The night after the Nobel Prize Award ceremony and banquet, December 11, the Swedish Royal Family – King Carl XVI Gustaf, Queen Silvia, Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Daniel, Prince Carl Philip, Princess Sofia, Princess Madeleine, and Chris O’Neill – attended the King’s dinner for the Nobel Laureates, bringing us another round of tiaras and food.
I’m going to start with Princess Madeleine this time. Normally I start with the Queen and go down the list in order but I’m starting with Madeleine because she and Chris O’Neill were on Skavlan (a Swedish talk show). You can watch their interview here (Maddie and Chris come on at about the 30 minute mark).
I must say I’ve fallen even more in love with these two. They were very charming in the interview – laughing and joking around; and there were several “couple-y” moments between them that were adorable. Chris especially seemed so much more at ease and charming than I originally thought of him.
Chris talked about learning Swedish with Leonore and that her favorite toy is a rabbit which is refers to as “kaninen” (which means rabbit in Swedish). Chris said he and Madeleine met through mutual friends in New York and that he was drawn to her smile and how she puts people at ease, and Madeleine said she was drawn to his sense of humor and that he’s a true gentleman and makes her feel safe.
Madeleine said she’s a full time mom right now, that she can’t cook, and is a terrible housewife. She also talked about how her parents were away a lot when she was a child due to their obligations as King and Queen and that she wants to be home with her children in the way that her parents weren’t for her and her siblings.
Madeleine said of Leonore: “She’s a fun little character. She’s wild; she’s everywhere.”
Chris said of Nicolas: “Nicolas is a gentle soul… [Leonore] is more outgoing than he is, but he’s only six months so we’ll see.”
It’s well worth watching the entire interview if you like these two.
In terms of the King’s Dinner fashion, I just can’t with Madeleine’s lace Alberta Ferretti dress (thanks Rime for the Id). Between the pattern and the turtleneck paired with the sash and star of the Order of the Seraphim and the portrait of the King… I just can’t. This dress makes me claustrophobic. The Modern Fringe Tiara looked good, though. Chris wore his Order of the Polar Star.
From the worst to the best, here is Princess Sofia in a blue lace Zetterberg Couture gown which is similar to Madeleine’s from the night before. Just as I love Madeleine’s, I love Sofia’s. She definitely looks like a princess.
She wore her Diamond and Emerald Wedding Tiara again with a center part but this time with a half updo style. I still don’t like that tiara but she does look beautiful here. Both Sofia and Prince Carl Philip are wearing the Order of the Seraphim; Sofia is also wearing the portrait of the King, and Carl Philip is wearing the Order of the Polar Star.
Unlike most people, I have never been a fan of Crown Princess Victoria‘s blue sequin Pär Engsheden gown she first wore when pregnant with Estelle. Victoria paired the dress with the Baden Fringe Tiara, the Order of the Seraphim, and the portrait of the King. Prince Daniel wore the Order of the Seraphim and the Order of the Polar Star.
Queen Silvia was matchy-matchy with Victoria is a blue gown, except Silvia added some extra fabric at the hip. Um… okay. Let’s just focus on the Leuchtenberg Sapphire Parure shall we.
Princess Christina went bold in a bright pink gown and the Six Button Tiara. Is it weird that Christina is my second favorite dressed at this event?
The menu: Butter fried Norway lobster with glazed salsify, sourdough crisp , smooth grönärtscrème and saffron foam. Landörödingsfilé spiced with licorice, baked bok choy, pickled shiitake mushrooms and white soy sauce. Saddle of venison from the royal hunt with onion and cabbage variety, mashed potatoes with black truffles and long pepper sauce. Baked chocolate mousse made with Vahlrona Caribe with mint ice cream, savory chocolate crumbs and mint oil with acacia honey.
No photos of the food, sadly, but the above photo of the table setting includes Brazilian silverware and linen woven in 1891 in the city of Lille in France, with flowers of carnations in red-pink tones and silver grass.
Sofia’s tiara is too small. It looks like it belongs to a little girl rather than an adult. She does look very beautiful even with the tiny tiara.
I agree with you, that tiara is tiny. Too small for her.
I am in tiara heaven. Madde doesn’t look good to me. And to top it off, she wore finger waves. Finger waves! Her hair looks shellacked to her head.
I like Vic’s dress. It looks sleek. Sylvia’s dress would be nice without that weird fabric flap. I am quite neutral about Sofia. Enough with the side part.
The centerpieces were exquisite. I’ve learned that the Swedes have a wonderful menu given any event. I would love to have a tasting menu of it.
Madde and Chris’ interview was so sweet. They are a very cute and loving couple.
Beautiful post, KMR!
The first photo of Maddie I saw was from the side and I didn’t even recognize her.
Thanks for the second day of tiaras and the men in white tie!
I’m not keen on Madde’s dress but, OMG, she is stunning!
Thanks for including the interview too, they are a beautiful couple. I do like those coupley moments, makes me think for that clip (I don’t know where it was) with Max and Willem, they had gotten out of a car and he has seen someone with flowers for them. He rushed around the car, received the flowers then came back and presented them to Max… Nice clip, cute couple!
I’ve never seen that before, that’s adorable.
Ah, this post really cheered me up on a rough day. They all look relaxed, happy and gorgeous. Princess Sofia looks absolutely stunning! Just how a princess should. Love her cute little bump too. My one and only complaint is that I’m not sure about the placement of her tiara. Is it supposed to be at that angle? I don’t know a lot about tiara etiquette, if such a thing exists, but it looks slightly wonky. All around a great night for the Swedes.
Sofia’s tiara seems really off to me. I don’t think it’s supposed to be worn at that angle on the head.
i really love Sofia she is gorgeous and a true princess!!!
Thanks for such a great post KMR!! I love that you cover the European and Scandinavian royals as it’s hard to find coverage of them in English. So thanks for all the hard work you do for us!
I watched the Maddie and Chris interview this morning (at 3:30am :p menopause is a bitch) and gosh they are a cute couple. It was great to hear Chris talk about Maddie, I was a little ambivalent about him before this interview but now I’m firmly on his side. Hearing what he and Maddie had to say about the press and stuff that is written about them had a quite a effect on me. Definitely something I will be thinking about for awhile.
On to the fashion now. What a bold fashion choice for Maddie!! The pattern and collar of her dress imo might be a bit overboard, personally I would have gone with either the pattern or the collar but not both. But this dress definitely isn’t a mother of the bride look 🙂
I love Sofia’s look tonight! That gown is stunning and the color fits her so well. I do wish however that she would embrace proper tiara hair, the center part just doesn’t show off her lovely tiara very well. I wonder if she would be able to switch out the emeralds for other stones or pearls? The ability to switch things around is one of the things I love about the BRF tiaras.
I’m a bit undecided about Victoria’s dress tonight. I love the color on her and the fit is great but I’m not a huge fan of all the sparkle. I do love that she wore a fitted dress while pregnant, imo it’s a bit sexy and takes some confidence to pull off.
Lastly, Princess Christina certainly isn’t a wallflower is she?? That color is pretty intense but she does seem to pull it off pretty well, so kudos to her.
Oh, sorry, Lauri. I don’t agree on Sofia’s look. I hate the middle part and as many already said the teeny tiara did not do it for me, either. I thought her dress was icky sweet. She is looking very pregnant and I would have liked to see her in something less little girlish. The long sleeves and the skisrt, made me think of a little girl playing dress up.
Do love Maddie and Chris, though. They are so real and do seem very much in love. They seem to love their kids and are really a special couple. I think Maddie is one of the most beautiful of the European princesses.
Liked Vic’s look and agree that she pulled off the look with the ultimate of confidence. Good for her!
I’m almost thankful there are no pictures of the food, they would have set off some seriously intense cravings!!!!
My ranking of the Royals:
1) HE Princess Christina, Mrs Magnuson
2) HRH Princess Sofia
3) HRH The Crown Princess
4) HM The Queen
5) HRH Princess Madeleine (unfortunate dress choice)
KMR, a friend told me about your site – a post in which you covered a visit about someone from her native country. I was sceptical about a blog called “Kate Middleton Review” and I’m not a fan of the BRF. But your coverage of the other royal families has me floored, so I happily skip the BRF articles and read about the others. You’re doing a wonderful job, thank you.
Thank you so much, Az! I’ll make sure to keep covering the other royal families. Sometimes there is a flurry of Kate-related stuff and the other families get bumped, but I try to cover them as much as I can.
Wow, something must have frozen over because I’m ranking Sofia (I almost typed Shofia…is that a Freudian slip of some kind?) as number one for the night. I’m taking points off for the toy tiara, but she looked good.
Maddie, I’m with you KMR, I just can’t. The first time I saw the dress I actually moved back from the monitor. After the gorgeous gray…just didn’t do it. But she is still a beautiful woman and I’m a fan of her and Chris.
Victoria is recycling so I’m giving her a pass. Maybe Queen Silvia thought she might need a wrap for the night if she felt cold and decided to attach it to her dress instead of carrying it in?
Princess Christina takes second for me with that glowing pink. Very nice counterpoint to the navy blues and rather neutral tones of Maddie and Sofie.
I’m glad there weren’t pictures of the food, just reading the menu was enough.
Thanks for the great roundup KMR! I’ve gotten my year end tiara and bling fest fix now!
Love the Swedes.
Why are you all not fans of the 6 button tiara? I’ve always loved it for some reason. It seems airy, but also beautiful in its own way. It never comes across as too tiara-y if you know what I mean.
I definitely like the fashion from the night before over this evening. Love the Swedes!
I will say that I’m never a fan of Princess Sofia in tiaras. I think she has an odd shape head for tiaras, and I don’t think they’ve found the magic combo for her yet.
We’ve only seen Sofia in her wedding tiara. I don’t think it’s her head shape that’s the problem, it’s this tiara specifically. I’d love for her to wear a different tiara.
I’m in food and tiara heaven – seriously; even without pictures, the lowdown on the menu is wildly exciting. May I volunteer for food tasting please if there is ever such opportunity? The table settings are just wonderful to see – what a treat! thank you KMR. I’m strangely drawn to Madeleine’s dress; and I don’t really know why that should be, as initially it shouts *no*, but then I think it is really rather bold and gives her such presence, so overall I like it. OK so I’m odd one out.
Ferryman, May I join you on the food tasting? I was almost drooling reading what they were eating. It sounds divine.
Thanks for the Swedish coverage!
I think Maddie and Chris did a great job in this interview. They’ve been criticized heavily in the press and this was one way of fighting back. She’s in the difficult position of trying to move into private life while the press just wants her as a cash cow. I hope this interview helps more people see the good in Chris and Maddie, and in their efforts to not be a burden on the Swedish taxpayers.
Agreed! They are a great couple. I don’t blame Chris for being protective of his family and not trusting a fickle public for his and his family’s support. I can’t believe how opposite the SRF is to W&K with Daniel as a perfect role model for a commoner marrying the heir apparent, and Chris the commoner being a hardworking, financially supporting spouse but will attend memorials and other events without incident. Sophie and Cam are hardworking, intelligent supports. All Kate needs to do is take a look around and start taking notes, then get out and do it. In the fear of doing wrong, she’s really getting it wrong. And Will has to get out and start turning this around. He almost acts repulsed to talk or touch people. So weird coming from him.
Nice look for Sofia!… nothing else really nice to say.
I love Madeleine, enough to name my daughter after her. I especially love the fact that if you crunch the numbers between Lenore’s birth and her parents wedding, you will find Madeleine conceived her first born out of wedlock. Which I love, it normalizes her and nobody mentions it!!