Queen Silvia in Spectacular Brazilian TiaraMichael Campanella – Getty Images
On the occasion of her husband King Carl XVI Gustaf’s 80th birthday, Queen Silvia chose a spectacular historic tiara: Empress Amélie of Brazil’s Braganza Tiara. “It is very valuable and very difficult to wear,” the Swedish queen, who has a Brazilian mother, said in 2020. “It’s very heavy; it truly represents and amazing period.”
Queen Silvia of Sweden and King Carl XVI Gustaf.Michael Campanella – Getty Images
The dramatic tiara.Michael Campanella – Getty Images
The tiara, was made circa 1829 from diamonds belonging to Empress Maria Leopoldina of Brazil. Emperor Pedro, her husband, had the tiara made for his second wife, Empress Amélie, following his first wife’s death. At the time, per Royal Watcher Blog, Empress Amélie wrote to her mother, “the Tiara [is made] with the best Brazilian diamonds in various sizes and [of] so pure clarity that [they] seemed made of water.”
Upon Amélie’s death, the tiara passed to her sister, Queen Josefina of Sweden and Norway. Queen Josefina’s daughter-in-law, Queen Sofia of Sweden, later inherited the tiara, and it has remained in the Swedish royal family ever since.
Queen Silvia wearing the Braganza Tiara, known is Swedish as the Kröningsdiademet (coronation diadem) or the Brasilianska diademet (Brazilian diadem).Sjöberg Bildbyrå – Getty Images
Queen Silvia wore it in her first official portraits as Swedish queen after marrying Carl Gustaf in 1976. “It came to Sweden by inheritance from Empress Amelie, who had married Dom Pedro I, and for me it is of course a little special, because my mother was Brazilian and Empress Amélie was very much loved in Brazil,” she said.
In 2006, she wore it for her husband’s 60th birthday banquet, saying at the time, It is a beautiful Tiara, complicated to wear, because it is heavy and it moves, so it not so easy to fix it. But it is a beautiful ensemble, it has also earrings, they are magnificent, weighing 30 carats each.” She added, “We only wear on very, very, very special occasions, like State Visits and on His Majesty’s 60th Birthday. I wore it on Crown Princess Victoria’s Wedding and I never take it outside the country ever.” Tonight, clearly, was one such special occasion.
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