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HRH The Prince of Wales and HRH The Duchess of Cornwall will be begin their tour of Scandinavian countries in late March, and their first stop will be Norway. The tour marks the start of Their Royal Highnesses’ official overseas celebrations of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

King Harald and Queen Sonja will host the couple during their stay in Norway. Charles and Camilla will perform official duties which include visiting Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, attending a banquet at the Royal Palace in Oslo, and visiting the Nobel Peace Center to meet the survivors from the 2011 Utøya island massacre.

This tour will also be a time to visit with family – Charles’ great-grandfather was the brother of Harald’s grandmother (King George V was the brother of Princess Maud of Wales, who later became Queen of Norway).

After Norway, the British royals will visit Sweden. It is highly likely that the couple will get a chance to meet the new heir to the Swedish throne – Crown Princess Victoria is due to give birth in the early days of March. Though the prince has met King Carl XVI Gustaf, this will be Charles’ first official visit to Sweden.

The Windsors are also connected to the Bernadottes of Sweden through Gustaf VI Adolf, who was married first to Princess Margaret of Connaught (a granddaughter of Queen Victoria) and then to Princess Louise of Battenberg (the sister of Lord Louis Mountbatten).

The next stop will be Denmark to pay a visit to Queen Margrethe II, another family member. Like Elizabeth II, Queen Margrethe is celebrating a Jubilee this year – 2012 marks her 40th year on the Danish throne. She is related to the British royal family through her grandmother, Princess Margaret of Connaught. Charles was previously in Denmark in 2009, and his son William, along with wife Catherine, visited Copenhagen and met with Crown Prince Frederik to view UNICEF relief operations in November 2011.

The tour will take place from March 20th to 27th.

Related articles

• Queen Margrethe marks 40 years on Denmark’s throne (cbsnews.com)
• Their Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall to Visit Scandinavia (royalcorrespondent.com)

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The Royal Representative would like to congratulate Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway! Today the couple celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary.

It was announced that His Royal Highness Crown Prince Haakon was engaged to Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby on December 1st, 2000. They married the following year on August 25th. It was the first major royal wedding since the marriage of Haakon’s parents, then-Crown Prince Harald and the former Sonja Haraldsen in 1968. Like Mette-Marit, Sonja was also a commoner.

Haakon met his future bride at a music festival in Kristiansand, a city on the south coast of Norway (and Mette-Marit’s birthplace). Haakon was immediately enraptured, and they became a couple soon after.

King Harald and Queen Sonja were supportive of the relationship, if not their cohabitation.  The king and queen remembered their own struggle to be together: Harald had to wait nearly a decade before his father, the late King Olav V, allowed Sonja into the royal family. Olav was not pleased with the idea of marriage between his son and a commoner. Harald had to throw down the gauntlet: either he married Sonja, or he would never marry. Since he was Olav’s only son and immediate heir, the king relented.

Unlike her future mother-in-law, however, the striking blonde Mette-Marit came to the royal family with what has been described as “an unconventional past”. Some of her friends were reportedly involved with drugs and “a criminal environment,” according to police reports. Mette-Marit had been known to attend parties where drugs were used. Police and security believed that this would put a strain on the monarchy.

Mette-Marit also had a child, Marius, out of wedlock with a man who was convicted of cocaine possession.

Haakon had to face the pressure of the media and the nation when he proposed to Mette-Marit. When her past was revealed, most Norwegians didn’t mind that Mette-Marit was a single mother, but they were not amused about the drugs and the underground party scene in which she had participated.

Haakon was steadfast in his devotion to his fiancee and knew that she would be a good and worthy member of the royal family, and wanted the people of Norway to know it, too.  With Haakon at her side, Mette-Marit acknowledged her past during a press conference just days before the wedding. She publicly apologized for living what she described as “quite a wild life”.

They have been by each other’s side ever since.

“What we two found together was so strong that I could not let it go,” said Haakon in an interview.

Mette-Marit entered the Oslo Cathedral on Haakon’s arm, another small break with tradition. She was an absolute vision in her bridal finery, which was devastatingly beautiful in its simplicity. The ecru-colored gown was a collaboration between the bride herself, designer Ove Harder Finseth, and seamstress Anna Bratland. It was made of thick silk crêpe and soft silk tulle with a 6.5 foot train, a corset waist, and a square neckline with long, tailored sleeves.  Her blonde hair was styled in a classic chignon, topped with a diamond bandeau tiara, a gift from King Harald and Queen Sonja. From the tiara flowed a 19-foot veil of silk tulle.

Instead of the usual bridal bouquet, Mette-Marit carried a stream of flowers worn on her wrist as a muff. It was comprised of rosary vine, Wanda orchids, hydrangeas, roses, bear grass, and beads interwoven on metal threads.

The prince was dashing in his black uniform of the Norwegian Army, complete with Norway’s red and blue sash.

Haakon gave Mette-Marit the engagement ring worn by both his grandmother and his mother.  He then slipped the white gold wedding band over her finger, and they were pronounced husband and wife. Norway gained a new Crown Princess.

Pivotal Role

After their wedding, Mette-Marit  dove into her role as Crown Princess by getting actively involved in HIV/AIDS-related work. A few years later she was appointed Special Representative for UNAIDS. Two years later she was invited by UNAIDS to participate in strategic planning of the future AIDS response. In 2010,  the princess was appointed Young Global Leader under the World Economic Forum. In addition to these activities, the princess promotes Norwegian trade and industry, architecture and design, education and humanitarian initiatives.

Mette-Marit has made a graceful and intelligent transition from new princess to a true, dyed-in-the-wool Crown Princess of Norway, future Queen.  She has provided two heirs to the Norwegian throne: Princess Ingrid Alexandra, born January 21, 2004 and Prince Sverre Magnus, born December 3, 2005.  Her son Marius, born January 13,1997, has been adopted by Crown Prince Haakon in all but name. His obvious love and care for Marius has been evident ever since he has been with Mette-Marit.

Again I say, many congratulations to the Crown Prince and Princess, and here’s to the continued happy success of their family, and the Norwegian Royal Family!

Several people, mostly teenagers, were gunned down at a Norwegian Labour party youth camp on the island of Utoeya. Simultaneously, a bomb was detonated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo just outside the Prime Minister’s office.

People across the world have offered their support and condolences.

“It was an attack against the very values that our countries are built upon. It was an attack against all of us,” Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen said in a statement.

Queen Elizabeth II has sent her condolences to King Harald and his people. Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden has also publicly stated her distress and sympathy over the deaths on Swedish television, and has attended a memorial service in honor of the deceased. The Netherlands’ Queen Beatrix, along with her Prime Minister Mark Rutte, expressed shock at the attacks. President Obama of the United States telephoned Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg with his sympathies.

I am hoping to see statements from other Royal Families, especially since Princess Mette-Marit’s own family member was killed trying to protect others.

UPDATE: Condolences from heads of state

Related articles

• Norway’s royal family to lead moment of silence for terror victims – Telegraph.co.uk (news.google.com)
• Norway terror suspect arrives in court (vanguardngr.com)
• Norway Gunman Kills 80 People After Oslo Bomb; Suspect Arrested (businessweek.com)
• Attorney: Norway suspect surprised he succeeded in alleged attacks (news.blogs.cnn.com)

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Reuters Slideshow

CNN – Royal Wedding “Unveiled”

The BBC

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.

Many details have not been made public yet, but one important tidbit we do know is that Victoria has chosen the Cameo tiara as her headpiece. One of the oldest jewels in the Swedish royal family’s collection, the Cameo tiara was worn by the princess’s mother, Silvia, when she married King Carl XVI Gustaf.

Owned by the French Empress Josephine, it was inherited by her granddaughter and namesake, Duchess Josephine of Leuchtenberg, who brought it to Sweden when she married the future King Oscar I. It has been passed down by the Bernadotte dynasty ever since.

We know what Victoria will be wearing for a tiara, but what about the other royal women attending the ceremony? What cascades of jewels will be adorning regal heads – and gowns – across Europe? Take a look at Royal Jewels of the World, Royal Dutch Jewels, and Royal Magazin for an idea of the magnificence that may appear on the day.

For more possibilities,

Princess Madeleine Possibilities:

Princess Mathilde possibilities:

Princess Maxima Possibilities:

Some Queen Silvia possibilities:

Princess Martha-Louise Possibilities: