden’s 60th Birthday Gala in 1962.

When Princess Désirée married Baron Niclas Silfverschiöld in 1964, Queen Louise gave her the Diamond Tiara as a wedding gift, and it was worn for their Wedding Ball at the Royal Palace of Stockholm. All of the Haga Princesses received a personal Tiara by the time of their marriage, with Princess Margaretha receiving the Aquamarine Kokoshnik Tiara from her mother, Princess Birgitta getting the Pearl Circle Tiara from her grandfather, and Princess Christina inheriting her Diamond Tiara from her godmother.

While Princess Désirée has worn other Tiaras from the Swedish Royal Collection over the past six decades, Queen Louise’s Diamond Tiara has been her primary jewel, having been worn for the Wedding of her cousin, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark in 1967, the Wedding of Princess Benedikte of Denmark and Prince Richard of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg in 1968, the Wedding of the Duke of Anjou and Cádiz in 1972, the Wedding of her sister, Princess Christina of Sweden, in 1974, and also during the Spanish State Visit to Sweden in 1979.

Princess Désirée often attended State Banquets and Representation Dinners wearing Queen Louise’s Diamond Tiara through the 1980s and 1990s, and it was also worn for the Wedding of her daughter, Baroness Christina Silfverschiöld, and Baron Hans De Geer af Finspång in 1998, as well as the Wedding of Princess Alexandra of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg and Count Jefferson von Pfeil und Klein-Ellguth in 1998.

Princess Désirée has rarely attended royal events in recent decades, with notable appearances of Queen Louise’s Diamond Tiara at King Harald V ’of Norways 70th Birthday Banquet in 2007 and also at King Carl XVI Gustaf’s 70th Birthday Banquet in 2016. We can look forward to seeing the Tiara being worn King Carl XVI Gustaf’s Golden Jubilee Celebrations in September!