Princess Benedikte’s Diamond Floral Tiara

Happy Birthday to Princess Benedikte of Denmark, the Dowager Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, who turns 80 today! The sister of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and Queen Anne-Marie of Greece, Princess Benedikte has a huge jewellery collection, which began with her splendid Diamond Floral Tiara!

When Princess Benedikte of Denmark celebrated her 18th Birthday in 1962, she received this striking Diamond Floral Tiara as a gift from her parents, King Frederik IX and Queen Ingrid of Denmark, who had inherited the components that formed the Tiara, as Princess Benedikte described:

In the central flower sits a large brilliant, which can be exchanged with an emerald or a pearl; I inherited this piece from my grandmother, Queen Alexandrine, and it was then placed on a comb with the emerald.

The two side pieces can be used as independent brooches. These two were a gift for my confirmation from my parents on 19 March 1959. They were originally one brooch which my mother inherited from Baron Didrik Bildt, a friend of my grandfather. I used to place them in my hair before I was 18 and allowed to use a tiara.

To my confirmation my mother fixed the central section so it could be used both as a brooch and a pendant. The brilliant was a gift from my mother in the summer of 1964; it was an excess piece from the jewellery my mother arranged as a tiara for my sister Anne-Marie’s 18h birthday on 30 August.”

As Princess Benedikte described, she wore the Diamond Floral Brooches in her hair ahead of her 18th Birthday, most notably for the Wedding Ball of her cousin, Princess Birgitta of Sweden, and Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern in 1961.

Princess Benedikte wore the Diamond Floral Tiara for her 18th Birthday Portraits, and shortly afterwards for the Anglo-Danish Dinner at the Dorchester Hotel in 1962.

A few weeks later, the Diamond Floral Tiara was worn by Princess Benedikte for the Wedding Ball of Prince Juan Carlos of Spain and Princess Sophia of Greece in Athens, as well as her grandfather, King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden’s, 60th Birthday Gala in Stockholm.

The following year, Princess Benedikte wore the Diamond Floral Tiara for Greek Monarchy Centenary Celebrations in 1963, including a Banquet at the Royal Palace of Athens and a Gala Performance, as well as on the Danish State Visit to Iran later that year.

Princess Benedikte wore the Diamond Floral Tiara for her cousins, Princess Margaretha and Princess Désirée of Sweden’s, Wedding Ball at the Royal Palace of Stockholm, the Danish State Visit to Italy, a State Visit to the Vatican and for Official Portraits taken of the Danish Royal Family at Fredensborg Palace in the Summer of 1964. Just a few weeks later, the Diamond Floral Tiara was worn by Princess Benedikte for Princess Anne Marie’s Farewell Dinner, a Gala in Copenhagen, a Dinner in Athens, and the Wedding Ball of King Constantine II of Greece and Princess Anne Marie of Denmark at the Royal Palace of Athens.

Princess Benedikte wore the Diamond Floral Tiara for Crown Princess Margrethe’s Wedding Gala at Christiansborg Palace in 1967 and a Ball at French Embassy, as well as her won Wedding Gala in 1968.

The Diamond Floral Tiara was worn by Princess Benedikte throughout the early years of her marriage, before she received the Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg Fringe Tiara, most notably worn for the King Gustaf VI Adolf’s 90th Birthday Banquet in 1972, the Norwegian State Visit to Denmark in 1974, and the Wedding of her cousin, Princess Christina of Sweden, in 1974.

Princess Benedikte wore the Diamond Floral Tiara, and also the floral elements, quite rarely over the following years, with appearances at Black Tie Galas, at Noble Weddings, the Heads of State Banquet at Guildhall in 1995, Princess Alexia’s Pre-Wedding Dinner in 1999, and the Wedding Banquet of Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark in 2004.

From the early 1990s, Princess Benedikte has often loaned the Diamond Floral Tiara to her daughter, Princess Alexandra of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, who has worn the Tiara for Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik’s 25th Wedding Anniversary in 1992, Queen Margrethe’s 60th Birthday in 2000, the Wedding of Crown Prince Haakon of Norway in 2001, King Harald’s 70th Birthday Banquet in 2007, and the Wedding of Prince Joachim and Marie Cavallier in 2008.

While Princess Nathalie of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg has primarily worn Queen Sofia’s Pearl and Star Tiara over the years, she wore the Diamond Floral Tiara for the Wedding of Prince Joachim of Denmark and Alexandra Manley in 1995, King Carl XVI Gustaf’s 50th Birthday Banquet in 1996, the Wedding of Princess Alexandra of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg and Count Jefferson von Pfeil und Klein-Ellguth, Queen Margrethe’s Silver Jubilee in 1997, Queen Margrethe’s 60th Birthday in 2000, the Wedding of Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, Queen Margrethe’s 70th Birthday Gala in 2010, and the Wedding of Prince Gustav of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg and Carina Axelsson.

Princess Alexandra also wore the Diamond Floral Tiara for the Wedding of Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden in 2010, Queen Margrethe’s Ruby Jubilee Gala in 2012, Queen Margrethe’s Ruby Jubilee Banquet in 2012, and Crown Prince Frederik’s 50th Birthday Gala Dinner at Christiansborg Palace in 2018, but since her marriage to Count Michael Ahlefeldt-Laurvig-Bille, she has only worn the Ahlefeldt-Laurvig-Bille Tiara.

While she prefers the Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg Fringe Tiara and Queen Sofia’s Pearl and Star Tiara, the Diamond Floral Tiara has been sporadically worn by Princess Benedikte over the years, including for the Mexican State Visit to Denmark in 2016 and a Banquet at Christiansborg Palace in 2018.

Occasionally, Princess Benedikte has worn the Diamond Floral elements as Brooches, like for King Constantine and Queen Anne Marie’s Golden Wedding Anniversary in 2014 and the Wedding of her nephew, Prince Philippos of Greece, in 2021.

In 2018, Princess Benedikte loaned the Diamond Flower Tiara to the ‘Magtens Smykker‘ (The Power of Jewelry) Exhibition in Koldinghus.

In the royal family, there is a tradition for the female members to wear the diadem only when they reach the age of 18. Therefore, H.K.H. Princess Benedict, on the occasion of her 18th birthday, formed this diadem, which is composed of older inherited jewelry. In the middle part sits a large brilliant, which the Princess inherited from her grandmother, Queen Alexandrine. The two side pieces – which Princess Benedikte also uses as separate brooches – were a confirmation gift for the Princess from her parents King Frederik 9. and Queen Ingrid. The diadem is made in gold and silver and is constructed like foliage and flowers and fastened on a base.

Most recently, Princess Benedikte wore the Diamond Floral Tiara with parts of her Amethyst Suite for a Banquet at Christiansborg Palace, to mark the end of Queen Margrethe’s Golden Jubilee Celebrations. There is no doubt the Diamond Floral Tiara will be worn for years to come!