King Frederik and Queen Mary are in Finland for a state visit. Queen Mary used the visit to wear a tiara and bracelet that haven’t been seen in more than a century. She debuted these pieces at the state dinner held in honor of the visit.
She wore a gold tiara and bracelet that were created in 1820 for the future Queen of Denmark, Caroline Amelie. The gold tiara holds a variety of stones in a variety of colors. These stones were collected during Caroline Amalie and her husband’s, the future King Christian VII of Denmark, trip to Italy.
The bracelet belonged to Princess Vilhelmine Marie and was given to her by her husband, later titled King Frederik VII of Denmark. It was gifted to her shortly before their wedding. The bracelet has gold and semi-precious stones collected from Vesuvius. The box it was given in has an translates that reads “It is from the summit of the flaming Vesuvius that my heart flies to you. April 24, 1828” in French.
Both of these pieces haven’t been worn in public for over a century. The tiara hasn’t been worn in 140 years. Both pieces are a part of the Royal Collection and as such are exhibited at Rosenborg Castle. The pieces were removed temporarily so Queen Mary could wear them and will be returned and exhibited once the state visit has concluded according to the Danish Royal Court press release.
These unexpected jewelry choices show a trend of Queen Mary putting her own stamp on the royal jewelry. This is in keeping with Danish tradition for the new Queen to use and modify the crown jewels in accordance with the changing needs of the times. In December, the Danish Royal Court shared that Queen Mary and goldsmith Hasbo Dinesen modified a belt made of rose-cut diamonds made for Queen Caroline Amalie. They created a setting that would use the stones from the belt as a rose-cut diamond bandeau tiara. Queen Mary debuted this tiara at the state dinner she and King Frederik hosted in honour of the Egyptian state visit.
What next might Mary do with the crown jewels? Will she dig more pieces out? Or maybe she’ll repurpose some underutilized gems? Only time will tell!
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