The royal brides of Norway have kept up an unbroken tradition of understated elegance for over a century. As Princess Martha Louise marries Durek Verrett, will this latest royal wedding gown follow tradition?
Queen Maud of Norway, 1896
Embed from Getty ImagesThe first modern queen of Norway, Queen Maud, married years before a Norwegian future was ever a prospect. Then the daughter of the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII), she married Prince Carl of Denmark, (a second son of the future king Frederick VIII of Denmark) in 1896 at Buckingham Palace.
It wasn’t until the union between Sweden and Norway ended, and the country voted by plebiscite to retain a monarchy, that Prince Carl and Princess Maud became King Haakon VII and Queen Maud.
As such, her wedding gown was simple enough for the daughter of a future king marrying a second son. The only boldness was a long train bordered with embroidered orange blossoms. The white satin gown was designed by Rosalie Whyte, of the Royal Female School of Art. At the hem, chiffons and flowers featured; at the waist, embroidered diamond and silver.
Princess Maud wore orange blossoms in her hair in lieu of a tiara and anchored her mother’s wedding veil with the flowers.
When the royal couple came to the Norwegian throne, they brought their son—christened as Prince Alexander in 1903 but soon to become Crown Prince Olav in 1905—with them. Crown Prince Olav married his Swedish royal bride, Princess Märtha in 1929.
Crown Princess Märtha of Norway, 1929
Embed from Getty ImagesAccording to the Norwegian royal court’s website, Princess Märtha wore a white silver lamé wedding gown with a four metre train covered in pearls, sequins and embroidered lilies. In her hair, a tiara of orange blossoms anchored a Brussels lace veil.
Crown Prince Olav and Crown Princess Märtha were married until 1954, when the princess unfortunately succumbed after a long period of ill health. From 1954 to 1968, the role of ‘first lady’ in the Norwegian Royal Family fell to Princess Astrid, their eldest daughter.
Queen Sonja of Norway, 1968
Embed from Getty ImagesIn 1968, a Norwegian commoner married then-Crown Prince Harald after a nearly decade-long courtship that saw the future king vow that unless he could marry Sonja Haraldsen, he would never marry—and since women were then barred from the line of succession, that meant that the royal house would die with Harald.
Cooler—and romantic—heads prevailed, and over the summer of 1968, Sonja added her simplicity to the long line of Norwegian royal brides. Her wedding gown in 1968 was designed by Molstad, a fashion house in Oslo. Designed almost entirely without adornments, then-Crown Princess Sonja wore a silk white gown with a high neck and three-quarter length sleeves trimmed with pearls.
The first commoner to marry into the modern Norwegian Royal Family kept up her simplicity by not wearing a tiara. Instead, she wore a headpiece crafted with artificial flowers to anchor her simple veil. The veil was the same length as her train, which attached at the shoulders.
Crown Princess Mette-Marit, 2001
Embed from Getty ImagesThe next royal bride in Norway, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, kept her wedding gown simple, too. She also set her eyes a century back, and chose a design based on Queen Maud’s wedding gown.
Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s wedding gown was designed by Ove Harder Finseth and is a silk crepe ecru and tulle dress with a skirt that floats behind her. The veil was much longer than her train, at six metres long. She anchored it with the Diamond Daisy tiara, one of her go-to jewel pieces in her nearly 25 years as a member of the Norwegian Royal Family.
Princess Märtha Louise, 2002
Embed from Getty ImagesFor her first wedding in 2002, to Ari Behn, Princess Märtha Louise wore a simple ivory wedding gown covered by a wedding coat dress, both designed by Wenche Lyche. Her coat was covered in Swarovski crystals and featured the embroidered letters ‘M’ and ‘A’ to represent the couple. On her head she wore Queen Maud’s diamond and pearl tiara.
What will Princess Märtha Louise wear to her wedding with Durek Verrett? We’re very close to finding out!
