Crown Prince Haakon, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Prince Sverre Magnus attending the children’s parade at Skaugum.| May 17, 2022
Norwegian Crown Prince family attended the memorial service on Utøya.
Crown Prince Haakon, Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Princess Ingrid Alexandra attended the commemorative event on Utøya island. July 22, 2021 is the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the Government office in Oslo and on Utøya island.
“My superficial royal-watching tiara-loving heart is thrilled that we’ll get to see Ingrid Alexandra in her first tiara. Rumor has it that she may have a couple of options to choose from, including a gift tiara that has never been seen. The suspense!” - Submitted by Anonymous
“Who else is almost unbearably excited about Princess Ingrid Alexandra’s 18th birthday gala? Especially as someone who isn’t a big fan of the BRF, it’s going to be so refreshing to have this no-drama event and see so many other royals all together celebrating!” - Submitted by Anonymous
“I’m so excited for ingrids birthday celebration! I can’t wait to see her in a tiara for the first time!” - Submitted by Anonymous
The celebrations of Her Royal Highness Princess Ingrid Alexandra’s 18th birthday will take place June 16-17, 2022.
His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen have sent invitations for a gala dinner that will take place on June 17. The government dinner celebration will take place on June 16.
Princess Ingrid Alexandra turned 18 on January 21, but her celebration was pushed back due to COVID-19 restrictions.
21 January 2022: Princess Ingrid Alexandra was given the opportunity to attend the weekly Council of State at the palace, accompanying her grandfather King Harald V and father Crown Prince Haakon. As the Norwegian constitution limits participation in the Council of State to only the monarch and the heir, Princess Ingrid Alexandra was there in an observational capacity.
21 January 2022: On her 18th birthday, Princess Ingrid Alexandra has been named Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Order of St. Olav, and awarded the medal of King Harald V’s House Order by her grandfather, King Harald V. The order and medal were presented to her during a private ceremony at the palace.
21 January 2022: On the occasion of her 18th birthday, the royal court has shared new photos of Princess Ingrid Alexandra, taken in the White Salon and the Bernadotte Salon at the palace.
20 January 2022: As part of her 18th birthday celebrations, Princess Ingrid Alexandra paid met with members of the three branches of Norway’s government. Her first stop was at the Storting, where she met with President Masud Gharahkhani and learned more about the Storting’s work. She also met First Vice President Svein Harberg and Maren Grøthe, the youngest representative currently serving in the Storting.
She then met with members of the Supreme Court, including Chief Justice Toril Marie Øie and director Bente Johanne Kraugerud. She learned more about the Norwegian judicial system and was given the opportunity to sit in the King’s Chair. She then met with Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and members of his cabinet.
Unlike her father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, Princess Ingrid Alexandra did not sign an oath to defend the Norwegian constitution during her visits, as she is not the heir. Once she becomes Crown Princess, she will have the opportunity to sign the oath and serve as regent on behalf of her father.
Photos: Simen Løvberg Sund the Royal Court; Lise Åserud and Javad Parsa, NTB
19 January 2022: The Royal Court has shared a new video of Princess Ingrid Alexandra and the rest of the Crown Princely Family on a ski trip to Imingfjell Mountain near Buskerud.
Now that there are officially two-and-a-half days to go before Princess Ingrid Alexandra turns 18, the countdown to when she will make her official tiara debut, and debate over which tiara will be the first one she wears, is on.
In no particular order, here are my top four picks for Ingrid Alexandra’s first tiara:
The Vifte Tiara
The sole tiara on this list to come from Ingrid’s British ancestors, the Vifte tiara was a wedding gift from the Rothschild family to Queen Maud. Its name comes from the fact that it resembles a fan, or vifte in Norwegian. Made of diamonds set in silver and gold, the tiara can be worn either as a tiara or as a necklace. Queen Sonja inherited the tiara when she married King Harald in 1968, and she passed it down to her daughter-in-law Crown Princess Mette-Marit shortly before her wedding to Crown Prince Haakon in 2001. Mette-Marit has worn this as a tiara exactly once, during the 80th birthday celebrations in honor of Harald and Sonja in 2017. Since Mette-Marit favors her other tiaras, maybe she will pass this along to Ingrid so it can get some more love.
The Vasa Tiara
This tiara was a wedding gift from the people of Stockholm to Princess Märtha when she left home to marry Crown Prince Olav in 1929. Known as the Vasa tiara due to its central elements evoking the sigil of the House of Vasa, a former ruling family of Sweden, it was one of Crown Princess Märtha’s favorite tiaras. She shared it with her daughters, Princesses Ragnhild and Astrid, and after Märtha’s death in 1954 and her Harald’s marriage 14 years later, Princess Astrid became the sole wearer of the tiara. Astrid has stated that she considered the tiara to be a lifetime loan, and it will go back to the main line of the royal family after her death. She has already begun passing along some valuable family history to Ingrid with her gift of the badge of the Order of Victoria and Albert that belonged to Queen Maud for Ingrid’s confirmation - maybe she will pass the Vasa along as an 18th birthday present to her great-niece, so she can enjoy seeing her beloved mother’s tiara on the head of a future queen before she passes.
The Amethyst Necklace Tiara
This tiara, made of amethysts, can be worn as a necklace and a tiara, hence its name. The origins of this tiara are still unknown; depending on the source it was a gift from King Harald to Queen Sonja, or it was Garrard’s “we’re sorry your tiara was stolen” gift following the theft of Queen Maud’s Diamond and Pearl Tiara. Queen Sonja has worn it as a tiara and a necklace, and passed it along to Crown Princess Mette-Marit in 2004, likely as a push present following the birth of Ingrid Alexandra. Mette-Marit has also loaned this tiara out to her sister-in-law, Princess Märtha Louise, for the 2010 wedding of Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel and the 2021 Dutch State Visit to Norway. Maxima passed along her push present from Willem-Alexander following the birth of their heir to Amalia for her 18th birthday; maybe Mette-Marit will take some inspiration from her Dutch friend and pass this tiara to Ingrid.
A Brand New Tiara
A recent tradition has been to gift princesses turning 18 or marrying into the family a brand new tiara. King Olav began this when he gifted a brand-new tiara to Princess Märtha Louise on her 18th birthday in 1989, and King Harald and Queen Sonja continued the tradition, giving Crown Princess Mette-Marit the Diamond Daisy Tiara when she married Crown Prince Haakon in 2001. Both of these tiaras have come from Norwegian court favorite Garrard, and I don’t see Harald and Sonja going to a different jeweler for something as important as their heir’s 18th birthday tiara. It would be interesting to see what comes out of the Garrard vaults for Ingrid!
18 January 2022: The Royal Court has announced that Princess Ingrid Alexandra has received her own office at the palace ahead of her 18th birthday, and released new photos of Princess Ingrid Alexandra. They also confirmed that while she will begin officially representing the royal family and receive patronages, her primary focus will be her education.
TIARA ALERT: Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway wore Princess Ingeborg’s Pearl Circle Tiara for a new official portrait to mark the celebrations of her 18th birthday at the Royal Palace in Oslo on 17 June 2022.
The Norwegian Royal Court also released a photo of the tiara. It’s always been a piece that we’ve only seen in blurry photos so it nice to get a good look at it.
