Do you mean the king's dinner for the Nobel laureates tomorrow evening, as the gala banquet was today directly after the award ceremony? The king's dinner will take place at 19.00, with a photo opportunity at 18,45 on December 11.
I managed to get a great screenshot of the brooch in Victoria's hair:
yes thats right, i meant to say the King's dinner and not gala. my bad
I believe it is a matter of logistics. When Princess Lilian sat up front it was only four of them, Prince Bertil and Princess Lilian and the King and Queen. If Daniel was place up front and either Princess Madeleine or Prince Carl Philip were absent there would a lone chair back there. If neither Princess Madeleine nor Prince Carl Philip were in attendance Prince Daniel would sit up front. Probably when both P Carl Philip and P Madeleine are married and they all attend, Prince Daniel will sit next to CP Victoria.
As Madeleine's engagement ring is on her left hand in her lap, it's not about the ring, but maybe a lozenge, as this photo of the queen is next: Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony - Stockholm - Pictures - Zimbio
I don't think queen Silvia was crying, but it looks as if she has a cold or something and it's quite common that the eyes start watering now and then because of it.
If Daniel would have been in the front row he wouldn't have been seated beside Victoria, but beside the queen. As for the seating in 2001, it was probably due to logistics as otherwise Carl Philip would have been seated alone in the back row, if they didn't want to move either Victoria or Lilian away from their customary seats in the front row to be seated beside Carl Philip.
Where was Carl Philip placed before Madeleine started to attend. That would have been in 1997, 1998 and 1999.
For as long as princess Lilian attended the Nobel award ceremonies, from 1976 Forhåndsvisning | Scanpix and forward until 2006, Photo Gallery - The Nobel Prize Award Ceremony 2006 , she was seated in the front row. One reason for that was that there were only four members of the royal family who could be seated at the podium until 1995 when princess Victoria attended for the first time. When prince Daniel joined the royal family in 2010 there were six members of the family who could be seated on the podium, if all was to attend. There was no reason to move Lilian to the back row while she was attending the award ceremony, especially as Carl Philip didn't attend the ceremony until Madeleine began attending it.
I don't think it's Marianne Bernadotte on the photos of the royals leaving the Nobel festivities, neither the dress nor the hairdo looks like her: http://tinyurl.com/cqswhrf The woman could be a lady-in-waiting or another guest leaving at the same time as the royal family.
