Happy Birthday to Queen Sonja of Norway, who turns 88 today! The artistic commoner who became the first Norwegian-born Queen of Norway, Queen Sonja’s jewellery collection has a nice mix of heirloom jewels and modern acquisitions, which includes Queen Alexandra’s Diamond Pendant Earrings!
The Norwegian Emerald Parure | Queen Josefina’s Diamond Tiara | Queen Maud’s Pearl Tiara | Modern Gold Tiara | Diamond Circlet | Vifte Tiara | Oslofjord Tiara | Queen Alexandra’s Diamond Pendant Earrings
The exact origin of these jewels is unknown but they could be the pair of long Diamond Earrings created by Rundell & Bridge for Queen Victoria using diamonds given by Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II in 1838, which were notably worn by Queen Victoria for her Wedding to Prince Albert in 1840. While the Turkish Diamond Necklace was given to the Duchess of Connaught by the 1890s, the fate of the Diamond Earrings remains unknown.
By the 1880s, the then Princess of Wales, later Queen Alexandra, began wearing a pair of similar Diamond Pendants suspended from her grand Diamond Necklace, usually worn with various configurations of her Wedding Tiara for numerous Official Portraits.
The Princess of Wales also wore the Diamond Pendants from her Wedding Necklace with her Kokoshnik Tiara for the Wedding of her son, the Duke of York, and Princess May of Teck in the Chapel Royal of St. James’s Palace in 1893.
The massive Diamond Necklace with the Diamond Pendants continued to be worn after becoming Queen in 1901, most notably for the Coronation of King Edward VII in 1902 and the Wedding of Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden and Princess Margaret of Connaught in 1905.
After Queen Alexandra’s death in 1925, the Diamond Pendants and that massive Necklace were among the jewels inherited by her daughter, Princess Victoria, who ‘disposed of’ many of her mother’s jewels but the Diamond Pendants were among the jewels she left to her nephew, Crown Prince Olav of Norway, as discovered by Trond Noren Isaksen.
Queen Alexandra’s Diamond Pendants were notably worn as Earrings by Crown Princess Märtha with Queen Josefina’s Diamond Tiara for a series of portraits taken shortly after the Norwegian Royal Family’s return to Norway from exile in 1945.
Crown Princess Märtha notably wore Queen Alexandra’s Diamond Pendant Earrings with Queen Josefina’s Diamond Tiara for Queen Juliana’s Inauguration Gala in 1948 the American-Scandinavian Foundation 40th Anniversary Dinner in 1950, , and the Coronation Gala at Covent Garden in 1953, shortly before her own untimely death in 1954.
Over a decade later, the newlywed Crown Princess Sonja wore Queen Alexandra’s Diamond Pendant Earrings with Queen Josefina’s Diamond Tiara for her first series of official portraits.
Crown Princess Sonja regularly wore Queen Alexandra’s Diamond Pendant Earrings not only with Queen Josefina’s Diamond Tiara but also with Queen Maud’s Pearl Tiara and the Vifte Tiara, with notable appearances during the the Icelandic State Visit to Norway in 1971, King Haakon VII’s Centenary Gala in 1972, Danish State Visit to Norway in 1973, the Swedish State Visit to Norway in 1974, the Wedding of Princess Christina of Sweden in 1974, a Military Gala in Oslo in 1975.
Crown Princess Sonja notably wore Queen Alexandra’s Diamond Pendant Earrings for the British State Visit to Norway in 1981, Spanish State Visit to Norway in 1982, King Olav’s 80th Birthday Gala in 1983, Princess Märtha Louise’s Confirmation in 1986, Crown Prince Harald’s 50th Birthday in 1987, and King Olav’s 85th Birthday in 1988.
Queen Alexandra’s Diamond Pendant Earrings were worn by Queen Sonja for Crown Prince Haakon’s 18th Birthday in 1991, Norwegian State Visit to Denmark in 1991, Danish State Visit to Norway in 1992, King Harald and Queen Sonja’s Silver Wedding Anniversary in 1993, the Norwegian State Visit to Britain in 1994, the Wedding Gala of Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg in 1994, and the Wedding Gala of Princess Alexia of Greece in 1999.
Queen Sonja also wore Queen Alexandra’s Diamond Pendant Earrings for Queen Margrethe’s 60th Birthday in 2000, the Norwegian State Visit to Japan in 2001, the Wedding of Princess Märtha Louise of Norway in 2002, the Wedding Gala of Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark in 2004, and the Norwegian State Visit to Britain in 2005.
After only a handful of appearances in the last decade, Queen Sonja wore Queen Alexandra’s Diamond Pendant Earrings with Queen Josefina’s Diamond Tiara for Stortingsmiddag in 2018 and most recently the French State Banquet at the Royal Palace of Oslo last month. There is no doubt we will see these magnificent Royal Heirlooms for years to come!
The Norwegian Emerald Parure | Queen Josefina’s Diamond Tiara | Queen Maud’s Pearl Tiara | Modern Gold Tiara | Diamond Circlet | Vifte Tiara | Oslofjord Tiara | Queen Alexandra’s Diamond Pendant Earrings
The Norwegian Emerald Parure
Queen Josefina’s Diamond Tiara
Queen Maud’s Pearl Tiara
Queen Alexandra’s Diamond Circlet
Diamond Daisy Bandeau
Norwegian Amethyst Parure
Vifte Tiara
Princess Ingeborg’s Boucheron Pearl Circle Tiara
King Olav’s Gift Tiara
Modern Gold Tiara
Queen Alexandra’s Turquoise Circlet
Vasa Tiara
Queen Maud’s Diamond Tiara
Princess Astrid’s Ruby Aigrette Tiara
Princess Astrid’s Gold Bandeau Tiara
Queen Sophia’s Diamond Bracelet Bandeau
Kokoshnik Tiara
Queen Alexandra’s Wedding Parure
Diamond Circlet
Amethyst Tiara
