The King and Queen of Denmark arrived in Oslo on Tuesday for the state of a state visit with their Norwegian royal cousins, and Queen Mary brought out an interesting antique brooch with family ties for the occasion.
King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway greeted King Frederik X and Queen Mary of Denmark at the harbor in Oslo to begin their first state visit together. The visit is the second of Frederik’s young reign, after the couple’s trip to Sweden last week. This visit also happens to begin on Frederik and Mary’s 20th wedding anniversary. The Norwegian royals were guests at that wedding, with Queen Sonja, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, and Princess Märtha Louise all wearing tiaras for the ceremony and reception.
Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit were also on hand for the official welcome ceremony. As 87-year-old King Harald continues to recover from some significant health problems, Haakon and Mette-Marit have begun to shoulder some of the more active parts of state visits. They’ll accompany Frederik and Mary on most of the engagements on the program.
For her arrival in Oslo, Queen Mary was elegant in a white jacket with a floral skirt in shades of blue, black, red and white, plus a light blue headpiece and blush-toned accessories.
The blue, red, and white in the skirt offered Mary a chance to wear jewels that feature Norway’s national colors. She reached for a special pair of earrings and an heirloom brooch for the welcome ceremony.
The earrings, pictured here in 2022 during the Golden Jubilee jewelry exhibition at Amalienborg, were gifts to Mary from her mother-in-law, Queen Margrethe of Denmark. Both earrings feature ribbon-inspired diamond studs and large pearls set in floral gemstone clusters. One earring has ruby accents, while the other features sapphires surrounding the pearl.
The brooch that Mary wore for the welcome ceremony was also exhibited at Amalienborg two years ago. It has a lengthier history within the Danish royal family. The petite floral brooch belonged to Queen Lovisa of Denmark. Made of silver, the jewel is set with brilliant-cut diamonds. Contrary to what you might expect, the red stone in the jewel is not a ruby–it’s a red spinel.
The brooch choice fits well with the national colors of the two countries, but the decision to wear it was also a nod to the families’ shared heritage. Queen Lovisa is King Frederik’s great-great-grandmother, and she’s also the great-grandmother of King Harald and Princess Astrid of Norway.
The brooch has made another important appearance in Norway in recent memory as well. King Frederik’s mother, Queen Margrethe, wore the brooch for a gala performance during King Harald’s Silver Jubilee celebrations in Oslo back in January 2016.
You’ll spot another little pin positioned next to the spinel and diamond brooch on Queen Mary’s jacket. That’s a miniature ribbon of her Norwegian decoration, the Order of St. Olav.
I also spotted one more interesting piece of Mary’s jewelry ensemble during the welcome ceremony: this ring, which appears to be set with diamonds, rubies, and sapphires. The setting of the blue and red gems reminds me of the “mystery” setting pioneered in the 20th century by Van Cleef & Arpels.
Queen Sonja and Crown Princess Mette-Marit were also in their finest daywear for the welcome ceremony. Sonja wore a red coat with intricate floral appliqué work, while Mette-Marit opted for an elegant brown and cream ensemble.
Queen Sonja wore one of her signature suites of modern metallic jewelry for the welcome ceremony. This necklace-and-earring set features large silver-toned discs. She’s also wearing the miniature ribbon of Denmark’s Order of the Elephant.
Crown Princess Mette-Marit decided on diamonds and pearls for the occasion, wearing pearl drop earrings and a three-stranded pearl bracelet.
She also pinned the miniature blue ribbon of the Order of the Elephant to her dress.
Inside the palace, another member of the Norwegian royal family joined the group. Princess Astrid, wearing pearls and a lovely blue and white dress, is also featured in the group photograph. Astrid recently celebrated her 92nd birthday. (She’s a fan of the dress–she also wore it during the recent state visit from the President of Moldova.)
And the official luncheon on Tuesday also featured an appearance from another family member: Princess Ingrid Alexandra! Wearing gold hoop earrings and a green floral dress, the future Queen of Norway posed for a picture with her godfather, King Frederik, at King Harald’s summer residence, Bygdøy.
Ingrid Alexandra isn’t on the list of expected guests for tonight’s state banquet, sadly–but we should see tiaras later tonight on Queen Mary, Queen Sonja, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, and Princess Astrid. Stay tuned for more later!
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.