Princess Astrid unearthens “forgotten” tiara

The President of Lithuania, Dalia Grybauskaitė, today began a two-day state visit to Norway and at the state banquet at the Royal Palace tonight Princess Astrid made a surprising choice of tiara. Photos from the banquet (external link) show the Princess wearing a diamond diadem across her forehead in the style which was fashionable in the 1920s.
This is the tiara which was the wedding present from King Gustaf V and Queen Victoria of Sweden to Princess Astrid’s mother, Crown Princess Märtha, in 1929. The Crown Princess wore it on a couple of smaller occasions in the early years of her marriage and occasionally as a bracelet in later years.
Since Crown Princess Märtha’s death in 1954 it has only been seen once, i.e. when Princess Astrid’s eldest daughter, Cathrine Ferner, wore it across her forehead at the banquet celebrating the then Crown Prince Harald’s 50th birthday in 1987.
When I asked Princess Astrid about this piece of jewellery a few years ago and why she never wore it, she explained that the way it should be worn “is not my style”. At the age of 79, the Princess tonight demonstrated that it is never too late to change one’s style.

On this date: Queen Sonja’s 72nd birthday

The Queen of Norway is 72 today. The birthday is as usual celebrated privately at the royal summer house Mågerø at Tjøme. Queen Sonja is still on sick-leave after undergoing surgery on her foot in June, which means she will not accompany the King when he on Monday travels to Vilnius to be present at the celebrations of the 1000th anniversary of Lithuania and to open Norway’s new embassy in that country. The King and Queen of Sweden and the Queen of Denmark will also attend the celebrations in Vilnius.
The official portrait was taken by Cathrine Wessel in 2006 and copyright belongs to the Royal Court.

Lithuania elects female president

Yesterday the 53-year-old independent candidate Dalia Grybauskaite won the presidential election in Lithuania, meaning that she will become the country's first female head of state when sworn in on 12 July. Grybauskaite is currently European Commissioner for Financial Programming and Budget and although the President's powers are limited it has been hoped that she may help get her country out of its difficult financial situation. Grybauskaite received 69 % of the votes, while the Social Democrat Algirdas Butkevicius came second with 12 %. She will succeed Valdas Adamkus, who has served two terms in office. Dagens Nyheter has more:

http://www.dn.se/nyheter/varlden/favoriten-segrar-i-litauens-val-1.868239