An Elegant New Year Emerald Tiara for Queen Mary of Denmark in Copenhagen

Last week, the Danish royals held their annual New Year’s Levee at Amalienborg, a glittering event teeming with tiaras, orders and decorations, uniforms, and glamorous gowns. And, delightfully, this year also brought us Queen Mary’s first public appearance in the grand emerald parure from the crown jewel collection!

King Frederik X and Queen Mary of Denmark arrived at Christian VII’s Palace in the Amalienborg complex for the first New Year’s Levee of his reign on January 1. The reception was attended by members of the royal family, government officials and representatives, and courtiers. For the occasion, Queen Mary repeated an elegant Birgit Hallstein made of dark green silk velvet and lace.

With the gown, which pulls more teal than forest green in many photographs, Mary wore some splendid decorations: the collar and star of the Order of the Elephant, the ribbon and badge of the Order of the Dannebrog, and King Frederik’s Royal Portrait Order. She also made her first public appearance, and her second appearance overall, in the tiara and earrings from one of the nation’s crown jewel sets: the Danish Emerald Parure.

The tiara, necklace, earrings, and brooch that comprise the parure were made in 1840 by the German goldsmith Carl Martin Weisshaupt. The parure features floral and ribbon motifs, designs that were inspired by nineteenth-century French crown jewels.

Some of the emeralds used in the suite have an even longer tenure with the Danish royals. They belonged to Queen Sophie Magdalene of Denmark, who received them as a gift from her husband, King Christian VI, in 1723.

We first saw Mary wearing the Danish emeralds in a set of official portraits released last April, just a few months after her husband’s accession. On that occasion, she wore the same green gown with the tiara, earrings, and necklace from the set.

Mary opted not to wear the necklace or brooch from the parure for the New Year’s reception, but she did add some additional sparkle: small diamond ribbon brooches in her hair.

And here’s one more gorgeous emerald from her ensemble: a beautiful emerald and diamond ring, which she wore stacked with a diamond band on her right hand for the reception. UFO No More tells us that the modern emerald ring comes from Annikat, while the diamond band is an Ole Lynggaard piece. Both rings have been in Mary’s personal collection for a decade.

There were more royal tiaras in attendance at the reception, too. Queen Margrethe, in her first gala appearance since her abdication last January, arrived wearing a favorite blue evening gown with the Danish Floral Aigrette. Her appearance in this particular tiara offers us some interesting insight into the family’s current jewelry distribution. The tiara belongs to the Danish Royal Property Trust, which generally means that it should have been passed automatically to Queen Mary upon King Frederik’s accession last year. But Margrethe has always loved this unusual tiara, and it appears that a decision was made to keep it in her jewelry box for the time being.

The flexible diamond floral wreath can be worn in various configurations, and Margrethe opted to place pieces artistically in her hair for the reception. She paired the floral ornaments with a set of heirloom jewelry from her personal collection: the diamond and sapphire jewels that belonged to her grandmother, Queen Alexandrine of Denmark.

More sapphires arrived at the levee with the King’s sister-in-law, Princess Marie, who arrived with her husband, Prince Joachim of Denmark. She wore a beautiful blue velvet gown (made by Rikke Gudnitz, per UFO No More) with diamond and sapphire jewelry, plus the collar and star of the Order of the Elephant and Queen Margrethe II’s Royal Portrait Order.

Here’s a closer look at the jewels that Marie wore for the reception. She wore Princess Dagmar’s Floral Tiara with Queen Alexandrine’s Sapphire and Diamond Pendant, plus a pair of modern sapphire and diamond earrings, a bracelet that appears to be set with diamonds and pink and yellow gemstones, and a sapphire ring.

A fourth tiara also glittered on the King’s aunt, Princess Benedikte, as she arrived for the reception. Benedikte wore a favorite purple velvet evening gown with diamonds and pearls, plus the collar and star of the Order of the Elephant, the ribbon and badge of the Order of the Dannebrog, and King Frederik IX’s Royal Portrait Order.

She added extra glamour with the Sayn-Wittengenstein-Berleburg Fringe Tiara, a legacy from the family of her late husband, Prince Richard. With the tiara, she wore pearl and diamond earrings, a five-stranded pearl necklace, and a three-stranded pearl bracelet.

There was one more surprise in store at this year’s New Year’s Levee, too. Crown Prince Christian made his first appearance at the event, which also marked the first time that he has worn the collar of the Order of the Elephant in public. Now 19, Christian is tip-toeing into public life in Denmark. Since his father’s accession in January, he has twice served as regent during his father’s visits abroad, and he signed a piece of legislation on his father’s behalf during one of those regencies.