A Sentimental Pair of Earrings—and a Symbolic Brooch—for Queen Margrethe in Frederiksberg

On Wednesday, Queen Margrethe of Denmark headed to Frederiksberg for the inauguration of a new school named in honor of her late husband, wearing special pieces of jewelry that honored his memory.

Still wearing her post-abdication glow, plus a warm fur jacket, Queen Margrethe arrived at the new building of the Prins Henriks Skole in Frederiksberg on Wednesday for an official inauguration ceremony. The school is named in honor of Margrethe’s husband, Prince Henrik, who passed away in 2018. Prince Henrik was French, so it’s fitting that the school is focused on French-language education, with more than 800 pupils with around 40 different nationalities.

For the inauguration of the new school building, Margrethe opted for a suit and hat in traditional schoolgirl plaid, complete with a pleated plaid skirt. And the jewelry she chose for the occasion was particularly meaningful as well: earrings and a brooch with links to Prince Henrik and France.

The modern silver-toned earrings are particularly special pieces linked to Henrik’s memory.

Here’s a closer look. The earrings feature Henrik’s royal cypher surrounded by a sunny border.

Margrethe’s brooch, shaped like a rooster and set with diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, and a large white pearl, is often worn for events related to France, the ancestral home of Henrik’s family. The brooch, interestingly, wasn’t a French gift. Instead, it was presented to Margrethe in Italy in 1968 by a shipping company when she christened a new ferry boat for a route between Copenhagen and Oslo. The year, though, is significant: it was given to her the year after she married her French husband, Henrik, and the rooster is an important French national symbol.

While Margrethe has worn the brooch for a range of occasions over the last half century, she has often chosen it for occasions related to her family and France. Above, she wears the brooch beside Henrik as she waves to the crowd gathered at Amalienborg on her birthday in 2009.

She often wore the brooch for French diplomatic occasions during her reign, including this meeting with the French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault in Copenhagen in 2013.

In August 2022, she wore the rooster brooch in a particularly meaningful place for a very special occasion: the opening of an exhibition of her own artwork at a museum in Cahors in the south of France. Henrik’s family originally came from Cahors, and he and Margrethe purchased a holiday home, the Château de Cayx, in the area shortly after their marriage.

Here’s another excellent view of the earrings and the brooch from Wednesday’s school inauguration. I’m so glad we’re going to continue to see Margrethe’s skillful deployment of her jewelry collection on special occasions during her retirement years.