Danish State Visit to Britain, 1951

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The British Royal Family hosted King Frederik IX and Queen Ingrid of Denmark on their State Visit to Britain on thus day in 1951, the first Danish State Visit to Britain since 1914. The Danish and British Royal Families have close family links through their common descent from King Christian IX, as well as through Queen Ingrid’s mother, the British Princess Margaret of Connaught, and the Duke of Edinburgh, born a Prince of Greece and Denmark. The Queen has undertaken State Visits to Denmark in 1957 and in 1979, and has hosted Queen Margrethe on her State Visit to Britain in 1974 and on her second State Visit in 2000.

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King Frederik IX and Queen Ingrid of Denmark were received by the Duke of Edinburgh on arrival in Britain and rode in a train to Victoria Station, where they were welcomed by King George VI, Queen Elizabeth, and the extended British Royal Family. Following the Official Welcome, the Royal Party rode in a Ceremonial Procession to Buckingham Palace. There are no pictures or footage from that evening’s State Banquet hosted by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (likely wearing Queen Victoria’s Oriental Circlet Tiara) in honour of King Frederik IX and Queen Ingrid (probably wearing the Pearl Poiré Tiara and Parure), with only Princess Elizabeth (in the Girls of Great Britain & Ireland Tiara and Nizam of Hyderabad Necklace) and the Duke of Edinburgh pictured arriving.

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King Frederik IX was made a Stranger Knight of the The Most Noble Order of the Garter, and the following day, King Frederik IX and Queen Ingrid joined the Royal Family and other Knight’s of the Order of the Garter for the annual Garter Service at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. Queen Ingrid’s parents, King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden and Princess Margaret of Connaught, had gotten married at Windsor Castle in 1905. That evening, the Danish King and Queen dined with King George VI and Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace.

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The next day, King Frederik and Queen Ingrid of Denmark (wearing her Antique Diamond Parure) visited the newly opened Festival of Britain Exhibition on London’s South Bank, before they drove in state through the streets of London for a Luncheon hosted by the Lord Mayor of London at the Guildhall, which was also attended by Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh. That evening, King Frederik IX and Queen Ingrid (wearing the Khedive of Egypt Tiara, her Antique Diamond Earrings, and the Antique Corsage) hosted a Return Banquet for King George VI, Queen Elizabeth (wearing the Greville Tiara, Greville Festoon Necklace, and Teck Flower Brooch), and the British Royal Family at the Danish Embassy in London.

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On their final day in Britain, King Frederick IX and Queen Ingrid attended the inauguration of the Danish Church in London. That evening, the Royal Party attended a Ballet at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden , which was followed by a Reception hosted by the British Government at Lancaster House, where King Frederick IX (in the Order of the Garter) and Queen Ingrid (wearing the Danish Ruby Parure and the Order of the Elephant) were joined by King George VI (wearing the Order of the Elephant), Queen Elizabeth (in Queen Mary’s Fringe Tiara, Coronation Necklace and Earrings, Coronation Rivière, and Queen Victoria’s Fringe Brooch), Princess Elizabeth (wearing the Girls of Great Britain & Ireland Tiara, her South African Diamond Necklace and the Order of the Elephant) and the Duke of Edinburgh, Princess Margaret (in the Cartier Halo Tiara), and Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent (wearing the Kent Pearl Circle Bandeau and her Vladimir Pearl Earrings) alongside other members of the British Royal Family, including Earl and Countess Mountbatten (wearing the Mountbatten Tiara and her Art Deco Diamond Necklace). The Duchess of Northumberland (in the Northumberland Clover Coronet ) and Countess Spencer (wearing the Spencer Honeysuckle Tiara) were among the members of the British Aristocracy in attendance.

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