One of the greatest Scandinavian jewelry wearers of all, Queen Ingrid of Denmark, made sure that all three of her daughters received significant tiaras on their 18th birthdays. Today, we’ve got a look at the tiaras gifted to Queen Margrethe, Princess Benedikte, and Queen Anne-Marie.
Queen Margrethe was the first of the trio to celebrate her milestone birthday. The then-Crown Princess Margrethe turned 18 on April 16, 1958. Her parents offered her the sparkling, delicate diamond drop tiara that had belonged to her grandmother, Queen Alexandrine of Denmark. Here, she wears it for a gala occasion not long after she received the tiara.
Margrethe continued to wear the tiara on occasion even after becoming Queen of Denmark in 1972. Here, she wears the jewel during a state visit from Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom in 1979.
In 1995, Margrethe gave the tiara to her daughter-in-law, Alexandra Manley, the first wife of Prince Joachim. She wore it for their wedding and all gala occasions during her marriage. After their divorce, Alexandra has retained the tiara, and she continues to occasionally appear at Danish royal functions wearing the jewel.
Princess Benedikte, the second sister of the trio, celebrated her 18th birthday on April 29, 1962. She received a diamond floral tiara from her parents. They’d had the tiara made from a brooch that had belonged to Queen Alexandrine. Here, Princess Benedikte wears the tiara during an audience at the Vatican with her parents in 1964.
The tiara is still in Benedikte’s jewelry box today, and she wears it on occasion for formal occasions in Denmark. Here, she sports the tiara in April 2010 during Queen Margrethe’s 70th birthday celebrations.
Benedikte has also loaned the floral tiara to her daughters, Princess Alexandra and Princess Nathalie. Above, Princess Alexandra wears the tiara in Copenhagen during Queen Margrethe’s Ruby Jubilee celebrations in January 2012.
The third and youngest sister, Princess Anne-Marie, turned 18 on August 30, 1964. Less than three weeks later, on September 18, 1964, she married King Constantine II of Greece and became Queen Anne-Marie. She debuted her 18th birthday tiara at a farewell dinner (pictured above) at Fredensborg Castle on September 10, 1964, just before she left Denmark to travel to Athens for her wedding. The tiara was made from an antique diamond and pearl corsage ornament that had belonged to her great-grandmother, Queen Victoria of Sweden.
The new Queen Anne-Marie had grander Greek royal tiaras at her disposal, but she occasionally still wore her 18th birthday tiara. Here, she wears the tiara for a private audience with Pope Paul VI at the Vatican in April 1966.
The tiara has been used more frequently by the next generation of the family. Here, Anne-Marie’s younger daughter, Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark, wears the tiara for the wedding of Prince Joachim and Princess Marie of Denmark in May 2008. And the tiara, more notably, has been worn as a bridal diadem by all three of Anne-Marie’s daughters-in-law: Marie-Chantal, Tatiana, and Nina.
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