The Swedish Haga Palace is the new official residence for HRH The Crown Princess Victoria and her new husband, Prince Daniel. They will move in upon their return from their Tahitian honeymoon.

King Gustav IV Adolf had envisioned a home in Haga just outside Enskede, so he commissioned architect Carl Christoffer Gjörwell to build a modern palace in the style of an Italian villa. The result looked less like a palace and more like a large, sunny country home. It has been used alternately as a private home and a summer house for several members of the Swedish royal family over the years.

Haga is the birthplace of Princess Victoria’s father, King Carl XVI Gustaf. The King – Prince Carl Gustaf at the time – and his four sisters spent their childhood at this palace with their parents, Hereditary Prince Gustaf Adolf and Princess Sybilla.

Young Carl Gustaf played happily on the grounds with Princesses Margaretha, Birgitta, Désirée, and Christina and they were photographed enjoying their small playhouse in the park. The Swedish media and the public were charmed by the royal children, especially the girls, who became affectionately known as Hagasessornas, “Haga Princesses”.

The death of their father in an airplane crash in 1947 outside Copenhagen, Denmark, devastated the family. Princess Sybilla, who felt as though “the floor fell out from under my feet”, took the children to live in an apartment at The Royal Palace in 1950.

Haga, abandoned as the official home, was left empty for several years. King Gustaf VI Adolf eventually transferred its ownership to the Swedish government for use as a guest house for visiting dignitaries in 1966.

Happily, Haga reverted back to Royal property in 2009. Just after Princess Victoria’s engagement was announced in February 24th of that year, Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt declared that the rights of disposal to the palace would be transferred back to the royal court as a wedding gift to Victoria and her new husband, Prince Daniel. Attempting to echo the sentiments of Winston Churchill upon the wedding of Princess Elizabeth in 1947, Reinfeldt said: “[T]he royal engagement [i]s a beacon of light in the dark times of economic crises.”

This happy, warm palace looks extremely welcoming and should be perfect for the beaming royal couple. Congratulations to Victoria and Daniel upon the return of a very precious family home.

It’s that time – we need to start planning a party for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012. But where? When?

I am asking all of you who love the Queen as much as I do to start throwing around ideas for a celebration here in the U.S. Should we do regional parties (East/West) or try to meet up at one big party? I am open to suggestions.

The Queen is breaking a record with this jubilee; it is a landmark celebration claimed only by Queen Victoria thus far. We will celebrate the longest reign in British history in our own lifetime!

Any comments or thoughts, please send me an email using the contact form in the links above. Thanks, and God Save The Queen!!

- Mandy

Image by Globovisión via Flickr

Prince Albert of Monaco has proposed to his girlfriend Charlene Wittstock.

The Palace of Monaco officially announced the engagement of HSH Prince Albert II with Ms Charlene Wittstock on June 23rd. This is the first marriage for the 52-year-old prince and for Charlene, 32.

His Highness is the son of the late Prince Rainier III and the American actress-turned-princess Grace Kelly. Albert succeeded to the throne upon Rainier’s death in July 2005.

Charlene Lynette Wittstock is of South African nationality. Born on January 25th, 1978 in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, she is a former Olympic swimmer and described by the Palace’s official statement as ‘a youth worker’.

Charlene’s engagement ring is as stunning and large as that of Albert’s mother, Princess Grace:

Stylelist.com says:

Her pear-shaped engagement ring, set in unique gray gold, is the “Tethys” design created by Parisian jeweler Maison Repossi. The sparkler’s huge center stone is embellished with round diamond brilliants.

Many congratulations to them both!

While out and about in La Conner, Washington, I stumbled upon a little antique store. I had spotted a familiar photo in the window – it was King George VI with Queen Elizabeth and the little princesses. Intrigued, I went inside.

Due to the close proximity of Canada, the store had many small royal items, several of which were the Illustrated London News. I purchased three: Read more…

My final post before vacation focused on the royal jewels that might be seen at Crown Princess Victoria’s wedding. The royal women certainly did not disappoint; everything sparkled and looked magnificent.

I saw some tiaras that were amazing as well as amazingly out of place. Let’s check it out, but a word to the wise: this post is picture-laden. It may take a moment to load.

Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg

The Cuban-born lovely usually wears beautiful jewels that fit her appearance, but in this instance, the tiara was too big. It seemed to weigh too heavily for someone as petite as Maria Teresa.

According to Royal Magazin, the origin of this Empire Diamant tiara is not known. The tiara’s design of laurel leaves dates to around the mid of the 19th century. It had been worn by Grand Duke Henri’s mother, Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte.

Princess Birgitta of Sweden

Crown Princess Victoria’s aunt Birgitta was seen wearing the Nine-Prong Diamond tiara, also known as Queen Sophie’s Diamond Tiara.

Queen Sophie’s tiara was put forward as a possibility for Queen Silvia, the mother of the bride (below).

Instead, Her Majesty opted for the Braganca Diamond Tiara. This tiara once belonged to Empress Amalie of Brazil, whose sister was Queen Josephine of Sweden. After her death, it was inherited by Josephine and became a fixture among the jewels of the Swedish Royal Family. Interestingly, Queen Silvia’s mother Alice was Brazilian.

This easily rivals the Luxembourg Empire Diamant tiara above, but because Silvia’s hair has more body, it seems to compliment the tiara rather than allow it to overshadow her.

Her suite of jewelry was the Pink Topaz set worn by Queen Louise of Sweden (Lord Mountbatten’s sister). It was originally the wedding gift of the Russian Tsar Paul to his daughter, who married a German Grand Duke. Their daughter, Augusta, married the infamous Kaiser. It was Augusta’s granddaughter, Victoria, who would bring the suite into the Bernadotte dynasty when she married Prince Gustav of Sweden.

Princess Madeleine of Sweden

The sister of the bride sported the Connaught Diamond Tiara, a delicate looped headpiece that was simple and elegant.

The Connaught once belonged to Princess Margaret of Connaught. It was a wedding gift from her parents, Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Duchess Louise Margarete (formerly of Prussia). Margaret, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, married the future King Gustav Adolf in 1905.

Crown Princess Maxima of the Netherlands

Maxima wore a very sparkly yet subtle tiara to the nuptials.

The Diamond Bandeau Tiara has adorned the heads of Dutch queens and princesses for generations. It is made up of twenty-seven large diamonds set on a platinum band.

Princess Mabel of the Netherlands

Mabel’s nutty “trouser gown” detracted from her headpiece, but if you did happen to notice it, you’ll recognize that it is the very same tiara she wore on her wedding day to Queen Beatrix’s son Prince Friso.

Thanks to Mad Hattery, I discovered that Mabel’s tiara is the second setting of the Mellerio Sapphire Tiara. It is topped with 11 large diamonds that look like lollipops.

I don’t know what possessed her to wear the outfit that she did, but the color was nice anyway!

Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway

Mette Marit chose to wear Queen Maud’s Pearl tiara to highlight her elegant bone structure and eye-catching platinum locks. This tiara was also worn by Mette Marit’s sister-in-law, Princess Martha-Louise for her wedding to Ari Behn.

While Martha-Louise wore the tiara high on her head, the Crown Princess (above) tilted the prongs back, creating the illusion of a smaller headpiece.

This tiara came down from Queen Maud of Norway, a sister of King George V of Great Britain. She had married Prince Charles of Denmark, who had been presented with the opportunity to become King of Norway. He accepted, and they became Queen Maud and King Haakon.

Princess Martha-Louise wore the Norwegian Amethyst Necklace Tiara. Like many royal tiaras, it is easily converted into a necklace and has matching earrings. The tiara was a gift to her mother Queen Sonja from King Harald.

Crown Princess Mary of Denmark

The Danish Crown Princess wore Queen Ingrid’s Ruby Parure Tiara. It is a tiara frequently worn by Mary, and completely apropos for this wedding: inherited by Queen Luise of Sweden, she eventually passed it to her daughter, the future Queen Louise of Denmark, as a wedding present.

Many thanks to The Immense Glitter of Two Danish Royal Weddings, Royal Jewels and Royal Magazin (again)!

Queen Rania of Jordan

Queen Rania wore a converted bracelet as her headpiece. Her gown was elegant but her hair was slightly messy. The small tiara gets lost in Rania’s beehive.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011Some Rights Reserved

• About the cameo tiara: RoyalMagazin.de – http://ow.ly/23veq #
• CANADA: Prince Albert of Monaco and Charlene Wittstock share their sporting interests and Olympic dreams http://ow.ly/23uPI #
• The Dutch Foto-album: Victoria's Candids: http://ow.ly/23uaJ #
• I just cried myself completely dry watching this. She's SO happy. Bless them!: Daniel's speech (Subtitled) http://ow.ly/23s4D #
• Photos: Royal Wedding Victoria & Daniel http://ow.ly/23rSe #
• Wedding photos | Svensk Damtidning http://ow.ly/23rzg #
• Prince Albert of Monaco to Marry Next Summer – Celebrity Circuit – CBS News http://ow.ly/23qti #
• I've been out of the loop for a week, the week Prince Albert announces his engagement! EGAD! and congrats to them both!! :D #

Powered by Twitter Tools

As if the wedding wasn’t sweet enough already:

I love Princess Vic. What a great wedding! It will go down in royal history.