Scandinavian Royal Sparkle at Bellevue Palace in Berlin

On Monday evening, representatives of all three Scandinavian royal families gathered in Berlin for a special anniversary celebration, with some important jewelry pieces incorporated into their gala wardrobes.

Royals from Denmark, Sweden, and Norway were all present on Monday for the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Nordic Embassies in Berlin. King Frederik X and Queen Mary of Denmark, Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel of Sweden, and Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway were all welcomed to Germany by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife, Elke Büdenbender. The Presidents and First Spouses of Iceland and Finland were also present for the celebrations.

The day wrapped up with an elegant black-tie dinner at Bellevue Palace in Berlin. Now the official residence of Germany’s president, the castle was built in the eighteenth-century for a younger brother of King Friedrich II of Prussia. Ms. Büdenbender glittered in a sparkling evening dress as the presidential couple received their guests on the palace steps. Queen Mary of Denmark arrived wearing a striking red silk gown from the designer Carolina Herrera.

With the dress, Mary wore pearls and diamonds. (Even her clutch bag was studded with pearls!) Her earrings will be familiar to most of you, because they’re the same diamond and South Sea pearl earrings that she wore on her wedding day in May 2004.

Also of note was the major pearl bracelet that Mary wore on her right wrist. The clasp of the nine-stranded bracelet is a miniature painting, set in an elaborate diamond frame. The woman depicted in the portrait, per the Danish royal website, is Queen Josefina of Sweden and Norway. (The Norwegian jewelry historian Trond Noren Isaksen disagrees, stating that the woman in the portrait is actually Josefina’s mother, Princess Augusta, Duchess of Leuchtenberg.)

Here’s a view of the bracelet from the Kongehuset website. They refer to the piece simply as a “bracelet with pearls,” adding that the jewel is comprised of “pearls and diamond-wreathed portrait of the future Queen Josefina of Sweden-Norway.”

Queen Josefina of Sweden, a nineteenth-century German princess, and her mother are both ancestors of all three of the modern Scandinavian monarchs. Born Joséphine of Leuchtenberg, Josefina’s remarkable jewelry collection is the source of major tiaras and parures owned by the Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian royal families today. The pearl bracelet is part of the Danish Royal Property Trust, which is reserved for the use of the woman who holds the title of Queen of Denmark.

Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel were elegant as they arrived for the dinner. Victoria wore a velvet evening gown in a deep shade of purple for the occasion.

Victoria accessorized with modern jewels, including pavé-set diamond hoop earrings and a gold statement necklace with a twist detail. She also wore a small ribbon pinned to her dress. It’s the miniature of the Federal Republic of Germany’s Order of Merit.

Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit also arrived in black-tie attire. Mette-Marit looked to her wardrobe archive for a dress for the dinner, wearing a floral gown that she’s had in her collection for almost a decade.

Mette-Marit also wore some interesting jewelry pieces with her ensemble. Her diamond earrings feature black pearl drops. Most significantly, though, she pinned the brooch from the Norwegian Amethyst Parure near the neckline of her dress and wore the bracelet from the suite on her right wrist.

Prince Gustav and Princess Carina arrived at Bellevue.

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There were also more royal cousins present for the dinner: the Prince and Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg. Gustav is the son of Princess Benedikte of Denmark, making him a first cousin of King Frederik (as well as a second cousin of Crown Princess Victoria and a third cousin of Crown Prince Haakon). Princess Carina wore diamond and pearl drop earrings and a multi-stranded pearl necklace with her pink dress for the occasion.