The online edition of Dagbladet has an interesting article by Astrid Meland about which Swedish crown will be assigned to the future Prince Daniel. Since the death of the last crowned King of Sweden, Oscar II, in 1907, crowns are no longer worn, but displayed during ceremonies such as christenings, weddings and funerals. The crown assigned to Daniel Westling will therefore be placed on or next to the altar of Stockholm’s Cathedral during the wedding on 19 June, together with the crown princely crown.
There are four princely crowns kept in the Treasury in Stockholm and members of the staff speculate that Prince Wilhelm’s crown (made in 1902) may be assigned to Daniel Westling as it is the newest and thus less prestigious. Alternatively they suggest Prince Fredrik Adolf’s crown (made in 1772), but seem to think that the crowns made for Prince Carl (1772) and Prince Oscar (1844) are less likely as these two princes went on to become kings (as Carl XIII and Oscar II).
I am not sure if I follow the logic of this – Daniel Westling will indeed not become king, but he will become prince consort and thereby the first gentleman of the realm, which in my opinion would be a very good reason not to assign him the “least prestigious” crown. The “most prestigious” of the princely crowns would according to this thinking be Prince Carl’s, which was most recently used for the funeral of Prince Bertil in 1997.
The article also provides an interesting piece of news about the wedding itself. Nina Eldh, the head of the Swedish Royal Court’s information department, says that it will be “an afternoon wedding” followed by a cortege and a dinner. This is a departure from the wedding of the current King and Queen in 1976, which took place earlier in the day and was followed by a cortege and a lunch. In 1976 the dress code was morning coats or uniforms for men, long dresses and hats for women, but with an afternoon wedding and a dinner, the dress code will most likely be white tie or uniform for the gentlemen and long dresses and tiaras for the ladies.
http://www.dagbladet.no/2010/03/02/magasinet/kongelig/kongehuset/sverige/10650902/
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What crown was used for the brides of previous crown princes? Your linked article says (according to Google's Translator) that Victoria is assigned the crown of the previous male heirs, so it seems logical that Daniel would have the crown of the previous female consorts.
ReplyDeleteOn a related topic, is there any information about the crowns used in the royal family's official monograms? It looks like Victoria has a different crown on her monogram from her siblings, while the king and queen share the same crown, and that the crown of the Crown Princess Couple's monogram is similar to, but slightly different from, the one on Victoria's personal monogram, and it makes me wonder about the significance of it all. I also recall reading on a board that there used to be separate crowns assigned to daughters and younger sons of the king, but that the practice was scrapped after the change in succession law; perhaps you know something about that...?
By the way, I wanted to thank you for your answers to questions in the comments with insight and information (as well as your informative and diverse blog entries, of course). As evidenced in your entry on the closing of Queen, coverage of European royalty often lacks depth, and even more so in the English language media, and blogs such as yours are much appreciated.
I never liked leaving comments, but I even been wanting to leave one as a thank you for the blog. As the above commenter said there is such little serious in depth coverage of the royal families that even though I can't read Swedish, so I would have never would have been able to read Queen, I still mourned it's passing. There just to be so little in depth information out there on royalty, much less in English (I'm in love with Google translator, but it doesn't always quiet cut it). Your blog is one of those site I just have to check daily because its bound to prove to be a good read.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind words; I am glad to hear you find something of interest here. In answer to your questions:
ReplyDeleteThere were no crowns used for brides before Queen Silvia - displaying the crowns during weddings is an "invented tradition" dating from 1976. Before that the crowns were only used for funerals/lyings-in-state, state openings of parliament and coronations.
There were indeed separate crowns assigned to princes and princesses earlier, which explains why there are so many of them. However, since the death of the last crowned monarch (Oscar II), in 1907, the crowns are no longer worn. During the state openings of parliament until 1907, the King would wear the royal crown and sit on a podium flanked by the princes each wearing a crown. When Prince Wilhelm came of age in 1902 there were so many princes that there were not enough crowns and a new one had to be made for him.
What you refer to as "the crown of the previous male heirs" was made for the future Carl X Gustaf in the reign of his cousin Queen Christina. The reason why this is assigned to Crown Princess Victoria is that she is the heir to the throne (although the first female since Christina - Ulrika Eleonora was never really heir to the throne), but there is no corresponding "female crown" which could be assigned to Prince Daniel. Therefore it has to be one of the princes' crowns.
The crown in Crown Princess Victoria's monogramme is a crown princely crown signifying her status as heiress to the throne, while the crowns in the monogrammes of Prince Carl Philip and Princess Madeleine are princely crowns. Carl Philip had the crown princely crowned from his birth to 1 January 1980, when he ceased being Crown Prince.
Thank you too, J, for posting your kind comment, which was appreciated.
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