Surprise! While royal holidays continue in Europe, we’ve got another tiara-packed week here at The Court Jeweller, with posts dedicated to ladies celebrating birthdays this month. First up: a look at the wedding tiara of Princess Christina, sister of the King of Sweden.
Princess Christina, who turned 83 on August 3, celebrated her wedding in the month preferred by Bernadotte brides: June. Royals from across Europe gathered in Stockholm in June 1974 for the celebrations of the first Swedish royal wedding in a decade. Princess Christina, 30, wed 33-year-old businessman Tord Magnuson in the chapel of the Royal Palace in Stockholm, with a reception held afterward at Drottningholm Palace. The ceremony was televised, but it faced stiff competition: a World Cup group match between Sweden and Uruguay. (The game ended in a 0-0 tie.)
The royal wedding came on the heels of major change in Stockholm. Princess Christina’s beloved mother, Princess Sibylla, had died of cancer in November 1972, and less than a year later, in September 1973, her grandfather, King Gustaf VI Adolf, also passed away. His death triggered another major shift: the accession of her brother, Carl Gustaf, as King of Sweden.
After her marriage, Christina lost her HRH status and became known as “Princess Christina, Mrs. Magnuson,” but she continued to undertake a program of royal duties out of necessity. With few female relatives left in the royal family, Christina often served in the role of first lady from her brother’s accession until his marriage to Silvia Sommerlath in 1976.
Christina’s engagement was officially announced in February 1974, but she and Tord had been an item for years. They met for the first time as teenagers, and friendship eventually developed into romance. Both went on to complete university degrees at Stockholm University and start careers before they married.
Some royal wedding traditions, including a carriage procession, were set aside for this particular wedding, but Christina kept up others, especially where her bridal attire was concerned. Her groom wore tails, and she opted for a wrap-style gown made by Martaskolan, the same workshop that had produced the wedding dresses worn by her three sisters.
Christina also wore a family treasure: the antique lace veil, originally from the collection of Queen Sofia of Sweden, that was worn by Princess Sibylla, Princess Désirée, and Princess Margaretha. Later, the same veil would also be worn by Queen Silvia and Crown Princess Victoria with their bridal gowns as well.
Christina secured the veil with a special diamond tiara. The jewel was one of the wedding gifts presented to her grandmother, Princess Margaret of Connaught, when she married the future King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden in 1905. But over the years, the tiara gained even more importance. It was the favorite tiara of Christina’s late mother, Princess Sibylla, so much so that the family still calls it “Princess Sibylla’s Tiara.” Selecting the jewel was one of the ways that Christina ensured that her mother’s memory was still very present on the day.
So far, Christina remains the only Bernadotte bride to have worn the Connaught tiara on her wedding day, though Queen Silvia, with Christina’s encouragement, wore the jewel for the gala on the night before her wedding in 1976. Today, the tiara remains a central piece within the family vaults, worn often by Queen Silvia, Crown Princess Victoria, and Princess Madeleine.
Princess Christina, delightfully, also still wears the tiara on occasion. In September 2023, during the celebrations of her brother’s Golden Jubilee, she wore the diamond tiara for a grand gala banquet at the Royal Palace. She arrived for the dinner on the arm of her husband, Tord Magnuson, who again wore white tie and tails (with a few additional decorations). The couple celebrated their own golden wedding anniversary in June 2024. They’re the parents of three sons, Gustaf, Oscar, and Victor, and have five grandchildren: Désirée, Albert, Henry, Edmund, and Sigvard.
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