Norway's King Haakon VIII Hosts First Formal Dinner as Monarch, With Royal Tiaras on Display
King Haakon VIII hosted Norway's annual parliamentary gala dinner at the Royal Palace in Oslo. It was his first formal state dinner as king, following the death of his father, King Harald V, in August. Harald was 89.
Haakon, 53, became king when his father died. Crowds had lined Oslo's streets for the funeral in September, and foreign royals and leaders attended. AP reported on that day of mourning. Reuters reported the king's death.
The dinner was a white-tie event, the most formal dress code for an evening occasion. Two women of the royal family wore tiaras from the royal collection. Town & Country reported that Queen Sonja, the widow of King Harald V, attended as queen mother. She wore Queen Maud's Pearl Tiara.
Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra, 22, also wore a tiara. She is heir to the throne, which means she is next in line after her father. She co-hosted the evening in place of her mother, Queen Mette-Marit. The queen had a lung transplant earlier this year and is not expected back at official royal duties until 2027. Ingrid Alexandra studies social sciences and already carries out some official assignments for the royal house.
The pearl tiara has a long history that crosses several borders. King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom commissioned the original in 1896. It was a wedding gift for their daughter, Princess Maud, when she married Prince Carl of Denmark. When Norway separated from Sweden in 1905, the couple became King Haakon VII and Queen Maud of Norway. Queen Maud wore the tiara until her death in 1938.
After her death, the tiara stayed at Windsor Castle in England through World War II. It did not return to Norway until 1953, for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. King Harald inherited it after his 1968 wedding to Sonja Haraldsen.
The tiara Queen Sonja wore at the dinner is not the 1896 original. It is a replica that the jeweler Garrard made in 1995. The original piece stays in the family's collection, and the replica lets the current royals wear the design at formal events. Town & Country reported these details.
For American readers, the story is a reminder that European royal families traded gifts and jewels across borders for more than a century. This pearl tiara moved from London to Copenhagen to Oslo, then back to London and home again.
The royal program also lists another official dinner for county governors at the Royal Palace on 3 November 2026, at 20:00. That will be the next formal evening at the palace on the calendar.
