The Jewels of the Queens of Denmark

When Crown Prince Frederik becomes King Frederik X on the Abdication of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark this Sunday, Crown Princess Mary will receive the spectacular Heirloom Jewels reserved for the exclusive use of the Queens of Denmark!

The Heirlooms that will be passed between the two Palaces can be divided into the Danish Crown Jewels, which belong to the Danish State, are on permanent display at Rosenborg Castle and cannot leave Denmark, and the entailed Løsørefideikommis, the Danish Royal Property Trust which belong to the Danish Crown and while they cannot be sold or dismantled and are for the sole use of the Danish Queen, they are allowed to be taken out of Denmark and worn abroad. All of these will now pass into the exclusive possession of the soon-to-be Queen Mary.

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The most important historic heirloom at the use of the Danish Queen is the Danish Emerald Parure, which was created for Queen Caroline Amalie in 1840, with twenty-six of the largest emeralds dating from 1723, all set in a Tiara, a Necklace, pair of Earrings, and a Corsage Brooch. Queen Margrethe has worn the Emerald Parure on various occasions throughout her 52-year reign, most recently for the Spanish State Visit to Denmark two months ago.

Queen Mary first wore the historic Danish Emerald Parure for her first Official Gala Portraits taken by Steen Evald in the Green Room at Christiansborg Palace.

The grandest jewel of the Løsørefideikommis is the spectacular Pearl Poiré Tiara, which was commissioned in Berlin two centuries ago, and after going from Prussia to The Netherlands and then Sweden, it has been in Denmark since 1870, but was only added to the Royal Property Trust by Queen Lovisa in 1926. The Pearl Poiré Tiara has been an emblematic symbol of Queen Margrethe over the last five decades, worn as recently as last week’s New Year’s Banquet, but we expect it to be the first Tiara we see on Queen Mary.

The Pearl Poiré Tiara is usually paired with the Khedive of Egypt Parure, a Necklace and pair of Earrings which were given as a wedding gift to Queen Lovisa from the Khedive of Egypt in 1869, and the heirloom Pearl Poire Brooch, that dates to the creation of the Tiara in 1825. The Khedive of Egypt Parure and Pearl Poiré Brooch is worn more often than the Tiara, like at the recent Danish New Year’s Levées.

Queen Margrethe has often worn the Pearl Poiré Tiara with the Crown Pearl and Ruby Parure, which features a large Pearl Necklace, Pearl, Ruby and Diamond Earrings, two Pearl Clasps, and two Ruby and Diamond links, which were a part of the will of Queen Sophie Magdalene in 1746, with the four sets made by Queen Caroline Amalie in 1840. The Pearl and Ruby Parure was worn twice recently, at a Gala Dinner for King Harald and Queen Sonja of Norway in Copenhagen and for Prince Christian’s 18th Birthday Banquet in October.

One of the most recent additions to the Løsørefideikommis is the Floral Aigrette Tiara, which was acquired by King Frederik IX for Queen Ingrid in the 1960s and possibly originates from Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. The versatile Tiara is composed of three separate diamond floral sections, which can be mounted on a frame as a traditional tiara, or worn in the hair in various formats, on which Queen Margrethe has said:

I like wearing it slightly differently from time to time, and I think my hairdresser enjoys doing it like that, too.”

The most spectacular Diamonds in Crown Jewels are in the magnificent Crown Diamond Parure, which was also created for Queen Caroline Amalie in 1840, using various diamonds that had belonged to the Danish Crown for centuries composed into a a magnificent diamond necklace with seven pendants, a large corsage brooch, a pair of earrings, and two large pear-shaped diamonds. The Crown Diamonds have been reserved by Queen Margrethe for only the most important occasions, like the Wedding of Crown Prince Frederik in 2004, and have not been worn in over a decade.

More often, Queen Margrethe has paired the Floral Aigrette Tiara with the versatile Antique Diamond Parure of the Løsørefideikommis, that is composed of a historic Diamond Rivière that comes from Anne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange, a pair of versatile earrings, circa 1840, which can be worn at various lengths with pear-shaped diamonds and diamond buttons, an ivy-leaf stomacher, a diamond bow brooch, and a diamond clasp, which alongside the Floral Bracelet Choker and Queen Josefina’s Diamond Brooches, form an extensive married Parure that has often been creatively worn by Queen Margrethe, most recently at her Golden Jubilee Gala, where we saw her glittering in person.

The fourth Parure of the Danish Crown Jewels is the rose-cut Diamond Parure, which is composed of a rose-cut diamond rivière with a large diamond brooch that divides into four smaller brooches. The Parure has only been worn once by Queen Margrethe but is among the jewels on display in the treasury of Rosenborg Castle, along with fourteen spectacular Diamond Brooches that were also only once seen on Queen Margrethe.

Another part of the Løsørefideikommis that will pass to Queen Mary is the antique Diamond Frame of the Portrait Brooch, which originates from Empress Amelie of Brazil, which will soon portray the portrait of King Frederik.

In her possession, the soon to be Queen Mary already has the spectacular Danish Ruby Parure, which was made for the Coronation of Napoleon in 1804, but the Tiara, massive necklace, pair of earrings, and brooch have been made infinitely more versatile by Crown Princess Mary over the last two decades, allowing it to be worn in numerous configurations of the necklace, earrings, and brooch. It was most recently worn at last week’s New Year’s Banquet, and while it may not be seen for a while as the new Queen explores her new jewels, we expect it to continue to be worn for the next few years, until there is a new Crown Princess of Denmark.

A few years ago, Queen Margrethe passed along her Antique Turquoise Parure to Crown Princess Mary, which features a large corsage brooch and a pair of earrings alongside a few smaller brooches and pendants as well as the Turquoise Daisy Bandeau, though it is not yet clear how many of the jewels have been given and how many are still retained by Queen Margrethe.

Of course, Queen Mary will still retain her Wedding Tiara and Diamond Necklace Tiara, alongside her substantial accumulated jewellery collection, but after so many appearances of the Tiaras this past year, we expect that they will be left in the vault for the use of Princess Isabella and Princess Josephine, the former of whom is only a year away from her first tiara events.

Now, you may wonder what Jewels Queen Margrethe will have left after passing along the majority of what had become her trademark Jewels over her 52-year Reign, well, she still retains her Baden Palmette Tiara, the Nassut Tiara, the Golden Poppies Tiara, and possibly the Turquoise Daisy Bandeau Tiara, alongside the Daisy Brooch, Queen Alexandrine’s Sapphire Parure, the Connaught Pearl Brooch, a Pearl and Diamond Corsage, her Wedding Earrings, the Saudi Diamond Necklace, her Modern Turquoises, and Gold, Ruby, and Pearl Parure. Queen Margrethe used to share pieces of the Antique Diamond Parure with her mother, Queen Ingrid, before and during her reign so it is possible we may still see Queen Margrethe in some of those jewels as well. Queen Margrethe may be retiring public duties, but we suspect that she will continue to be present for big gala events and family occasions at home and abroad, so there is no doubt she has many spectacular gala appearances yet to come!

The crown jewels

The best-known pieces of jewellery are the crown jewels, which primarily consist of four large jewellery sets: a brilliant set, an emerald set, a pearl-ruby set and a rose stone set. The crown jewels belong to the Crown, i.e. the monarch and his queen. After the change of throne, they are therefore available to HM Queen Mary. When the crown jewels are not in use, they are displayed in the treasury in the secured basement under Rosenborg Castle.

It is customary for the crown jewels to remain in Denmark, which means that they are not taken with them when visiting abroad. The Danish crown jewels are the only ones in the world that are both exhibited as museum objects and at the same time worn by the country’s queen.

The history of the crown jewels goes back to Christian VI’s queen, Queen Sophie Magdalene, who in her will from 1746 decided that her jewelery should not pass to one specific person, but always be available to the country’s sitting queen on the grounds that “there in this royal house there are so few jewels and no crown jewels at all” . Most of Queen Sophie Magdalene’s original jewellery has been remade by subsequent queens as jewellery fashions have changed. Today, the four crown jewel sets have the design that Christian VIII’s queen, Queen Caroline Amalie, gave them in 1840.

The jewellery in the Danish Royal House’s Loose Trust Committee

Another group of striking jewellery is the jewellery from the Danish Royal House’s Loose Trust Committee. These pieces include, among others, the Perlepoire set of tiara, necklace, earrings and brooches, the large diamond necklace, called the Rivière , and the diamond frame with royal portrait worn by the Queen at the gala.

The Royal Trust Trust was founded by Frederik 8th and Queen Lovisa in 1910. The purpose was to collect and secure gold, silver and other valuables “that are desired to be preserved in Our Family and therefore must pass undivided from King to King of our House”.

The objects in a fideicommis are inherited in the family. They are not owned by the individual person, and a sale or mortgaging of the inheritance is therefore not possible. In the Royal Trust Committee, this means that important collections – not least the co-founder, Queen Lovisa’s great legacy from her Dutch, German, French and Swedish ancestors – have been able to be kept together in the Royal House.

The Commission of Estates jewellery is worn by the sitting Queen and can be taken abroad for use at gala events.

The royal family’s private jewelery

The queen and the other women in the royal family also have a collection of private jewels which they themselves dispose of.

In Queen Margrethe’s collection, you will find, among other things, the palmette tiara and the sapphire set with necklace and earrings, which Frederik IX had made as a wedding present for his daughter, the successor to the throne, Princess Margrethe. Other important pieces of jewellery are the ruby and pearl set, which was a silver wedding gift from Prince Henrik, and the Greenlandic gold diadem, the flower diadem Naasut – a gift from Greenland in connection with the 40th anniversary of the government in 2012.

In the future Queen Mary’s jewelry collection, you will find the old Russian turquoise and brilliant jewelry that Queen Margrethe gave to her daughter-in-law on her 50th birthday in 2022, and a slender diamond tiara that can also be used as a necklace, and which the future queen herself has purchased at auction.

The most well-known of the privately owned pieces of jewellery worn by the future queen is probably the ruby set, given to the future king by her maternal grandmother Queen Ingrid. The set was made for French Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte’s wife Desirée and was worn at Emperor Napoleon’s coronation in 1804. The set came to Sweden via the Bernadotte couple when they were appointed Crown Prince Couple of Sweden. Desirée, who in 1818 became Queen Desideria of Sweden, then let it go to her daughter-in-law Josefina. As queen dowager, in 1869 Josefina presented the set to her granddaughter, Princess Lovisa, at her wedding to Danish Crown Prince Frederik (8th) with the reason “the Danish colors for Louisa”.