Queen Alexandrine’s Sapphire Brooch

Princess Marie of Denmark will celebrate her 50th Birthday this week! The French-born daughter-in-law of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark has several Royal Heirlooms and received Queen Alexandrine’s Sapphire and Diamond Brooch/Pendant as a gift from Queen Margrethe II to celebrate the birth of Prince Henrik in 2009!

Composed of a large diamond ringed by cabochon sapphires and diamonds, from which a briolette diamond drop is suspended, this jewel dates from the latter half of the 19th century and must have been among the wedding gifts of Queen Alexandrine of Denmark, who had also received a Sapphire Parure and a Russian Sapphire Tiara.

Queen Alexandrine notably wore her Sapphire Brooch for a portrait in the early 1900s, as well as wearing the piece as a Pendant for the Confirmations of her sons, Crown Prince Frederik and Prince Knud, at Fredensborg Palace in 1915.

Queen Alexandrine gave the Sapphire Brooch/Pendant to her daughter-in-law, Queen Ingrid, who possessed several Sapphire Brooches, like the Connaught Sapphire Brooch or the Flood Sapphire Brooch, but wore Queen Alexandrine’s Brooch for a State Visit to France in 1965, and as a Pendant on a State Visit to Ethiopia in 1970.

Queen Ingrid retained Queen Alexandrine’s Sapphire Brooch during her widowhood, wearing the Brooch as a Pendant suspended from the Diamond Rivière for the Norwegian State Visit to Denmark in 1974 and a State Visit from her nephew King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden in 1975.

Queen Ingrid continued to wear Queen Alexandrine’s Sapphire Brooch into her old age, like for the Norwegian State Visit to Denmark in 1991 or Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik’s 25th Wedding Anniversary in 1992.

After Queen Ingrid’s Death in 2000, Queen Alexandrine’s Sapphire Brooch/Pendant was inherited by Queen Margrethe, who notably wore it for her cousin King Carl XVI Gustaf’s second State Visit in 2007, and also as a pendant, suspended from a metal chain.

It is suspected Queen Margrethe gifted Queen Alexandrine’s Sapphire Brooch/Pendant to Princess Marie to mark the birth of Prince Henrik in 2009, as she first wore the piece, as a pendant, at the New Year’s Court in 2010, and has regularly worn the versatile heirloom at Gala events since then with Princess Dagmar’s Diamond Floral Tiara.

Princess Marie has worn Queen Alexandrine’s Sapphire Brooch on numerous occasions over the years, among them Prince Joachim’s 50th Birthday Dinner.

More recently, Queen Alexandrine’s Sapphire Brooch was also worn by Princess Marie for Queen Margrethe’s Golden Jubilee Service as well as the Danish New Year’s Banquet in 2025, with no doubt that this Royal Heirloom will be worn for years to come!