Happy Birthday to Queen Anne Marie of Greece, who turns 78 today! The Danish Princess married the Greek King in 1964, before being exiled for more than five decades. The sister of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, sister-in-law of Queen Sofia of Spain, cousin of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, King Harald V of Norway, and the Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Anne Marie still attends a plethora of glittering events, where she wears pieces from her spectacular jewel collection, that includes this heirloom Aquamarine and Diamond Pendant!
A striking Aquamarine and Diamond Pendant composed of a heart-shaped aquamarine topped by a delicate diamond bow, this jewel was Madde by Kreuter & Co in Hanau around 1908.
Crown Princess Margareta of Sweden seems to have worn the Aquamarine and Diamond Pendant, one of several in her collection, with her Aquamarine Kokoshnik Tiara at some point in the mid-1910s, and left it to her only daughter, the future Queen Ingrid of Denmark, at the time of her tragic death in 1920.
In the early 1960s, Queen Ingrid gave the Aquamarine Pendant to her youngest daughter, Princess Anne Marie, who wore the piece suspended from a small strand of pearls for the Wedding Ball of Prince Juan Carlos of Spain and Princess Sophia of Greece in 1962, an Official Portrait, and also a Holiday in Corfu in 1964, shortly before her Wedding to the Greek King.
After her Wedding, Queen Anne Marie suspended her grandmother’s Aquamarine and Diamond Pendant from Queen Alexandrine’s Diamond Sautoir, an inheritance from her paternal grandmother, most notably for a Christmas Gala at the Hotel Grande Bretagne in Athens in 1964 and the Greek New Year’s Reception in 1965, when it was paired with a large square Aquamarine and Diamond Brooch given as a Wedding Gift from a Greek Tycoon.
Queen Anne Marie continued to wear her grandmother’s Aquamarine Pendant during the family’s exile, most notably for her grandfather, King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden’s 90th Birthday in 1972 and at the Enthronement Mass of her brother-in-law, King Juan Carlos of Spain in 1975.
Queen Anne Marie also wore the Aquamarine Pendant for King Constantine’s 50th Birthday Gala in London in 1990, her brother-in-law, Prince Henrik’s 60th Birthday in 1994, and the Wedding of Crown Prince Haakon of Norway in 2001, when it was paired with the Khedive of Egypt Tiara, another inheritance from Crown Princess Margareta.
Queen Anne Marie also wore the Aquamarine and Diamond Pendant with the Khedive of Egypt Tiara and Queen Alexandrine’s Diamond Sautoir for the Wedding Gala of Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume of Luxembourg, alongside the larger Aquamarine Brooch given as a Wedding Gift from a Greek Tycoon.
Most recently, Queen Anne Marie also wore the Aquamarine Pendant as a Brooch at Crown Prince Frederik’s 50th Birthday Gala Dinner at Christiansborg Palace in 2018. We have no doubt we will continue to see the heirloom Pendant for years to come!
Greek Emerald Parure | Greek Ruby Parure | Khedive of Egypt Tiara | Antique Corsage Tiara | Aquamarine Pendant | Queen Frederica’s Emerald Pendant | Modern Diamond Necklace | Sapphire Necklace | Van Cleef & Arpels Ruby Necklace | Diamond Cross | Diamond Sautoir | Van Cleef & Arpels Suite | Diamond Earrings | Diamond Pendant | Emerald Pendant | Diamond Swan Brooch
