Happy Birthday to Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, who celebrates her 83rd Birthday today! The exuberant Danish Queen has many splendid Heirlooms from the Swedish, British and German Royal Families, but among the highlights of her historic collection is the spectacular Danish Pearl Poiré Tiara!
Danish Pearl Poiré Tiara | Danish Emerald Parure | Danish Crown Diamond Parure | Antique Diamond Parure | Antique Turquoise Parure | Baden Palmette Tiara | Daisy Brooch | Crown Pearl and Ruby Parure | Queen Alexandrine’s Sapphire Parure | Danish Royal Tiaras | Queen Margrethe’s Top 8 Jewels | Danish Royal Orders
Composed of eighteen large pear-shaped pearls suspended from diamond arches, the Pearl Poiré Tiara was commissioned by King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia in Berlin around 1825, as a wedding gift with the Pearl Poiré Brooch for his daughter, Princess Louise, who was marrying Prince Frederik of The Netherlands. An identical Tiara and Brooch were ordered by the King five years later when Prince Frederik’s sister, Princess Marianne, married his son, Prince Albert of Prussia.
The Pearl Poiré Tiara and the Pearl Poiré Brooch were worn by Princess Louise for a Portrait painted by Jean-Baptiste Van der Hulst in 1836 with her daughter, Princess Louise, who became the Queen of Sweden and Norway. Queen Louise was given the Pearl Poiré Brooch as a wedding gift, but she didn’t inherit the Tiara until Princess Louise’s death in 1870, though Queen Louise herself passed away just a few months later.
The Pearl Poiré Tiara and the Pearl Poiré Brooch were inherited by her only daughter, the then Crown Princess Lovisa, who had brought so many jewels to Denmark that “if it was all laid out on a card table, you could not see the fabric underneath”. The Crown Princess had received a striking Necklace and Earrings as a wedding gift from the Khedive of Egypt, and notably wore the pieces together as a ‘married’ Parure for the Wedding of her son, Prince Carl of Denmark later King of Norway, to his cousin, Princess Maud of Wales, in 1896. Upon her death in 1926, Queen Lovisa left the Pearl Poiré Tiara, Brooch, the Khedive of Egypt Parure, and a smaller Pearl Brooch to the Danish Royal Property Trust, reserving it for the exclusive use of Danish Queens.
The next wearer of the Pearl Poiré Tiara and the Khedive of Egypt Parure was Queen Alexandrine, who notably wore the Parure for an Official Portrait and at the Wedding Ball of her son, Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, to Princess Ingrid of Sweden at the Royal Palace of Stockholm in 1935, along with her Diamond Meander.
In 1937, Queen Alexandrine loaned the Pearl Poiré Tiara and the Khedive of Egypt Parure to the then Crown Princess Ingrid for the Coronation of King George VI in London, who herself later loaned the Tiara to Princess Margaretha for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, after it came into her possession upon the Accession of King Frederik IX in 1947.
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Queen Ingrid wore the Pearl Poiré Tiara usually with the Khedive of Egypt Parure, like for for the Danish State Banquet at the Royal Palace of Stockholm in 1947, a State Visit to France in 1950, the Wedding of Princess Ragnhild of Norway in 1953, and a Parliament Banquet at Christiansborg Palace in 1958.
1953: Queen Juliana pays a State Visit to Denmark. #nlstatevisitdk (from the book 'Juliana Regina 1948-1953') pic.twitter.com/0biD0Q8aER
— RoyalArjan (@RoyalArjan) March 14, 2015
1953: Queen Juliana pays a State Visit to Denmark. #nlstatevisitdk (from the book 'Juliana Regina 1948-1953') pic.twitter.com/0biD0Q8aER
— RoyalArjan (@RoyalArjan) March 14, 2015For more important occasions, Queen Ingrid often wore the Pearl Poiré Tiara with the Danish Crown Diamond Parure, like for the Swedish State Visit to Denmark in 1952, the Dutch State Visit to Denmark in 1953, the British State Visit to Denmark in 1957, and Crown Princess Margrethe’s 18th Birthday Banquet in 1958.
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Before Queen Ingrid acquired the Floral Aigrette Tiara, the Pearl Poiré Tiara and the Danish Ruby Parure were her only two options for events outside of Denmark, as at the Danish Emerald Parure could not leave the country. The Pearl Poiré Tiara and the Khedive of Egypt Parure were notably worn on a State Visit to Norway in 1960, a visit to the Vatican and a State Visit to Italy in 1964, a State Visit to France in 1965, a State Visit to Belgium in 1968, and the Wedding of King Harald of Norway in 1968.
Queen Ingrid also wore the Pearl Poiré Tiara for events relating to the Weddings of her three daughters, with it being worn for Princess Anne Marie’s Farewell Dinner in 1964, Crown Princess Margrethe’s Wedding Gala in 1967, and the Wedding of Princess Benedikte to Prince Richard of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg in 1968.
Queen Ingrid’s final appearance in the Pearl Poiré Tiara and the Khedive of Egypt Parure came at the spectacular Banquet hosted by the Shah of Iran and Empress Farah celebrating the 2500th Anniversary of the Persian Empire at Persepolis in October 1971, just a few months before the death of King Frederick IX.
Upon the accession of Queen Margrethe in 1972, Pearl Poiré Tiara, the Khedive of Egypt Parure, and the Pearl Poiré Brooch passed into the possession of the new Queen who wore them for her First Official Portraits taken just weeks after her father’s death.
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As Queen Margrethe’s largest Tiara upon the time of her accession, and one of only two that she could take abroad, the Pearl Poiré Tiara was worn on all of her initial Foreign Visits, like her grandfather, King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden’s, 90th Birthday Banquet in 1972, the State Visit to Sweden and the State Visit to Norway in 1973, the State Visit to Britain in 1974, the State Visit to the Netherlands in 1975, the State Visit to Belgium in 1976, the State Visit to France in 1978, and the Spanish State Visit to Denmark in 1980.
By the 1980s, Queen Margrethe had also begun to use the Floral Aigrette Tiara and Princess Dagmar’s Diamond Floral Tiara so the Pearl Poiré Tiara began to be reserved for only the most important occasions, like the French State Visit to Denmark in 1982, the State Visit to Spain in 1983, and the Dutch State Banquet at Fredensborg Palace in 1984.
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The trend to reserve the Pearl Poiré Tiara and the Khedive of Egypt Parure for the the most important occasions continued in the 1990s, with the Tiara being worn for Queen Margrethe’s 50th Birthday in 1990, the Enthronement of Emperor Akihito in 1990, a State Visit to the United States in 1991, the Norwegian State Visit to Denmark in 1991, Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik’s 25th Wedding Anniversary in 1992, the Danish State Visit to Norway in 1992, the Belgian State Visit to Denmark in 1995, Queen Margrethe’s Silver Jubilee in 1997, the Japanese State Visit in 1998, and the South African State Banquet in 1999.
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In the 2000s, Queen Margrethe wore the Pearl Poiré Tiara and the Khedive of Egypt Parure for her 60th Birthday Banquet and the Danish State Visit to Britain in 2000, a State Visit to Belgium in 2002, the Luxembourg State Visit to Denmark in 2003, the Danish State Visit to Japan and the Wedding Gala of Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark in 2004, the Norwegian Independence Centenary Gala in Copenhagen in 2005, Queen Margrethe’s 70th Birthday the Wedding of Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden in 2010, Queen Margrethe’s Ruby Jubilee Banquet in 2012, the Dutch State Visit in 2015 and the Belgian State Visit in 2017.
Queen Margrethe usually alternates the Danish Emerald Parure and the Pearl Poiré Parure for the annual New Year’s Reception, with it being worn for the New Year’s Reception 2017, at the Reception in 2019, and at the New Year’s Banquet in 2023, sometimes with pieces from the Crown Pearl and Ruby Parure.
In 2020, the Pearl Poiré Tiara, the Khedive of Egypt Parure, and the Pearl Poiré Brooch were worn for a new Portrait mark Queen Margrethe’s 80th Birthday. The Parure was then worn for the Danish State Visit to Germany in 2021, Queen Margrethe’s Golden Jubilee Banquet in 2022, and the New Year’s Banquet in 2023.
The Pearl Poiré Tiara and the Khedive of Egypt Parure were also on display at the “A Queen’s Jewelry Box” Exhibition at the Amalienborg Palace Museum for much of 2022. There is no doubt we will continue to see this splendid Royal Heirloom worn for years to come!
Queen Margrethe wore the Pearl Poiré Tiara with Danish Crown Pearl and Ruby Parure at a Gala Dinner for King Harald and Queen Sonja of Norway in Copenhagen in 2023.
Danish Pearl Poiré Tiara | Danish Emerald Parure | Danish Crown Diamond Parure | Antique Diamond Parure | Antique Turquoise Parure | Baden Palmette Tiara | Daisy Brooch | Crown Pearl and Ruby Parure | Queen Alexandrine’s Sapphire Parure | Danish Royal Tiaras | Queen Margrethe’s Top 8 Jewels | Danish Royal Orders
