Saturday Sparkler: The Midnight Tiara

Crown Princess Mary wears the Midnight Tiara in June 2013 [1]

Crown Princess Mary [2]

Crown Princess Mary wears three tiaras: today’s sparkler, her wedding tiara (in both all-diamond and diamond-and-pearl configurations), and the historic Danish Ruby Parure Tiara. Of the three, the Midnight is the most recent addition to her tiara wardrobe. It was created in 2009 by Charlotte Lynggaard and craftsmen and women of the Ole Lynggaard workshop. The piece features diamond and moonstone “berries” nestled among leaves of rose gold, white gold, and oxidized silver. It was originally displayed alongside historic Danish royal diadems as a part of a tiara exhibition at the Amalienborg Palace Museum.

The tiara was designed with the crown princess’s Australian heritage in mind: the leaves and berries are said to have been made to resemble the Golden Wattle, a symbol of the nation. Mary first wore the tiara in public in 2009 at a party in honor of the 75th birthday of her father-in-law, Prince Henrik. Since then, she has worn it at several other high-profile occasions, including Queen Margrethe’s 70th birthday celebrations and the wedding of Princess Madeleine of Sweden in 2013 (see the photographs above and at right).

But although she is the only person who wears the tiara, Mary doesn’t actually own the piece. Rather than purchasing the tiara, which is valued at nearly $300,000, a deal was made that gives Mary the exclusive right to wear the tiara, while the Ole Lynggaard company is the actual owner [3].