The Norwegian Emerald Parure Tiara is owned by the Norwegian royal family.
The provenance of the emeralds is unclear, but the tiara is similar to two diamond and emerald sets made in France in the early 19th century: a tiara made for Empress Marie-Louise, Napoleon’s second wife, which is now set with turquoises, and the tiara made around 1820 for Marie Antoinette’s daughter, the Duchess of Angoulême. Therefore, it is quite possible that the tiara dates from around the same time.
There is also no consensus on the tiara’s original owner. It may have been Augusta of Bavaria, Duchess of Leuchtenberg, who was the daughter-in-law of Empress Joséphine. Augusta certainly purchased the tiara at some point, but it is not clear who the seller was.
When Augusta died, her jewels were divided among her three living daughters: Joséphine, Queen of Sweden; Amélie, Empress of Brazil; and Théodolinde, Countess Wilhelm of Württemberg. The Emerald tiara went home to Amélie in Portugal. Amélie’s only child died before her, and at the time of Amélie’s death, only her sister JosepJoséphinestill living. Joséphine inherited all of her sister’s jewels, including the Emerald tiara.
Joséphine loaned the tiara to her daughter-in-law, Sofia, who wore it for an official portrait.
Sofia often loaned it to family members, such as her granddaughter-in-law, Margaret of Connaught, Crown Princess of Sweden. She wore the tiara at the coronation of King George V and Queen Mary in 1911.
Queen Sofia left the Emerald tiara to her daughter-in-law, Princess Ingeborg, upon her death. Princess Ingeborg often wore it and had some alterations made. She lent it to her daughter, Martha of Sweden, Crown Princess of Norway, for the 1937 coronation of King George VI.
At the start of the Second World War, Princess Ingeborg handed her daughter the tiara as she was fleeing Norway with her family. She was told to sell it if they needed the money, but it never came to that. The Emerald tiara returned home to Norway at the end of the war.
The Emerald tiara was worn yet again at the 1953 coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. After the death of Crown Princess Martha, the tiara was worn by her daughter, Princess Astrid, who served as Norway’s first lady for several years. Reportedly, Princess Ingeborg expressed the wish that the future King Harald would inherit the tiara.
Crown Prince Harald married Sonja Haraldsen in 1968, and since then, Crown Princess and then Queen Sonja has been the only one to wear it.1
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