I don't know about you, but when I'm shopping for a ballgown, H&M is probably the last place that would come to mind. But in the case of Crown Princess of Victoria of Sweden, she somehow managed to pull off an old high street evening dress with a diamond tiara—and look absolutely incredible.
The heir to the Swedish throne stepped out in a design from H&M's conscious collection—but with her own twist—as she attended the annual Nobel Laureates dinner at the Royal Palace in Stockholm on Wednesday, Dec. 11.
Crown Princess Victoria debuted the ruffled dress in one of her stunning 10th anniversary portraits in 2020, but made an alteration to the navy design with the inclusion of a sheer short-sleeved overlay (the original piece was sleeveless). She also wore the $290 eco-friendly design to a 2022 event, bringing it out for a third showing at Wednesday night's Nobel gathering.
What does one wear with a budget ballgown? Piles of diamonds and a historic tiara, naturally. Sweden's future queen wore the Boucheron Laurel Wreath Tiara, which was passed down to her by her great aunt, Princess Lilian, when she died in 2013, per The Court Jeweller.
However, the sparkler actually has a connection to the British royals. The tiara dates back to the early 1900s when it was given to Princess Margaret of Connaught, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria who later married King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden. Sadly, she died before her husband took the throne, but Margaret's tiara lived on through her daughter-in-law, Princess Lilian, and now Crown Princess Victoria.
The diamond piece resembles two rows of laurel wreaths and features an open center with a diamond dangling down from the center. It can also be worn as a necklace, as Princess Margaret loved to do, per The Court Jeweller. Victoria wore her tiara with even more bling, adding dazzling drop earrings and a diamond necklace along with a massive brooch pinned to her sash.
Crown Princess Victoria wasn't the only royal who made a glittering impression at the Nobel Laureates dinner; mom Queen Silvia, sister Princess Madeleine and sister-in-law Princess Sofia all wore their best gowns and jewels for the evening.
Wednesday was the second day in a row that the Swedish royal ladies busted out their tiaras, with the family also attending the Nobel Prize ceremony on Dec. 10. For the occasion, Victoria stunned in a shimmering pink dress with a sheer black overlay, choosing one of her other favorite headpieces, the Baden Fringe Tiara—a design that also evokes the diamond whopper that Queen Camilla wore to a recent state banquet.
