One more look back to the birthday party thrown for Queen Margrethe II of Denmark’s 60th birthday, fifteen years ago this week. Let’s have a look at the events held on her actual birthday, April 16, shall we?
Queen Margrethe greeted the public wearing purple and pearls. The brooch she has pinned to her jacket is the horizontal brooch with three pearls that she received as an eighteenth-birthday present from her great-aunt, Lady Patricia Ramsay (who was born Princess Patricia of Connaught). The baby, if you can believe it, is Prince Nikolai, Prince Joachim’s eldest son and Margrethe’s first grandchild. He’s a teenager now!
For the reception at the town hall in Copenhagen, Princess Alexandra wore white and gray pearl earrings and a brooch with a large gray pearl.
Princess Benedikte and Queen Anne-Marie, of course, attended the birthday events. Benedikte is wearing a pair of brooches on the lapel of her jacket. She sometimes wears two of her diamond stars during the daytime, but the photos here aren’t clear enough to decide which brooches they are. Both of the Queen’s sisters also wore pearls.
Anne-Marie also wore her sapphire brooch. Her elder daughter, Princess Alexia, appears to be wearing Queen Alexandrine’s diamond and ruby brooch (given to Alexia by Queen Ingrid) pinned to her dress.
Queen Silvia of Sweden wore gold jewelry…
…while her daughters wore simple jewelry and pearls.
Queen Sonja of Norway wore earrings and a pearl bracelet.
The choker necklace that Princess Märtha Louise of Norway wore definitely belongs to 2000.
Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands wore a diamond brooch and a twisted necklace of small pearls.
Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte also wore pearls.
Queen Sofia of Spain wore pearls as well, pairing them with an intriguing pearl drop brooch.
That night, a gala was held for the Queen at Christiansborg Palace. She wore diamonds: her mother’s Floral Aigrette Tiara, a pair of square diamond brooches that apparently belonged to Josephine of Leuchtenberg (and were originally used as clips to fasten the train of a court dress at the shoulders), and an elaborate choker necklace and earrings.
Princess Alexandra again wore the Alexandrine Diamond Drop Tiara (the only tiara she wore during her time as a Danish princess), pairing it with her amethyst earrings and pendant.
Queen Anne-Marie wore the Greek royal family’s remarkable Olive Wreath Ruby Parure.
Princess Alexia wore her diamond tiara, diamond earrings, and a gorgeous sparkling gown.
Alexia’s younger sister, Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark, wore a simple diamond necklace with her gown.
For the second evening in a row, Princess Alexandra of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg wore her grandmother’s Baden Palmette Tiara, pairing it with an elaborate diamond and seed pearl choker. Her mother, Princess Benedikte, wore her fringe tiara again, while her sister, Nathalie, wore her mother’s floral birthday tiara.
Queen Sonja of Norway (in a picture that appears to be flipped) wore Josephine of Leuchtenberg’s elaborate diamond tiara, as well as diamond earrings and a diamond necklace.
Princess Märtha Louise (in another flipped picture) wore the tiara she received from King Olav for a second night.
Queen Silvia of Sweden went for major diamonds: Queen Sofia’s Tiara, plus diamond earrings, a diamond necklace, and a large brooch from the Braganza parure.
Crown Princess Victoria wore the four button tiara, the smaller of the two button sparklers in the collection of the Swedish royal family.
Princess Madeleine, who was still seventeen, had not yet received the traditional Scandinavian royal eighteenth-birthday gift of a tiara, but she wore ornaments in her hair. Even better, the diamonds suspended from her necklace are the diamond drops from the Connaught tiara.
Grand Duke Jean and Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte of Luxembourg also attended the gala — it’s difficult to see, but I believe she’s wearing the smaller of the Luxembourg floral tiaras.
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