Crown Princess Mary’s Wedding Tiara

Unlike many royal brides, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark’s tiara debut wasn’t on her wedding day. She’d already worn a grand tiara–the diadem from the Danish Ruby Parure–during her pre-wedding celebrations. But on her wedding day, Mary Elizabeth Donaldson wore a different tiara for the first time: a romantic, convertible diamond diadem, a special gift from her new parents-in-law.

Mary’s wedding tiara, with its diamond heart and fleur-de-lis motifs, was a gift from her new parents-in-law, Queen Margrethe II and Prince Henrik of Denmark. Unlike the floral tiara that Princess Marie wears, this was a gift, not a loan, which means that the tiara is Mary’s personal property. No information on the piece’s provenance has been released, so unfortunately we don’t know how Margrethe and Henrik acquired it.

Some believe that the Danish royals may have bought the tiara at auction, which is certainly a plausible possibility. Members of the family, including Mary, have been known to purchase jewels from auction sales. We also don’t know when or by whom it was made. I’d wager that it dates to the end of the nineteenth century, and I’d hazard a guess that it may have been made in England.

We do know the provenance of the lace veil that Mary wore with the tiara, however. Her new mother-in-law loaned her one of the family’s most precious pieces: the Irish lace veil that was first worn by Princess Margaret of Connaught on her wedding day in 1905. If you’re a regular reader here, you know all about Margaret’s tragic story: she became Sweden’s crown princess, had a happy marriage and five children, and then died young.

The veil was used to cover Margaret’s body in her coffin, and then it was given to her only daughter, Ingrid, who later became Queen of Denmark. Ingrid wore the veil at her wedding in 1935, and since then, each one of her female descendants has also worn it as a bridal veil. Margarethe’s decision to lend the veil to Mary speaks, I think, of her respect for Mary. Just like Ingrid, Mary is now Queen of Denmark, married to a King Frederik.

Anyway–back to the tiara. Crown Princess Mary continued to wear the jewel regularly in the years after her wedding, appearing in it often for gala events both at home in Denmark and abroad. The diamond tiara combines beautifully with a whole range of gemstones and gala ensembles. Here, she wears the tiara with pieces from her collection of aquamarine jewels for King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden’s 60th birthday celebrations in 2006.

And here, she wears the tiara with pearls and her red Uffe Frank gown for a dinner celebrating Queen Margrethe’s 70th birthday in April 2010.

In January 2012, she paired the tiara with her amethyst briolette earrings for a gala concert held to mark Queen Margrethe’s Ruby Jubilee in Copenhagen.

The tiara also now has a second wearable setting. In 2011, Danish jeweler Marianne Dulong added a row of pearls to the base of the tiara, plus larger pearls atop each of the tiara’s shorter elements. The modification is not permanent; Mary still wears the tiara both with and without the pearls. Dulong also made the diamond and South Sea pearl earrings that Mary wore on her wedding day. The addition of a pearl setting to the tiara transforms the tiara and earrings into a small parure.

But the tiara is even more versatile than that. It can also be taken off its frame and worn as a necklace. I’m almost inclined to think that it’s even more beautiful in necklace form.

I’ve seen many comments noting that the tiara was not really grand enough for a future queen–or that it got lost a bit in the veil on the wedding day–but I think that the pearls help to add more substance to the design. And as with Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway’s wedding tiara, I would not be surprised if this tiara is eventually worn by one or both of Mary’s daughters as a “first” tiara. Its small profile would be perfect for a young princess.

Until then, I think we can expect to continue to see Queen Mary bring out the little tiara on occasion, even though she now has access to far larger and grander jewels.