The Crown Prince of Denmark's Wedding: HM The Queen of Sweden

I love amethysts, but I have to admit that this one -- the Napoleonic Amethyst Tiara -- is not my favorite, especially when it's worn so far forward on the head.  It's just so ... flat.  And heavy.

But it makes sense, because this tiara used to be a massive necklace; Silvia had it converted so that it could be worn on a frame as a tiara.  Just like the Brunswick tiara worn to the wedding by Princess Caroline, this set of amethysts was originally owned by Napoleon's first wife, Empress Joséphine. 

She left it to her son, Eugène de Beauharnais, whose daughter, Josephine of Leuchtenberg, became queen of Sweden.  The younger Josephine brought a treasure trove of her grandmother's jewels with her to Sweden, including these amethysts, the Cameo tiara (which we may well see on Victoria's wedding day), and the Napoleonic Cut-Steel Tiara.

This one would be much better straight away if it were worn further back on the head, I think...

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This entry was posted by Ella on Friday, May 14th, 2004 at 2:22 PM and is filed under HM The Queen of Sweden. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

8 Responses to “The Crown Prince of Denmark's Wedding: HM The Queen of Sweden”

  1. maggie says on June 6th, 2010 at 5:52 PM :

    I quite like it worn forward, it looks almost crown like. And the colour is so flattering

  2. Sam says on June 6th, 2010 at 10:37 PM :

    Which freaks me out a little, as Dasiree Clary, the wife of Jean Baptiste Bernadotte had an ongoing affair with Napoleon for quite a while and I seriously hope Oscar I was not a product of that union, because else, ewww.

    This is quite a BIG tiara, I'm not sure how fond I am of it.

  3. RobinJ says on June 7th, 2010 at 3:45 AM :

    I love this tiara, but not as a tiara, since it makes your head looks flat, like you could put a vase on it...

    And I truly hate this dress; Any saturated hue between green and yellow is not for human dress. And the pattern - I suppose it is flowers - looks washed out and the colors started to 'bleed'. There's only one word to describe it; Frompy!

  4. RobinJ says on June 7th, 2010 at 5:00 AM :

    I can't get over how large the "small" diamonds surrounding the amethysts are....

  5. Leslie says on June 7th, 2010 at 7:13 AM :

    I actually really like this one. It's beautiful, and I don't mind the placement at all.

  6. JamesB says on June 7th, 2010 at 10:23 AM :

    Those amethysts are enormous. Seriously, I bet this gives her a headache. I don't mind the tiara, it does look like a necklace on a frame - which it is (and we can see the wires too a'la Soph W), but the stones are so huge it works - and she ha s great tiara up do.

    The frock really is meh - too sludgy. I really hope she does better for Vic's big day...

  7. Sir Tom says on June 7th, 2010 at 12:41 PM :

    I really like it as a tiara, actually. I just object to those wires.

  8. Sarahew88 says on April 28th, 2011 at 3:44 AM :

    I love looking and re-looking at these. And this is my all time EVER favorite tiara. The entire parure is gorgeous!

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