Crown Princess Victoria’s tiara is a defiant nod to forbidden royal love story

Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden made a radiant appearance at the annual Representatives Dinner at the Royal Palace in Stockholm wearing a tiara with a very special history.

Victoria was pictured alongside her husband Prince Daniel, her younger brother Prince Carl Philip, and her parents King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia.

She teamed her spring-worthy floral embroidered gown from Swedish couturier Frida Jonsvens – which she previously wore for her and Daniel’s 10th wedding anniversary in June 2020 – with a towering diamond headpiece secured in her elegant updo.

The Boucheron Laurel Wreath Tiara was passed down by Victoria’s great-aunt Princess Lilian following her death in 2013. Here’s everything you need to know about the heirloom’s history…

Tiara’s romantic history

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Originally a necklace, it was given to Prince Gustaf Adolf’s wife Princess Margaret for their wedding by Gustaf’s grandmother Queen Sofia, according to The Court Jeweller.

Her son Prince Bertil inherited the necklace following her death, but it was years before it was worn again. Bertil found love with a British married “commoner” Lilian Davies, and although she divorced her husband, he would have been forced to lose his royal title had they married.

Bertil prioritised his royal duties, serving as regent for his nephew Carl Gustaf, but he continued his romance with Lilian in private for years. Over time, Lilian began to be invited to royal events and cemented her place as an accepted member of the royal family – especially when she stepped out in Bertil’s family’s laurel tiara for his father’s 90th birthday celebrations in 1972.

Traditionally, only married women wear tiaras to royal occasions, which is why the likes of the Princess of Wales didn’t have her first tiara moment until her wedding day with Prince William in 2011. There are a few exceptions, however, such as Princess Anne and Crown Princess Victoria, who were born into royalty and debuted headpieces around their 17th and 18th birthdays.

© Tim Rooke/Shutterstock

A royal’s partner wearing a tiara is thought to signal they are officially part of the royal family, regardless of marital status. 

King Carl XVI Gustaf granted Bertil and Lilian permission to make their relationship official, and they married in 1976. Lilian went on to wear the tiara to several royal events until passing it down to Victoria, who was pictured wearing it for the first time to her sister Princess Madeleine’s wedding in 2013 – the same year Lilian died. 

© Shutterstock

Since then, Victoria has recycled the historic tiara for several Nobel Prize ceremonies and continues to honour her great-aunt’s love story today.

Victoria’s love story

© Torsten Laursen

Victoria had a much less rocky path to marriage with Daniel. The couple met at Daniel‘s fitness centre in the mid-2000s. They announced their engagement in February 2009 and went on to tie the knot on 19 June 2010 in Stockholm, Sweden.

They are now parents to two children: daughter Princess Estelle and son Prince Oscar.