Last week, the King and Queen of Denmark glittered for an awards ceremony and a state visit, with Queen Mary wearing gorgeous antique royal jewels from the Danish vaults.
On October 27, King Frederik X and Queen Mary arrived at Værket, a concert venue in Renders, for the annual presentation of the Kongeparrets Priser. The awards, which were televised over the weekend in Denmark, recognize impressive achievements in the fields of artistic and social work from Denmark, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands.
For the awards ceremony, Queen Mary wore a silky black blouse with a gold pleated skirt, accessorized with a special pair of earrings from the Danish Royal Property Trust.
The long diamond floral earrings come from the collection of Hereditary Princess Caroline, daughter of King Frederik VI of Denmark and wife of Hereditary Prince Ferdinand. After her death in 1881, the earrings were sold at auction, where they were purchased by the future Queen Lovisa, bringing them back into the Danish royal collection. The earrings are part of the collection of jewels generally reserved for the use of Denmark’s queen. In recent years, they were favorites of Queen Margrethe II.
Queen Mary is now the primary wearer of the earrings, which can be worn in short and long configurations by adding or removing the central segment. Mary wore a shorter version of the earrings in January for a New Year reception at Christiansborg Palace. The version that Mary wore for last week’s award ceremony is the full, complete setting of the earrings.
The next day, Frederik and Mary headed to Latvia, where they began a state visit with a welcome ceremony hosted by President Edgars Rinkevics at Riga Castle. The King inspected a guard of honor, the royal couple signed a guestbook, and members of the diplomatic delegations of both countries were introduced.
Later in the day, the royal couple atoured the Palace of Justice, where they met with Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina. The day’s program also included a visit to the Freedom Monument, where they laid a wreath, a visit to a museum that tells the story of the country’s history under Russian occupation, a luncheon at parliament, and a visit to the Latvian Academy of Culture.
For the events of the first day of the state visit, Mary wore a favorite navy blue ensemble with a coordinating headpiece, accessorized with diamond and pearl jewelry. Her earrings and brooch both come from the collection of pearls owned by Queen Lovisa, King Frederik’s Swedish-born great-great-grandmother.
Lovisa received an impressive collection of diamond and pearl jewelry when she married the future King Frederik VIII of Denmark in 1869. Among the jewels was a grand diamond and pearl necklace, a gift from the Khedive of Egypt. Later, two of the pendants from that necklace were converted into earrings. Mary wore the top button portion of those earrings for the welcome ceremonies in Riga.
Mary also wore another of Lovisa’s wedding gifts: a gorgeous pearl and diamond double cluster brooch. The jewel was originally the clasp of a pearl necklace, given to Lovisa by the future Tsar Alexander III of Russia and his wife, Princess Dagmar of Denmark, who was Frederik’s sister.
We saw Mary wear the same combination of antique jewels a few weeks ago for the opening of the Folketing, Denmark’s parliament, at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen.
On the evening of the first day of the state visit, the Danish royal couple were the guests of honor at a state banquet hosted by President Rinkevics at Riga Castle.
The royal couple and the president exchanged orders ahead of the banquet. President Rinkevics wore the newly-presented insignia of Denmark’s Order of the Elephant, while King Frederik wore Latvia’s Order of Viesturs and Queen Mary wore Latvia’s Order of the Three Stars, as well as King Frederik’s portrait order.
For the dinner, Queen Mary wore an eye-catching ballgown in a vibrant shade of scarlet red. Per UFO No More, the gown is a design by Soeren Le Schmidt, who also designed the navy dress she wore earlier in the day.
With the gown, Mary wore a combination of antique Danish royal jewels and newly-acquired jewelry pieces. Her tiara, an antique design made during the Edwardian era, is set with diamonds, rubies, and spinels. Mary acquired the piece at auction and had earrings made to match.
On her right wrist, Mary wore another piece from Queen Lovisa’s collection: a gold and diamond bracelet. The jewel is a legacy from Lovisa’s parents, King Carl XV of Sweden and Princess Louise of the Netherlands. Carl presented the bracelet to Louise in 1850 to commemorate their engagement. Mary herself added one more piece of romantic, sentimental jewelry to her ensemble, too: she secured her new sash with a brooch featuring the initial F, for Frederik, encrusted in diamonds.
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