Queen Sonja’s Modern Gold Tiara Gleams at the Royal Palace in Oslo

The gala season in Norway continued this week with a special government dinner at the Royal Palace in Oslo, featuring Queen Sonja wearing one of her most interesting (and divisive!) sets of royal jewelry.

For the first time in his young reign, King Haakon VIII hosted a dinner for Norway’s county governors at the Royal Palace in Oslo on Tuesday. The governors play an important part in the regional visits that the royal family make to different parts of the country.

The King, wearing white tie and decorations, paid tribute to the governors’ efforts in a speech: “Thank you so much for the great effort you make when we visit. You help create good memories for a lot of people. And we could not have made it without you.”

With Queen Mette-Marit still recuperating from her lung transplant, King Haakon was joined at the dinner by his mother, Queen Sonja. She wore an elegant cream-colored evening gown with the insignia of the Order of St. Olav and the late King Harald V’s Royal Family Order for the occasion.

Sonja also wore gala jewelry for the occasion. With the warm-toned dress, she brought out a favorite suite of modern jewelry—tiara, earrings, necklace, and bracelet—featuring diamonds set in yellow gold. You can read more about the set, and all of Sonja’s tiaras, in my earlier article here.

Harald and Sonja personally commissioned the parure in 1997 as a gift to mark Sonja’s 60th birthday. The set was made by Norwegian jewelry designer Millie Behrens with significant input from Sonja. She specifically asked that the tiara should have a removable centerpiece, allowing it to be worn with gems of different colors.

Sonja wore the all-diamond centerpiece for the governors’ dinner on Tuesday, but the suite also has a green tourmaline option, made to match a necklace from Sonja’s existing collection.

The third setting includes diamonds and orange fire opals. That centerpiece has a pair of long pendant earrings, also set with fire opals, that was made to match the tiara.

For Tuesday’s dinner, Sonja also wore her signature stack of thin gold bangles on her left wrist. She secured her St. Olav sash with another interesting yellow gold jewel: a rose brooch, set with diamonds and green gemstones.