Danish queens don't get to be crowned. But when Margrethe steps down this weekend, her daughter

Release time：2024-05-21 10:03:03 Source：Culture Capsule news portal

It's ten thousand miles from  Sydney to the Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen.

Crown Princess Mary of Denmark has certainly come a long way since she first met Crown Prince Frederik in the Slip Inn pub as the city staged the 2000 Olympics. 

And the scale of her transformation will never be clearer than on Sunday. For, by the time evening falls, the princess will be Queen.

January 14 is when her 83-year-old mother-in-law Queen Margrethe steps down after 52 years on the throne, an abdication announced in a live television broadcast on New Year's Eve to the surprise of the Danish public.

Margrethe will replaced by her eldest son Frederik, with Mary as Queen Consort.

As Crown Princess, Mary already has all the fashions, stylists and accessories she could possibly need.

But this weekend, the Australian-born 'commoner' will be granted access to something else as well: a treasure chest of magnificent jewels to be worn by the queen. And only the queen!

Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark arrive at Amalienborg Palace for the traditional new year reception on January 1, 2024

Crown Princess Mary of Denmark and Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark attend a dinner hosted by Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands ahead of her abdication in favour of Crown Prince Willem Alexander at Rijksmuseum on April 29, 2013

Denmark's Queen Margrethe, Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary greet the diplomatic corps on the occasion of the New Year at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen

The Crown Emerald Parure

The Danish Royal family is the only European royal family who can trace its lineage directly back to Gorm the Old and the first kings of their country.

Yet there hasn't been a coronation for more than 400 years and by the middle of the 18th century, there were no crown jewels.

That's when Queen Sophie Magdalen decided to rectify the situation, dictating in her will that her jewels must be passed down from queen to queen, bemoaning that:

'In this Royal House, there are so few jewels and not any crown jewels at all.'

Queen Margrethe of Denmark poses in the emerald parure for her 40th birthday

The Crown Emerald Necklace in detail 

Exquisite craftsmanship close up

The parure includes matching diamond and emerald earrings 

Queen Margrethe Of Denmark Attending A Reception At The Christiansborg Palace To Celebrate The Forthcoming Marriage Of Her Son

Sophie Magdalene of Brandenburg-Kulmbach, Queen of Denmark and Norway

The Crown Emerald Diadem

The brooch from the Crown Emerald Parure

Many of her original jewels were then redesigned in the 1840s by the German goldsmith C.M. Weisshaupt & Sons for Queen Caroline Amalie.

Probably the most important is  the Crown Emerald Parure.

Created in 1840, it comprises of a diadem, a necklace, a brooch which can be taken apart and worn in several smaller pieces, and a pair of earrings - all set with brilliant diamonds and emeralds. 

The largest emeralds were given to Queen Sophie Magdalene by her husband King Christian VI in 1723 to celebrate the birth of their first child, who became Frederick V. 

It has frequently been worn by Queen Margrethe for State occasions, most particularly the New Year Reception.

The Crown Pearl and Ruby Parure

This 1842 parure is made up of some of the oldest of the Danish jewels.

It includes a large pearl necklace, pearl, ruby and diamond earrings and a large pearl, ruby and diamond brooch which can be taken apart and worn in different ways.

Queen Margrethe sometimes wore the brooch attached to the necklace. There are also two small locks that can be linked together.

The Crown Pearl and Ruby Parure set

The huge pearl, ruby and diamond earrings from the set

Queen Charlotte Amalie wearing a beautiful pearl necklace very similar to the pearls in the Crown Pearl and Ruby Parure

The large pearls in the necklace can possibly be traced back to Christian IV's daughter Leonora Christina Ulfeldt who is wearing a large pearl necklace in a 1647 portrait. 

It is thought that when she was imprisoned for 22 years for supporting her husband, who was arrested for trying to poison the royal family, the pearls were passed to Queen Charlotte Amalie. She became queen in 1670. 

According to Peter Kristiansen in his book Power, Splendour and Diamonds, the pearls could be Norwegian river pearls as Danish queens of the 1600s had exclusive rights to pearl fishing in Norway. 

The Rose-Cut Diamond Parure

Again made in 1840 for Queen Caroline Amalie, this suite consists of a rose-cut diamond belt, which can be transformed into two necklaces, and a brooch which can be four smaller brooches. 

This suite consists of a rose-cut diamond belt, which can be transformed into two necklaces

A close-up of the rose-cut diamond brooch

The brooch can be transformed into four smaller brooches.

Queen Caroline Amalie of Denmark

Queen Louise, mother of Queen Alexandra (wife and Queen Consort of Edward VII) and Empress Maria Feodorvna wore the belt on a number of occasions times.

The Brilliant Diamond Parure

This parure was created in 1840 by Weishaupt, for Queen Caroline to wear at the last Danish Coronation that year.

Wedding of Prince Frederik of Denmark and Mary Donaldson wearing the Brilliant Diamond Parure

A close up of the diamond parure

Part of the brilliant cut necklace. The parure also  includes diamond earrings and a spectacular floral corsage

Newly married Crown Prince Frederik & Crown Princess Mary Of Denmark appear on the balcony of Amalienborg Palace, with Queen Margrethe II and Prince Henrik by their side

The sumptuous necklace is set with diamonds that had belonged to various Danish queens: Sophie Magdalene, Juliane Marie and Caroline Mathilde, as well as a princess: Charlotte Amalie.

 According to the Royal Watcher blog, Queen Louise was able to take the necklace to London for the wedding of her grandson, the future George V.

The parure also includes diamond earrings and a spectacular floral corsage, the latter of which has yellow diamonds in the centre of several of the flowers. 

It is made 'en tremblant' so the flowers move as the wearer walks.

Related articles