The tiaras were out tonight in Copenhagen, as Europe’s royals gathered to celebrate the eighteenth birthday of Denmark’s future king, Prince Christian.
Queen Margrethe II of Denmark hosted a gala banquet for her grandson, Prince Christian, at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen on Sunday evening. She greeted the crown princely family as they arrived for the celebration.
Queen Margrethe wore some of her grandest jewels for the occasion, including the tiara from the Pearl Poiré Parure and a necklace, brooch, and earrings from the crown jewel collection.
The tiara originally belonged to Queen Lovisa of Denmark’s grandmother, the Prussian-born Princess Louise of the Netherlands. Today, the tiara is part of the Danish Royal Property Trust (the Løsørefideikommis), which was established by Lovisa to ensure that important jewels remained with the Danish royal family.
The necklace, earrings, and jeweled corsage ornament worn by Queen Margrethe for the dinner come from the Danish Crown Jewels, a collection displayed at Rosenborg Castle. The single strand of pearls belonged to Queen Charlotte Amalie, the wife of King Christian V of Denmark. The ruby and diamond clasp, and the rest of the ruby, diamond, and pearl jewels, were made by C.M. Weisshaupt in 1840 during the reign of King Christian VIII of Denmark.
Prince Christian’s proud mother, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, wore diamonds. Her wedding tiara was a sentimental choice for the day, as was the small necklace with the “F” charm, for her husband, Crown Prince Frederik.
Here’s a look at the way that Crown Princess Mary wore the tiara on her wedding day in May 2004. The jewel was her wedding present from Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik.
Crown Princess Mary’s antique diamond fringe earrings are a newer acquisition, purchased at Bruun Rasmussen in December 2016.
Princess Isabella wore sparkling jewels from her mother’s collection for the gala: a diamond hair ornament and diamond and amethyst earrings.
The hair ornament is the same diamond jewel worn by Crown Princess Mary for the wedding of Prince Carl Philip and Princess Sofia of Sweden in June 2015.
The earrings feature long diamond strings with dark amethyst briolette pendants.
Princess Josephine was elegant in a necklace of baroque pearls for the gala dinner.
Prince Christian’s uncle and aunt, Prince Joachim and Princess Marie, were also on hand for the gala. (Prince Joachim is one of his godparents.) They were joined by three of their children, Count Felix, Count Henrik, and Countess Athena. Princess Marie wore familiar jewels from her collection: Princess Dagmar’s Floral Tiara and modern diamond earrings.
The tiara, as its name suggests, originally belonged to Princess Dagmar of Denmark, an aunt of King Frederik IX. She bequeathed the tiara to Frederik, who passed it along to his daughter, Queen Margrethe II. She loaned it to Princess Marie in 2008 to wear for her wedding and other gala events. Now, Marie owns the tiara personally.
UFO No More tells us that the earrings come from Christine Hvelplund. Above, Princess Marie wears the same jewelry combination at the New Year’s Levee in January 2020.
Prince Christian’s Danish royal great-aunts were both at the gala as well. Princess Benedikte wore the Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg Fringe Tiara with amethysts, while Queen Anne-Marie paired the Khedive of Egypt Tiara with diamond and sapphire jewels, including her swan brooch.
Princess Benedikte has paired the fringe tiara with the amethysts in the past, including this appearance during Queen Margrethe’s Ruby Jubilee in January 2012. The tiara comes from the family of Benedikte’s late husband, Prince Richard, while the amethysts were inherited from her mother, Queen Ingrid of Denmark.
The Khedive of Egypt Tiara, famously, was one of the wedding gifts presented to Princess Margaret of Connaught. It was inherited by her daughter, Queen Ingrid of Sweden, and has become the traditional bridal tiara for the women of the family. Queen Anne-Marie inherited the tiara from her mother in 2000.
The diamond and sapphire necklace, which has a floral design, has been in Queen Anne-Marie’s collection since before she and her late husband, King Constantine II, went into exile. Above, she wears it in London for the premiere of a television film series about Lord Mountbatten in 1968.
She also pinned her diamond swan brooch to her shoulder. She’s worn the swan for numerous high-profile events, including the christening of her younger daughter, Princess Theodora, in 1983, and the wedding celebrations for Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden in 2010.
Queen Anne-Marie’s eldest son, Crown Prince Pavlos, was also present for the gala with his wife, Crown Princess Marie-Chantal. (Pavlos is one of Prince Christian’s godparents.) Marie-Chantal thrilled us all by wearing her most magnificent royal jewel, Queen Sophie’s Diamond Tiara.
The tiara originally belonged to Queen Sophie of the Hellenes, and it was later worn by her daughter-in-law, Queen Friederike. The jewel was hidden away for many years before reappearing on Crown Princess Marie-Chantal during Queen Margrethe’s Ruby Jubilee celebrations in January 2012.
Princess Benedikte’s son, Prince Gustav of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, was also there with his wife, Princess Carina. Prince Christian is a godfather of the couple’s young son, Prince Gustav Albrecht. For the gala, Princess Carina wore diamonds, including her wedding tiara.
Princess Carina has had the tiara in her collection for years—the couple’s road to marriage was a long and complicated one. She’s worn it for numerous gala events in Denmark, plus her own royal wedding in 2022.
Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway, who is happily looking very well after an extended sick leave, wore her Diamond Daisy Bandeau with pearl drop earrings and her diamond and aquamarine brooch. Both she and Crown Prince Haakon are also godparents of Prince Christian.
The delicate diamond bandeau was Mette-Marit’s wedding tiara. It was given to her as a wedding present by King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway in 2001.
The gorgeous diamond and aquamarine brooch has a lengthier history in the Norwegian royal family—it belonged to the present king’s grandmother, Queen Maud.
Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway sparkled in her second major tiara appearance at the birthday gala. She wore her own 18th birthday gift tiara, Princess Ingeborg’s Pearl Circle Tiara. The diamond bracelet, previously worn by Crown Princess Martha and Princess Ragnhild, was a gift from King Harald V and Queen Sonja. The diamond and pearl earrings also belonged to Crown Princess Martha. They were most recently worn by Crown Princess Mette-Marit.
Here’s a look at Princess Ingrid Alexandra’s previous outing in the tiara, at her own 18th birthday celebration gala in June 2022.
Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden is also one of Prince Christian’s godparents. She attended the banquet with her husband, Prince Daniel, and their daughter, Princess Estelle. While Estelle wore simple earrings and a necklace with a small pendant, Crown Princess Victoria wore major diamonds: the Boucheron Laurel Wreath Tiara with Queen Josefina’s Diamond Stomacher Necklace and the family’s diamond floral earrings.
The tiara originally belonged to Princess Margaret of Connaught, and the necklace to Queen Josefina of Sweden and Norway, but both pieces are probably more identified with Victoria’s great-aunt, the late Princess Lilian. She bequeathed the tiara personally to Crown Princess Victoria in 2013.
There were two more future monarchs at the dinner as well. The Duchess of Brabant traveled from Belgium to attend the dinner, and for the occasion, she wore an heirloom diamond tiara from the royal vaults.
The Wolfers Tiara, which can be worn as either a tiara or a necklace, originally belonged to Elisabeth’s great-aunt, Queen Fabiola. It was Fabiola’s glittering wedding gift from the brokers and jewelers of the diamond industry in Antwerp.
Since Fabiola’s death, the jewel has been worn by Elisabeth’s mother, Queen Mathilde, who often chooses it for diplomatic events. Elisabeth now becomes the third generation of the Belgian royal family to wear the tiara.
And last—but certainly not least!—we’ve got the Princess of Orange. Amalia made a dazzling appearance in heirloom diamonds and sapphire for the gala dinner, wearing the Dutch Sapphire Necklace Tiara with the sapphire setting of the Diamond Trellis Necklace and the bracelets from Queen Emma’s Sapphire Parure.
As the tiara’s name suggests, it was made by reimagining a sapphire necklace worn by Amalia’s great-grandmother, Queen Juliana. She wears the original necklace in this glamorous portrait taken in 1937.
Since the tiara’s conversion, it’s been worn by several members of the Dutch royal family, including Queen Maxima (who wore it in Denmark in 2010) and Princess Beatrix.
The necklace worn by Amalia is the alternate sapphire setting of the magnificent Dutch Diamond Trellis Necklace, which was Queen Wilhelmina’s wedding present from her mother, Queen Emma, in 1901. Above, Queen Maxima wears the sapphire version of the necklace in Oslo in May 2017.
Amalia’s jewelry look is actually a repeat of a combination worn back in June 2023 by her mother, Queen Maxima. Amalia’s even wearing a smaller setting of the same sapphire and diamond earrings (without the diamond string portion) and her mother’s diamond and tanzanite ring.
Delightfully, we also got another “future monarchs” portrait at the banquet, featuring Princess Estelle of Sweden, Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway, Prince Christian of Denmark, Princess Amalia of the Netherlands, and Princess Elisabeth of Belgium.
That’s it for today! I’ll be back with another article on Tuesday. In the meantime, enjoy all the gala sparkle!
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