Queen Alexandrine’s Sapphire Brooch

Happy Birthday to Princess Marie of Denmark, who turns 43 today! The French born second wife of Queen Margrethe’s second son, Princess Marie attends a plethora of glittering Royal Events, but has relatively few heirloom jewels at her disposal. However among the jewels she does have is this versatile heirloom Sapphire Brooch/Pendant.

This Brooch/Pendant, featuring a diamond cluster ringed by sapphires and diamonds, from which a briolette diamond drop is suspended, was first seen on Queen Alexandrine of Denmark, born Duchess Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, in a portrait in the first decade of the 20th century. Queen Alexandrine owned many sapphire jewels, including a Sapphire Parure now with Queen Margrethe and a Russian Sapphire Tiara that was recently sold at Auction, most of which were wedding gifts, so it is safe to assume this Brooch/Pendant was another gift.

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After Queen Alexandrine’s death in 1950, unlike many of her other jewels, excepting her Ruby Bow Brooch, the Sapphire Brooch/Pendant was inherited and worn by her daughter-in-law, Queen Ingrid, who also retained it during her widowhood, most notably wearing the piece for a State Visit to France in 1965, a State Visit to Ethiopia in 1970, and a State Visit from her nephew King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden in 1974.

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After Queen Ingrid’s Death in 2000, Queen Alexandrine’s Sapphire Brooch/Pendant was inherited by Queen Margrethe, who notably wore it for her cousin King Carl XVI Gustaf’s second State Visit in 2007, and also wore the piece as a pendant, suspended from a metal chain rather than the diamond riviere of her mother.

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Similar to how Crown Princess Mary got the Connaught Sapphire Brooch to mark Prince Christian’s birth, it is suspected Queen Margrethe gifted Queen Alexandrine’s Sapphire Brooch/Pendant to Princess Marie to mark the birth of Prince Henrik in 2009, as she first wore the piece, as a pendant, at the New Year’s Court in 2010, and has regularly worn the versatile heirloom at Gala events since then. With the addition of the new Mauboussin Nuit Claire/Lyse Naetter Tiara into her rotation, we will probably see the piece worn even more frequently.

2 thoughts on “Queen Alexandrine’s Sapphire Brooch

  1. I think it’s so nice that Queen Margrethe had two heirloom brooches to offer each of her daughters-in-law on the birth of their respective first-born. Even though CP Mary’s brooch is divine, it is also significantly bigger, making this one is more wearable and more versatile. It can be worn as a brooch and as a pendant, giving Princess Marie more options- and we know she needs them! It’s such a coincidence that both Danish princesses are called “Mary/Marie” and that their birthdays fall within days of each other!

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