Danish State Visit to Japan, 1981

The Japanese Imperial Family hosted Queen Margrethe II and Prince Henrik of Denmark on their State Visit to Japan on this day in 1981, which began with an Official Welcome from Emperor Hirohito and Empress Nagako at the Imperial Palace, followed a State Banquet that evening hosted by the Emperor (wearing the Order of the Elephant) in honour of the Queen (in Alexandrine Drop Tiara, Queen Alexandrine’s Sapphire Parure, and the Order of the Chrysanthemum) and Prince Henrik (in the Order of the Chrysanthemum). Crown Prince Akihito (in the Order of the Elephant) and Crown Princess Michiko (wearing her Diamond Scroll Tiara), Prince and Princess Hitachi, Princess Chichibu and Princess Takamatsu were also present.

Following a series of engagements, Queen Margrethe (wearing the Diamond Floral Tiara and her Antique Diamond Parure) and Prince Henrik hosted a Return Banquet at the Akasaka Imperial Palace for the Japanese Imperial Family, which included Emperor Hirohito, Crown Prince Akihito and Crown Princess Michiko (in the Pearl Sunburst Tiara), Prince and Princess Hitachi, Princess Chichibu and Princess Takamatsu. Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik returned for a State Visit to Japan in 2004, while Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary visited Japan in 2017, to mark the 150th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Denmark and Japan.

23

2 thoughts on “Danish State Visit to Japan, 1981

  1. Thank you for posting this. It is wonderful how the Queen is able to play around with her jewels and the Sapphire demi-parure is very versatile. I love how she has placed one of the “smaller” Sapphires just in front of the Diamond Drop tiara. It is almost like she is repeating what Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom did with her Silver Wedding Fringe tiara.

    1. Thank You for pointing the connection to Queen Alexandra, because I was thinking of similar ways Tiaras had been worn, but couldn’t remember exactly who.

Leave a Reply