State Visit Gala: HM The Queen of Norway
Yippee -- a brand-new tiara for the blog! Here, Queen Sonja's sporting the fabulous Empress Joséphine's Emerald Tiara, which is a historical tiara with a fascinating history.
The tiara was originally a part of an emerald parure owned by Empress Joséphine of France, the wife of Napoleon Bonaparte -- some say Napoleon gave the jewels to his wife. The emeralds made it to Norway through Joséphine's son, Eugène de Beauharnais, Duke of Leuchtenberg. Eugène's daughter, another Joséphine, married King Oscar I of Sweden, and their great-granddaughter, Princess Märtha of Sweden, married Crown Prince Olav of Norway in 1929.
Crown Princess Märtha was given the tiara in 1937 by her parents, Prince Carl and Princess Ingeborg, on the occasion of the birth of her son -- the current King of Norway, Harald V. Märtha died before she could become Queen of Norway, but her daughter-in-law, Sonja, wears the massive tiara quite frequently today. It's quite the hefty piece, but Sonja carries it off well. She does have some of the best tiara hair in Europe, after all! 
Tags: state visit, tiara
This is an amazing tiara - and one of my favourites - I love the way it combines the square emeralds at different angles, it has a modern feel to it. It would look amazing on Queen Silv but only Sonja doesn't do too badly with her tiara hair. I always love it when the jewels have a bit of history to 'em.
This is a stonker of a tiara!! Look at the emeralds!! Fabulous combination of tiara, gems and dress. But I can't help but think her hair's gone a bit wonky somehow.
At last, I can feed my emerald fetish! I love this tiara - the different shapes and cuts of the gems really make it look really jazzy.
I agree, Maggie. Her barnet does seem to have lost something.
I think this is an absolutely brilliant tiara! So glad we finally see some emeralds, not only in a tiara, but also in the earrings and necklace. Three cheers for Sonja!
The earrings were taken from the tiara, I believe in an earlier modification. Examining older photos, there is a slight alteration to the design, but I agree with many who say that this is indeed a spectacularly successful jewel.