King Carl Gustaf hosted his annual dinner at the Royal Palace palace in Stockholm last night for the Nobel Laureates. The grand banquet saw members of the extended Swedish royal family and other society figures mingle with intellectual powerhouses of global research. In a time honoured tradition, the dinner followed the Nobel Prize giving ceremony of the night before, which was held at the Concert Hall in Stockholm.
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The Nobel Laureates, no-doubt more accustomed to labs and libraries, were enthusiastic attendees at the white-tie dinner on Monday night. The Vita Havet assembly rooms were the scene of the reception, while dinner was served on a boundless banquet table in Karl XI’s gallery.
The Nobel Prize ceremony has been held in Sweden on 10 December since its conception in 1901, and as such is a great mark of pride for the nation. Each recipient is decked out in a Nobel medal as well as a hand-painted certificate, handed over by HRM Carl Gustaf. Prizes are awarded in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and economics (which was added in 1969). Strangely, the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Norway, rather than Sweden, though nobody quite knows why. The Crown Princess Victoria donned a dramatic deep purple, one-shouldered gown for the events of the 10 December, whilst Queen Silvia went for a dusty-pink silk ensemble.
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Then, on the night following the ceremony comes the ‘King’s dinner', hosted at the King's palace in the capital city. The Royal Palace in Stockholm is well-known for its magnitude, both in size and spectacle. It stands on the water in Gamla Stan, neighbouring the Riksdag building. This site has been the central residence of the royal family in Sweden since the middle-1300s, when Tre Konor Castle was built here. It contains 1,430 rooms, decked out in exuberant rococo splendour.
The Vita Havet assembly rooms are a melting pot of gilded, antique excellence and history - providing the perfect backdrop for the Laureates and royals to mingle prior to the dinner. There are exquisite marble-topped console tables, carefully carved glass chandeliers and ornate frescoes on the ceilings. Next, the guests moved to Karl XI's gallery, to enjoy a menu of a rooster liver parfait, fried turbot, deer saddle from the royal hunt and a winter apple tart.
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The King and Queen were on exquisitely regal form as always. King Carl Gustaf, who played his time-honoured part in awarding the prizes at the ceremony, donned sharp white tie and all the royal regalia. Queen Silvia meanwhile chose a favourite suite of jewellery: The luscious Leuchtenberg Saphhires. These comprise a tiara and coordinating parure of sapphire and diamond jewels. Finding their way to Sweden when Princess Josephine of Leuchtenberg married Crown Prince Oscar of Sweden in 1844, the jewels originally came to Josephine from Empress Josephine, the first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte as a gift to her mother to celebrate the birth of a son in 1811.
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Fresh from a trip to London, where she enjoyed a trip to the Royal Variety Show with her counterparts the Prince and Princess of Wales, Crown Princess Victoria, the eldest child of King Carl Gustaf, looked in high spirits. She arrived in a staggering, monochrome ensemble, reminiscent of a Klimt painting. Her dress incorporated a full black skirt with a white floral appliqué and was cinched at the waist, with a white bodice and capped sleeves. The look was crowned with the Connaught Diamond Tiara, which was gifted to Crown Princess Margareta of Sweden from her parents in 1905. The tiara is now more casually referred to as ‘Princess Sibylla’s Tiara', as it was favoured by the King's mother. The royal women wore the sash and star of the Order of the Seraphim and the King’s Royal Family Order over their ball gowns.
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At dinner the previous night in the Concert Hall, Crown Princess Victoria sat between Pierre Agostini, recipient of the prize in physics and Moungi Bawendi, prizewinner in chemistry. Plenty of firepower, then! But were they reasonable conversationalists? You’ll have to ask Crown Princess Victoria. She seemed to enjoy herself, laughing the night away as she enjoyed dinner with the two scientists. One of three joint winners of the physics prize, Agostini received the award for ‘experimental methods that generate attosecond pulses of light for the study of electron dynamics in matter’ – ah yes, I’m sure you are familiar.
This dazzling tiara is a staple of the Swedish royal family, most recently making an appearance atop the head of Queen Silvia at the Nobel Prize in Sweden
Also in attendance was Crown Princess Victoria’s husband, Crown Prince Daniel, who was looking dapper and every-inch the future king consort in white tie. In London, Daniel and Victoria enjoyed trips to classic destinations such as Kew Gardens and the Natural History Museum, as well as to a traditional English watering hole in Newmarket – a far cry from the palace last night.
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Victoria’s younger brother, Carl Philip was joined by his wife, the glamour model-turned royal-turned activist. Sofia wore a fairytale-like ruby-red metallic gown with an elegant Bardot neckline and a full skirt. The mother of three turned 39 last week, and marked the occasion with an official portrait released by the royal household.
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Whilst the dinner is a tremendous perk for the Nobel Prize winners, the banquet is a small gesture of gratitude from the Swedish royals for the tremendous successes the laureates have accomplished this year. The winner in literature for 2023 was the Norwegian writer John Fosse, while the medicine prize was collected by Drew Weissman and Katalin Karikó, for work on COVID-19 vaccines.
