The third stop during our Ruby Tiara Celebration Week brings us again to Stockholm, where the Queen of Denmark brought her royal ruby tiara back to its old home for a special appearance in 2024.
Exactly a year before yesterday’s tiara moment, the Swedish royal family hosted the King and Queen of Denmark for the first state visit of his new reign. King Frederik X and Queen Mary were the guests of honor that evening during a grand state banquet at the palace. The royals all wore grand gala attire, with the Danes wearing Sweden’s Order of the Seraphim and the Swedes donning Denmark’s Order of the Elephant.
The jewels that the Queens of Denmark and Sweden wore to the banquet once belonged to the same woman: Joséphine of Leuchtenberg, the wife of King Oscar I of Sweden. Silvia wore Joséphine’s sapphires for the occasion, while Mary wore the rubies that Joséphine inherited from her mother-in-law, Désirée Clary.
The remarkable parure of diamonds and rubies was acquired by Désirée’s husband, Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, for her to wear at the coronation of his boss (and her former fiancé), Napoléon I. (At that time, the set didn’t include a tiara. The leaf-and-berry ornaments that now make up the diadem were then hair ornaments.) Several years later, Jean-Baptiste was elected heir to the throne of Sweden, and as Napoléon found himself without a throne, Jean-Baptiste and Désirée ascended to the Swedish throne as King Carl XIV Johan and Queen Desideria.
Désirée’s ruby set, including the hair ornaments, earrings, necklace, and brooch, were passed down to her daughter-in-law, Joséphine of Leuchtenberg, after her death in 1860. A few years later, when Joséphine’s granddaughter, Princess Lovisa, married the heir to the Danish throne, she decided to give her the rubies as a wedding present. After all, the white diamonds and pink-red rubies neatly echo Denmark’s national colors.
The set has been in Copenhagen ever since, and along the way, the ladies of the family transformed the set’s hair ornaments into a full, wreath-style tiara. More pieces, including the bracelet and ring, have been added over the years, and each wearer has made tweaks to the set so that it fits her particularly well.
For the banquet in Stockholm, Queen Mary wore the tiara with the brooch, necklace, and earrings from Désirée’s original suite, plus the newer ruby bracelet and ring. She also added another ruby touch, wearing her own diamond and ruby engagement ring on her left hand for the occasion.
There’s more bejeweled fun coming your way in a few hours when the free mid-week edition of Hidden Gems drops in your inboxes. Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss out on any of the sparkle! (Spoiler alert: there’s another new royal ruby moment included!)
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