Red and white for Singapore: Sweden's royals wear 1905 tiaras at state banquet
Crown Princess Victoria wore white by H&M, Princess Madeleine red – and she took off a historic ruby necklace in the middle of the banquet.
Archive image · Photo: Frankie Fouganthin / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped and resized)
King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia hosted a state banquet at the Royal Palace in Stockholm on 19 October for Singapore's President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and his wife Jane Ittogi. Crown Princess Victoria and Princess Madeleine picked up the guests' colours, according to the Dutch blog Modekoningin Máxima: Victoria wore white, Madeleine red – so-called "flag dressing". Victoria's sequin and lace dress came from H&M Studio, while Madeleine wore the "Rory" gown by Safiyaa.
Queen Silvia paired a lilac ensemble by Georg et Arend with the Connaught Diamond Tiara, a 1905 wedding gift from the Duke and Duchess of Connaught to their daughter Margareta. Victoria wore Boucheron's laurel wreath tiara, bequeathed to her by Prince Bertil and Princess Lilian in 2013. Madeleine combined her Modern Fringe Tiara with the necklace setting of King Edward VII's Ruby Tiara – also a wedding gift to Margareta.
The necklace did not stay in place for long: according to The Court Jeweller, Madeleine removed it after sitting down at the table. The author suggests it may have been uncomfortable because it dipped below her neckline, or that the clasp failed – the court has given no explanation. Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia were absent, attending the Marcus Wallenberg Prize dinner instead. It was the third of three European state visits that week.