Danish Antique Diamond Parure

Next week, Queen Margrethe of Denmark will celebrate her 80th Birthday and while the big celebrations to mark the day have been cancelled, we are still continuing with our series on her Top 8 Jewels to mark her 80th Birthday, continuing with Queen Margrethe’s Antique Diamond Parure.

Originating from Hereditary Princess Caroline, the daughter of King Frederik VI, the extensive parure includes a pair of versatile earrings, circa 1840, which can be worn at various lengths with pear-shaped diamonds and diamond buttons. Other elements include an ivy-leaf stomacher and a few other smaller diamond brooches, as well as a large diamond riviere often worn with the other jewels which comes from Anne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange, which are only termed a Parure because of how they are often worn together.

Queen Alexandrine wore the Earrings of the Antique Diamond Parure on a few occasions in the 1930s, including the Wedding of Prince George, Duke of Kent and Princess Marina of Greece in 1934 and King Christian X’s Silver Jubilee Banquet in 1937.

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The Antique Diamond Parure entered the main line of the Danish Royal Family after Hereditary Princess Caroline’s death but weren’t pictured until being worn by Queen Ingrid in the 1940s and 1950s, often with the Khedive of Egypt Tiara and the Floral Aigrette Tiara.

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While some the jewels were loaned to the then Crown Princess Margrethe in the 1960s, the Antique Diamond Parure fully passed to Queen Margrethe after her accession to the throne in 1972, but continued to shared with Queen Ingrid for the rest of her life.

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The Parure have been worn in a variety of versatile ways over the years, paired with other antique jewels like Queen Josefina’s Diamond Brooches and her Floral Bracelet Choker, as well as the Floral Aigrette Tiara, Baden Palmette Tiara, and Dagmar Floral Tiara. There is no doubt we will continue to see it for years to come!

Queen Mary of Denmark wore the Earrings from Anne of Orange and the Diamond Rivière of the Antique Diamond Parure with the Pearl Poiré Tiara for the Icelandic State Banquet at Christiansborg Palace.