The tiara that a princess said could pick up radio signals

Princess Astrid, sister to King Harald V of Norway, has one of the most unusual tiaras still worn today- and she has joked that it has a particular attribute. 

Princess Astrid’s diamond aigrettes are a rarer style of tiara; the aigrette mimics the tufted style of an egret’s head plumes. 

There is a thin diamond band in a scroll-design for a base, and there are two interchangeable ornaments that can be attached. 

The first ornament is a small pair of diamond-encrusted wings. The second is a delicate ruby and diamond floral design with two flowers rising out of the ruby and diamond design. 

When wearing the second ornament with the floral design, Princess Astrid has joked that when wearing it she is able to pick up radio signals from across Europe. 

The aigrettes both originally belonged to Queen Maud, Princess Astrid’s grandmother who was originally born Princess Maud of Wales. Aigrettes were incredibly fashionable in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and Maud was a fashion trendsetter in her time. 

Historically, these aigrette style designs would often have been worn with ostrich feathers to better mimic the bird’s head plume, but this has not carried through to the modern period.