State Visit from Lithuania - Gala Dinner: HH Princess Astrid, Mrs. Ferner

After two fairly standard Tiara Alerts from Mette-Marit and Sonja, we've got a real sparkly surprise this evening from Princess Astrid, who is wearing a historical tiara for the first time!

This is what we'll call Crown Princess Märtha's Diamond Bandeau Tiara, worn low across Astrid's forehead in the same way it would have been worn by her mother in the 1920s.  Märtha (mother of Astrid, Harald, and Ragnhild) received this tiara as a wedding present from her aunt and uncle, King Gustav V and Queen Victoria of Sweden, when she married Crown Prince Olav in 1929.

Astrid inherited several tiaras from her mother, but she's never worn this particular one before; in fact, the tiara hasn't even been worn in public since the 1980s.  More details on the tiara are available at the blog of Norwegian royal historian Trond Norén Isaksen, who has interviewed Astrid about the rather historical piece o'bling.

As far as the tiara itself goes -- love the provenance, but not so fond of the disco headband style.  I know this is how deco tiaras were meant to be worn, but post '70s, it looks a little strange.  Thoughts?

PHOTO CREDITS: siste.no

Tags: ,

This entry was posted by Ella on Tuesday, April 5th, 2011 at 7:37 PM and is filed under HH Princess Astrid, Mrs. Ferner. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

23 Responses to “State Visit from Lithuania - Gala Dinner: HH Princess Astrid, Mrs. Ferner”

  1. royal fan says on April 5th, 2011 at 8:52 PM :

    I wish there was a better photo of this seldom seen tiara...hard to have an opinion without a good photo to review...I don't think I'm a fan of the placement, but bonus points to HHP Astrid at her age for mixing things up.

  2. Paula says on April 5th, 2011 at 9:41 PM :

    Sonja's placement before the sconce makes it look like she's wearing an electrical tiara...kinda Vegas showgirl headdress.

    Props to Astrid for breaking out the retro bling and for wearing the dress to match. She looks quite regal.

  3. Ontarian says on April 6th, 2011 at 1:17 AM :

    Indeed, Paula:

    http://tinypic.com/r/wafxv9/7

  4. Kikky says on April 6th, 2011 at 7:50 AM :

    I wonder what's off to their left that has nearly everyone's attention?

    And Sonya/sconce tiara visual had me choking on my coffee. Too funny!

  5. Sir Tom says on April 6th, 2011 at 10:20 AM :

    Alas, if only there were a better close-up. I'm going to buck the trend and say I like the position of the tiara. Nice to shake things up a bit. It reminds me of Disco Di (though this was a necklace, of course).

  6. maggie says on April 6th, 2011 at 12:01 PM :

    LMAO at Sonja's illuminated headgear - I live in hope that perhaps it will inspire Bea to appear in a cake hat with actual candles on it....

    I don't think bandeau tiaras were meant to be worn with the much hair above them, but kudos to Astrid for not getting stuck in a tiara rut, even at 79! I'd love to see what Martha-Louise could do with this...

  7. cece18 says on April 6th, 2011 at 12:43 PM :

    There is a lot of something going on in this photo! Everyone but the king is looking at the wrong photographer, apparently.
    CP MM is looking a bit over-fluffed. Even if she lost the gloves it would be better-right now the outfit is wearing her.
    Why is Astrid wearing a different order ribbon than the rest of the Royal family? It looks like it matches the one Her Excellency is wearing.

  8. anne says on April 6th, 2011 at 1:27 PM :

    I'm not sure I like those forehead type tiaras. It does look very disco-era.

  9. Ella says on April 6th, 2011 at 1:38 PM :

    @cece18: Here's the rundown on the orders...

    Harald, Sonja, Haakon, and MM are all wearing a Lithuanian order -- I think some of them were given the order at the start of this state visit (that's a common thing).

    The president of Lithuania and Astrid are both wearing a Norwegian order. The president would have gotten hers as a gift either during a previous state visit or at the beginning of this one (I think it's the latter). Astrid's wearing her Norwegian order because she doesn't have a Lithuanian order. When a head of state comes to town, and you don't have an order from their country to wear, you wear one from your own.

  10. PJ25 says on April 6th, 2011 at 2:12 PM :

    Mad props to Astrid, she keeps it real no matter if she is wearing antennae tiara's or disco headbands. I bloody love her! I wish we had a better close up, I for one am hoping the bandeau trend makes a come back, but you cant have that much hair and volume and it only works on the younger ladies really.

  11. Patricia says on April 6th, 2011 at 2:49 PM :

    I think PA looks like a figure from ancient Constantinople; her gown looks like a Byzantine court robe with that stiffened gold brocade and medallion embroidery embellishing that gorgeous royal blue garment. I also love the shape of the matching handbag and what looks like embroidery on it. While I'm not too thrilled about the bandeau tiara,I actually like her look better than Mette's whose outfit is too fussy, frilly and busy. Astrid's gown is so sumptuous; you cannot call it anything else.

    And, yes, Sonya's tiara does look like a headdress from a Busby Berkeley musical. But that is a beautiful yellow gown she's wearing.

  12. Mrs. Eynsford-Hill says on April 6th, 2011 at 4:37 PM :

    The last photo I recall of CP M-M in that dress (was it the wedding this past summer?) was lovely.

    Something is really wrong this time. I'm not sure if it was over-fluffed or just pulled out of the garment bag, but it doesn't look good.

    Maybe the gloves or just too many things pinned on the dress, but her pretty tiara and pretty face are totally lost.

  13. JamesB says on April 6th, 2011 at 4:48 PM :

    Ahhh I love Astrid, she's the batty old Aunty everyone wants. Okay, so the Xanadu headband is a bit nutty - but good on yer gel for giving it a go! I love I love!

  14. Eliza says on April 6th, 2011 at 6:47 PM :

    I wish I had an up close photo for this tiara. Currently it looks like Astrid has bangs!

    @James B- batty old Aunty as in Aunt Clara, from Bewitched?

  15. PJ25 says on April 6th, 2011 at 8:20 PM :

    I love batty ol'aunts. I aspire to be one! Ideally a mix of Astrid, Camilla and Patsy Stone. Good thing I have years to prepare.

  16. royalbuff says on April 6th, 2011 at 8:21 PM :

    Thank you, gentle readers of Madhattery, for the laugh therapy...reading the comments from Vegas showgirl headdress to the batty old Aunt had me in stitches!

  17. robinj says on April 7th, 2011 at 3:26 AM :

    I think we might have nomenee for the "best make over" in the 2011 madhattery annual summary of the year. :-) Love the "Byzantine" dress too!

  18. Lisa says on April 7th, 2011 at 10:02 PM :

    There is a time in your life when fiestiness in fashion is great. I think Astrid is past that time. Now it should be elegance. The dress is fine though, there is still a little WTH allowed in the later years.

  19. Ky Person says on April 8th, 2011 at 6:56 AM :

    Mmm - I love it! I've always thought Princess Astrid was a great combination of elegance and feistiness and she comes through here. Well played PA.

  20. G says on April 13th, 2011 at 7:25 AM :

    I love Mette-Marit's dress fluffy and all but gloves are almost always misteke with gown that has sleeves. I also like Astrids spunk but the dress is bit costumey for me and tiare is almost missed under her hair.

    In other news. Maxima has let T

  21. G says on April 13th, 2011 at 7:27 AM :

    I love Mette-Marit's dress fluffy and all but gloves are almost always misteke with gown that has sleeves. I also like Astrids spunk but the dress is bit costumey for me and tiare is almost missed under her hair.

    In other news. Maxima has let Triple-As to decorate her dress with christmas tinsel http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M1ad4jNa5Oo/TaTGiO52RMI/AAAAAAAAKRE/kd3iWn80_as/s1600/610x+%25281%2529.jpg

    Maybe they tought that she wasn't as showy as princess should be.

  22. G says on April 13th, 2011 at 7:32 AM :

    Also I might have found (again) new favourite tiara of mine. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IwKZyRc8y7M/TaTGkWCQhLI/AAAAAAAAKRQ/dsRqPNg9SWU/s1600/610x+%25285%2529.jpg Maybe Bea will send it to me for my 25th birthday. It's only three months away.

    After wathching other images of Maxima in Germany I have come to think that she has decided that now that her daughters are all in school they are old enaugh to replace her stylist. This might get intresting.

  23. scarebaby says on April 13th, 2011 at 9:02 PM :

    I'm having a love hate relationship with Mette-Marit's gown, as I love the shape, the color, and even the layers, but still find it a bit raggedy. Princess Astrid, on the other hand, looks to me like she's earned the right to wear anything-she-wants-thank-you-very-much. And I think she looks awesome!

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.