Queen Mary and Queen Maxima Wear Antique Pearls to Commemorate Sacrifice and Liberation

On Sunday, royals gathered in Denmark and the Netherlands for solemn commemorations of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of each country during World War II, with both Queen Mary and Queen Máxima wearing pearl cluster brooches from the family vaults.

In Copenhagen on Sunday, members of the royal family gathered at Vor Frue Kirke for a service commemorating the liberation of Denmark from German occupation in 1945. King Frederik X and Queen Mary were joined at the service by Queen Margrethe and Princess Benedikte, both of whom were born during the occupation. The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, representing King Charles III, also traveled to Denmark to attend the anniversary commemorations, as British troops liberated the majority of the country in 1945. The Duchess was born in Odense in January 1946, less than a year after liberation.

After the service, the Danish and British royals traveled to Hellerup, where they participated in a commemoration ceremony at Ryvangen Memorial Park. The memorial was built on the site where members of the Danish resistance movement were executed by the Germans and buried during the war.

For the church service and memorial ceremony, Queen Mary wore a dark blue dress with a matching headpiece. Her primary jewelry accessory was a large pearl and diamond cluster brooch. The jewel is part of a married parure of diamond and pearl pieces that belonged to Queen Lovisa, the Swedish-born wife of King Frederik VIII of Denmark. The cluster brooch was a wedding present to Lovisa in 1869 from her brother- and sister-in-law, Sasha and Minny, the future Emperor Alexander III and Empress Marie Feodorovna of Russia. Queen Mary has worn the brooch a handful of times since her husband’s accession, including a recent appearance in Paris.

For the service, Queen Margrethe of Denmark also wore an important family brooch. The diamond and sapphire jewel, made in the shape of a fleur-de-lis, also belonged to Queen Lovisa of Denmark. It was later treasured by Margrethe’s mother, Queen Ingrid, and has been worn exclusively by Margrethe for many years.

Margrethe’s younger sister, Princess Benedikte, wore a lovely pair of diamond and black pearl earrings with a floral design for the occasion. On her jacket, she added a pin in the shape of the flag of the Danish resistance movement.

The Duchess of Gloucester, who has an enviably jewelry collection, wore a multi-row pearl necklace and pearl drop earrings with a neutral ensemble for the service and memorial.

Here’s a look at Richard and Birgitte participating in the wreath-laying ceremony in Hellerup. During their time in Copenhagen, they also toured the Danish Architecture Center (the Duke is a trained architect) and the Museum of Danish Resistance, before attending a reception at the British Embassy.

Ceremonies commemorating sacrifice and liberation were also held on Sunday in the Netherlands. King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima were on hand in Amsterdam for the annual Remembrance Day ceremony in Dam Square. Over the decades, the ceremony has become a recognition of those who died in World War II and all wars since. The somber commemoration, held each year on May 4, gives way the following day to a jubilant day of national celebrations on May 5.

During the ceremony, the King and Queen traditionally lay a wreath at the National Monument, a cenotaph that was constructed in Dam Square in the 1950s. Willem-Alexander and Máxima continued that tradition during Sunday’s memorial.

Queen Máxima wears attire and jewels appropriate for mourning and remembrance each year during this ceremony. With her black coat and headpiece on Sunday, she wore pearl and diamond cluster earrings and a pearl cluster brooch strikingly similar to the one worn the same day in Denmark by Queen Mary. Máxima’s brooch, which has been part of the Dutch royal collection since the nineteenth century, can be worn with or without a pear-shaped pearl drop pendant.