Princess Isabella Debuts in the Turquoise Daisy Bandeau in Denmark

I’m dropping back in this morning with a breaking jewelry news update. Easter Monday dawned with major news from throughout royal Europe, including the passing of Pope Francis at the Vatican. In Denmark, the royal court also shared an update on the jewelry given to Princess Isabella to celebrate her eighteenth birthday today.

The Danish royal court shared three new gala portraits of Princess Isabella to mark her eighteenth birthday on Monday. The images, taken by court photographer Steen Evald at Frederik VIII’s Palace in the Amalienborg complex, show the princess wearing gala attire for the first time. She wears a striking orange evening gown with the insignia of the Order of the Elephant and her father’s royal portrait order, as well as her first tiara.

The jewel is a family heirloom that links Isabella to four generations of her royal ancestors. The petite bandeau of daisy blossoms, set with turquoises and diamonds, originally belonged to Isabella’s great-great-grandmother, Princess Margaret of Connaught. The British princess, who was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, married the future King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden in 1905, and today’s Swedish and Danish monarchs are her direct descendants.

Fittingly, Princess Margaret’s nickname was “Daisy,” though the Danish court suggests that the bandeau was acquired for her, not commissioned in her honor. The press release from the court notes: “The tiara is made of gold and adorned with 11 rosettes of daisy-like flowers of decreasing sizes, made of turquoise and diamonds,” adding that the jewel was made in the “late nineteenth century.” Per the court, the tiara is also a convertible piece: “Like many other pieces of the royal house’s jewelry, the tiara has multiple functions, as it can be disassembled and used as a bracelet.”

The piece was part of a larger married set of turquoises from Margaret’s collection, some of which are said to have belonged to Catherine the Great. Above, an archival photograph of the various turquoise pieces owned by Margaret, including the bandeau tiara.

Margaret of Connaught had five children before her tragic early passing at the age of 38 in 1920. Princess Ingrid, her only daughter, would later marry King Frederik IX of Denmark. The royal court reveals in today’s press release that the turquoise tiara was given to Ingrid as “a confirmation gift” in 1926. She wears the tiara in her first official court dress portrait, taken two years later in 1928.

The tiara traveled to Denmark with Ingrid when she married Frederik IX in 1935. She wore the jewel occasionally and also loaned it to other family members. One of the most notable loan moments came in November 1926, when Ingrid loaned the bandeau to her cousin, Princess Märtha of Sweden, to wear during the wedding celebrations for Märtha’s sister, Princess Astrid, and the future King Leopold III of Belgium. In this detail from a larger group photograph, Märtha (who was the mother of the present King of Norway) can be seen wearing the bandeau on the left of the picture.

On her death in 2000, the bandeau was inherited by her eldest daughter, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, who shared the nickname “Daisy” with her maternal grandmother and namesake.

Queen Margrethe followed in her mother’s footsteps, wearing the tiara occasionally but also allowing other family members to borrow the jewel. In January 2012, for example, she loaned the tiara to her niece, Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark, to wear during her Ruby Jubilee festivities in Copenhagen.

More recently, the tiara was included in a major royal jewelry exhibition at Amalienborg, timed to celebrate Margrethe’s Golden Jubilee in 2022. The text accompanying the tiara and its coordinating turquoise jewels read as followed: “The set is believed to have belonged to Empress Catherine the Great of Russia. Has been handed down through many generations to Queen Ingrid’s mother. Is now worn by Queen Margrethe. Like many of the Queen’s jewellery sets, its individual parts can be freely combined or worn separately. The full set is rarely worn.”

Now, the tiara has been given to Isabella. In the new set of gala portraits released earlier today, she wears the tiara with the turquoise and diamond earrings that are said to have belonged to Catherine the Great, who is also one of Isabella’s direct ancestors.

Isabella borrowed the earrings from her mother, Queen Mary of Denmark. In February 2022, Queen Margrethe gave the turquoise earrings and brooch to Mary as a 50th birthday present. She’s worn them on several occasions since, including a memorable appearance at the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla in London in May 2023.

Here’s one more gala portrait from the new set, which also shows Isabella wearing another Connaught heirloom, the gold bangle worn by Margaret’s descendants, on her right wrist, stacked with a gold bracelet from Cartier. Those who read my Saturday newsletter at Substack, Hidden Gems, will know that I’m feeling particularly satisfied by Margrethe’s choice to give the turquoises to her eldest granddaughter. I predicted that the turquoise bandeau would be Isabella’s first tiara in an article published back in March. So thrilled to see that hopeful prediction come true!