Crown Princess Mary’s Marvelous Midnight Tiara

In 2009, Danish jeweler Charlotte Lynggaard designed a modern set of three coordinating jewelry pieces—a tiara, a pair of earrings, and a brooch—made of diamonds, moonstones, silver, and gold. The set was created with Crown Princess Mary in mind, as the leaves and berries in the piece resemble the golden wattle, one of the national emblems of Australia. The set was constructed at the Ole Lynggaard workshop and then put on display to the public at the Amalienborg Palace Museum.

The price tag of the set is said to be in the range of $300,000. Even if the crown princely couple has that much cash to spare, such an extravagant purchase could certainly raise eyebrows. But Mary attends enough high-profile gala events that a third tiara was a welcome addition to her collection, and any Danish jeweler would benefit from having Mary appear in public wearing their work.

So, in a mutually beneficial arrangement, the Midnight set was essentially leased to Crown Princess Mary. Ole Lynggaard retains the ownership of the jewels, but Mary has the exclusive right to wear them during her lifetime, and each time she dons the set, she essentially acts as a walking advertisement for the Danish jewelry industry. Shortly after the set was made, Mary wore it for the first time in public at a 75th birthday party for Prince Henrik. She wore all three pieces, pinning the brooch near the neckline of her gown.

Here’s another view of Mary wearing the set at that 2009 gala dinner, which was held at Fredensborg Palace.

The following year, Mary also wore the complete set during Queen Margrethe’s 70th birthday celebrations. On that occasion, she placed the brooch at the waist of a dark teal green evening gown. (It’s the same gown she wore for the official dinner held following the announcement of her engagement to Crown Prince Frederik in October 2003.)

One of Crown Princess Mary’s most high-profile appearances in the Midnight Tiara came in June 2013, when she wore the jewel in Stockholm at the wedding of Princess Madeleine of Sweden and Chris O’Neill.

Mary didn’t wear the complete set for the 2013 royal wedding celebrations. Instead, she paired the tiara with a pair of diamond earrings from another favorite jeweler, Marianne Dulong. These are the “Lotus” style from the firm.

She continued the diamond theme through the rest of her jewelry, wearing a diamond ring on her right hand and a pair of diamond bracelets from Annikat. The bracelets, worn one on each wrist, have a diamond wing design.

Over the last decade, the tiara and coordinating jewels have been put on display frequently, both in exhibitions and at the flagship Ole Lynggaard Copenhagen store. But we also saw Mary make a recent appearance in the tiara. She wore the jewel, again paired with diamonds, for the June 2022 gala dinner in Oslo celebrating the 18th birthday of Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway. Interestingly, the gown she wore for the dinner was also designed by Charlotte Lynggaard, the designer of the parure.