Sad for us, but understandable when 15 pieces was stolen.
Queen Maud's pearl tiara, the diamond and gold necklace and ring Queen Sonja received as a silver wedding present from the Norwegian Goldsmith’s Guild in 1993 were the only stolen pieces the Royal Court would confirm being stolen.
Only the tiara was remade by Garrard. The Norwegian amethyst parure was part of the insurance settlement between Garrard and King Harald for the remaining stolen pieces.
Since Harald owned most of the stolen pieces, they were most likely Royal heirlooms.
Queen Sonja also declined in 2007 to participate with pieces to an exhibition of Norwegian Jaeren pearls from the 1640s to present day. Sonja has received several brooches with Norwegian pearls when visiting Counties and Municipalities on the West Coast. Queen Margrethe contributed several pieces with Norwegian pearls from the Danish Royal Collection, but Sonja declined to loan out any pieces because they "are private property".
Sonja did however contribute several modern pieces to an exhibition of “Tone Vigeland: Jewellery and Sculpture” in her own ArtStable in 2018.
The argument of "private property" is thus just an excuse for not telling the real reason, i.m.o.
I find it a bit strange that the Norwegian royal family has this attitude But of course they are allowed to do as they please, especially since it’s not state property.
But if the argument is that it is private property, surely that would also count as an argument for keeping other personal property out of the spotlight as well. Yet, Queen Sonja has shown her private art collection. There are books about their properties where they also show the private ones, with pictures of the interior. And exhibitions and TV programs where they show other parts of the personal collections.
I remember that the refusal to show the Norwegian jewels at exhibitions has also been discussed earlier. That might be a security issue though.
I loved the way the Swedish royal ladies talked about the jewels and continuity. The jewels represent something very special. Unlike other parts of a royal collection they are worn and are part of history on special events in a more public way. And it must be very special to wear something that has been worn by several generations.
The story Queen Silvia told about the state visit in France shows how the royals wear the jewels to honor their hosts (or guests on incoming state visits), and to show the connections between countries. The state visit didn’t have a tiara event, but she wore pieces of the cameo parure (she even wore the brooch with Napoléon in her hair). She says that she even had a conversation with the president about it.
Queen Sonja seems very aware of the history of the Norwegian jewels as well, and makes similar gestures.
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