Floral Tiara Tournament: Floral Aigrette vs Danish Ruby

The Danish Floral Aigrette vs. The Danish Ruby Parure Tiara

The Danish Floral Aigrette
Some believe that this incredible, flexible floral ornament originally belonged to Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia, grandmother of King Frederik IX. We know for sure, though, that in the 1960s it belonged to a famous Danish-American tenor, Lauritz Melchior. He sold it to King Frederik in 1963, and it’s been sparkling on the heads of Queen Ingrid and Queen Margrethe II ever since. Queen Margrethe is especially inventive in the ways she wears the three-sectioned tiara.

The Danish Ruby Parure Tiara
This tiara began its life as a series of hair combs, purchased by Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte for his wife, Desiree, to wear at Napoleon’s coronation in 1804. When Bernadotte was elected King of Sweden, the rubies became royal jewels. The combs were made into a bandeau by Queen Alexandrine of Denmark, who had received them from her mother-in-law, Lovisa of Sweden. Queen Ingrid turned the bandeau into a grand wreath tiara, which is now worn by Crown Princess Mary of Denmark.