I remember covering Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria for her wedding, and it was one of the first times I ever wrote about her. I remember vaguely liking her dress, but now that I’m seeing it ten years later, I like it even more. Victoria and Daniel’s 10th wedding anniversary is on June 19th (same as the Earl and Countess of Wessex). I was reminded of their wedding photos when I wrote about their stunning anniversary portraits earlier this week, and I decided to do a “remember when” vintage wedding post for the Swedes and fans-of-Swedes.
I think I’m feeling particularly positive in my revisionist history of Vicky and Dan’s wedding because in retrospect, it was so joyful and fun and she wasn’t afraid to be cheesy and openly adorable. She was SO HAPPY on her wedding day and she couldn’t help but radiate that joy. Plus, in retrospect, her dress was so much better than the other royal gowns we would see over the following years. She went with a Swedish designer, Pär Engsheden, and she did an off-the-shoulder cap-sleeve in cream silk satin. The gown was super-flattering on her figure and she wasn’t drowning in fabric, nor did she look too “undone.” She paired her gown with pieces from the Cameo set – the Cameo tiara, earrings and bracelet.
She really was a beautiful bride. Daniel seemed overwhelmed by all of the attention, but the way he played along with Victoria was really sweet. He fell in love with the girl who will be queen one day. He got his princess.
Photos courtesy of Getty, Avalon Red and WENN.
I LOVE that tiara and yeah the dress was gorgeous!
They are such a lovely couple – you can see how in love they are not only then but still now. Daniel is a babe.
I love the Cameo Tiara as well – it is an exquisite piece of the early 19th century Empire style and the historical value is priceless! After all, this tiara once adorned the brow of the Empress Joséphine, a quite iconic historical figure.
Empress Josephine had quite the collection of tiara’s – the European royal houses have bling that in some cases outshines the BRF’s bling, especially when it comes to tiara’s.
The Japanese Imperial family has some serious tiara bling as well.
Like Queen Margrethe II says: “We don’t count the carats, we count the centuries”. The DRF doesn’t have as many tiaras as the SRF (sadly, quite a few left the family in the recent past). But they have some truly amazing pieces. The Ruby-Diamond Tiara that CP Mary wears is just gorgeous and it dates back to Napoleon times as well. It was worn by Desirée Bernadotte to Napoleon’s coronation and came into the DRF with Princess Lovisa of Sweden. The Perle Poire Tiara that is one of QMII’s favorite is exquisite – and it features several very large drop pearls (they represent an enormous fortune since pearls of this size and regularity were immensely rare before the invention of cultured pearls) + the Emeral Tiara from the Crown Jewels is sporting some large stones of first rate quality.
The Japanese have some serious bling and they do have a tradition of the blood princesses receiving a complete parure on their majority. However, I do think many of these pieces aren’t amazing design wise.
Neither should we neglect the Dutch RF. They have some really SERIOUS bling. Not just many pieces but some serious carats. The Stuart Diamond is enormous as are some of the other stones in the Stuart Tiara (though it is an eyesore) and just look at the size of the stones in the “modest” Diamond Bandeau! Those are some respectable rocks.
@ArtHistorian- Dutch jewels are my favorite. (Helped in part because Maxima is my favorite and can 100% pull off the size.) Stuart doesn’t make sense in a lot of modern settings, but it was prefect for the state dinner in the UK. That diamond bandeau, however, is timeless and stunning, and if I owned it, I would wear it every single day.
Why don’t you explore
1. where the gemstones came from
2. how Royal Families were able to pay for them / why and from whom they received them as a gift.
Racism and colonialism.
My problem with the Stuart Tiara is that the stones are just too big. Generally the best way to use big stones is the build the design around the stone. You can’t really do that with a with a tiara since it is the architecture of the piece that has to be the focus of the design. Plus, the Stuart Diamond is just huge and plopping it atop an already tall tiara that was worn with a slight backward slant is just not the best way to feature such a big and historically significant stone. The Stuart Diamond does better as a pendant on a necklace like it used to be worn.
The Stuart Diamond is named so because it was a gift from William III of Orange to his English wife Mary III Stuart (the both became king and queen of England when her father James II was deposed). The origin of the stone is unknown but William III purchased it in 1690.
The dress itself is not my favorite but when paired with THAT tiara and how she carried it all off, she was beautiful. It also helps that she was and is deeply in love. It shows.
I would not be surprised if the dress was designed to work with that tiara – which is a serious statement piece of bling.
The Cameo Tiara is very much a statement piece. It is a tiara that had been worn by several Bernadotte women on their weddings as well as Silvia when she married into the SRF. It is also a piece that has incredible historical connotations as it is likely a love gift from Napoleon to Joséphine and by extension, it signifies the Bernadotte dynasty’s Napoleonic roots as the first Bernadotte King was one of Napoleon’s marshals.
Then there is the size and the unusual use of cameos (it wasn’t unusual in the Empire/Regency era but fell out of fashion). This a “big gun” tiara that needs a simple dress.
@Arthistorian, welcome back. Your insight Has been Missed!!!
They look very happy, Victoria looks gorgeous although I must say, I prefer the tiara from anniversary pictures
Her dress was stunning – fairly simple, clean, but stunning. She seemed so happy and confident. It’s nice to compare these pics to the anniversary pics, where they still look so happy together.
It is one of the best royal wedding dresses in recent memory IMO, but I tend to like the simple, classic ones. Victoria, Maxima, Meghan, Mette-Marit, Queen Margrethe, Queen Anne-Marie.
Mette-Marit, Mary and Margrethe wore the best wedding dresses in my humble opinion.
I can’t believe it has been 10 years. The dress has held up really well.
Love it!
I think her brother also released some wedding photos of him and his wife for their anniversary recently. I don’t keep up with the Swedish royals so I was wondering why we were getting so many photos of them lately. Anniversaries. Make sense.
If you have a chance, go back and watch the wedding on YT. The carriage ride and boat trip around Stockholm, with the crowds cheering, is something to see.
I loved this dress then and I still adore it 10 years later. It’s so chic and classic, I am a fan of minimalist style, no frou-frou sparkles and ruffles. So this, to me, is a timeless look.
I think they are a lovely couple – YouTube their Christmas cookie making with the kids. Sweetest family!
The tiara looks like a plastic prize you’d win at Chuck E Cheese. Just sayin’
Otherwise it was a lovely wedding. Even though they look like brother and sister :/
I clicked on this article because I wanted to see something sweet and happy about people who by all accounts are nice and happen to be part of a royal family.
Personally, I’m tired of reading about thirsty actors et al doing pap walks and pap make out sessions, anyone whose name starts with a K or J who is famous for nothing, and the mismanaged virus and the people pretending it doesn’t exist.
Bring on the royal weddings and tiaras!
I agree, more of the continental royals! They’re vibrant and, on the whole, fairly accomplished and motivated, especially the current queens.
This wedding was so lovely. Nothing makes me happier than seeing a true love match. Daniel is an absolute babe and she is just glowing! Her dress looks even better in video and that tiara!
Best royal wedding ever! So much love and emotions, stunnig bride, tiaras and evening dresses everywhere. Boring, pompous and robotic Windsors? No, thank you. I prefer continental royal weddings (Sweden, Spain, Denmark).
Loved this wedding and the people in it! Victoria is so much healthier than when she had anorexia in her teens and she sure found the right guy, despite him being a commoner. His toast to her at the reception makes me tear up, it was so heartfelt. My grandparents were born and raised in Sweden, so of course my mom regrets not being raised there. Beautiful family, inside and out!
To each his or her own but that tiara is giving me Pope vibes. The dress is beautiful.