Queen Margrethe’s Beautiful Ballet Jewels

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark made a two-day official visit to Germany in August 2009, and the events scheduled for her evening in Dresden were tailor-made for her interests. She was celebrated with a special dinner, held in the Meissen porcelain exhibition at the Zwinger Art Museum, and entertained with a performance of the ballet Gisele at the city’s opera house. Above, she’s escorted by two of her hosts: Gerd Uecker, who was then the artistic director of the Semperoper, and Stanislaw Tillich, who was then the Minister President of Saxony.

Queen Margrethe wore a tea-length cornflower blue dress with statement sleeves for the evening. She accessorized with a silver bag and shoes, as well as a white pashmina embroidered with silver thread.

Her jewels for the occasion were set with diamonds and pearls. She wore earrings with modern, pavé-set diamond studs and round pearl drops. A pendant pearl was suspended from her two-stranded pearl necklace. And she also wore one of her most important, sentimental personal jewels: the Diamond Daisy Brooch, an heirloom gifted to her by her mother, Queen Ingrid.

On her left wrist, she added a pair of gold bracelets. The smaller and simpler of the two is perhaps one of Margrethe’s most treasured pieces of jewelry. The gold bangle, a gift from her mother, is the traditional bracelet worn by all female descendants of Princess Margaret of Connaught, Margrethe’s British royal grandmother.

Queen Margrethe is a devoted patron of the arts, so a ballet performance was the perfect choice for the evening’s entertainment. Margrethe has been deeply involved with several productions in Copenhagen, designing costumes for the Royal Danish Ballet. For this performance of Gisele in Germany, Margrethe was accompanied by her sister, Princess Benedikte, whose late husband was a German prince. Benedikte also wore a sentimental jewel for the occasion: her Diamond and Pearl Scroll Brooch.