Your guide to the Danish royal family’s exquisite and extensive tiaras

On December 4, 2024, the official Danish Royal Instagram account shared the exciting news that the exquisite Rosenstensettet Crown Jewel collection has been partially restored.

Transformed by Queen Mary herself in collaboration with the Collection of Kings, the jewels have been given a new life after almost a century existing under Rosenborg Castle.

The set, which can be traced back to the 1840s, originally included a rose stone pendant and a long chain (Gürtel). Now, its largest diamonds have been arranged and set into a diadem by jeweller Matia Hasbo Dinesen.

This project continues the long-running tradition of adapting the Danish Crown Jewels to extend their life and honour their history and traditional design. Matia and Queen Mary opted to keep the back of the diamonds closed. While this is unusual for tiaras, it was the historical intent of the original design.

Loved by Crown Princess Mary, the Danish Ruby Tiara is a glittering piece with a history. The Danish Ruby Tiara wasn’t even a tiara to begin with – nor was it Danish. For the coronation of Napoleon Bonaparte and Joséphine de Beauharnais in 1804, Désirée Clary was gifted a luxurious parure of ruby and diamond jewels including a necklace, earrings, a brooch, and two branch-shaped hair ornaments. 

When Désirée passed away her daughter-in-law, Queen Josefina of Sweden inherited the ruby parure. Her granddaughter, Princess Louise married King Frederik VIII of Denmark in 1869. On her wedding day, her grandmother gifted her the ruby parure as the red and uncoloured gems matched the Danish flag.

In turn, King Frederik VIII and Louise handed down the ruby parure to their son King Christian X and Alexandrine. They then passed the parure to King Frederik IX and Queen Ingrid – who was a great-great-great-granddaughter of the parure’s original owner. Queen Ingrid took the two branch-shaped hair ornaments and turned them into a full tiara.

While many of Queen Ingrid’s jewels were bequeathed to her three daughters, this tiara and ruby parure were left to Crown Prince Frederik.

The Ole Lynggaard Midnight Tiara is an exceptional display of modern Danish art and ingenuity. With more than 400 hours of craftsmanship, 1,340 brilliant-cut diamonds, 31 specially cut moonstones, and hand-engraved details, the Midnight Tiara can only be worn by Princess Mary.

The Pearl Poiré Tiara is one of the most exquisite tiaras in the Danish royal family’s collection. 

Unlike the Danish Crown Jewels, which belong to the state, the Pearl Poiré Tiara and parure are a part of the Danish Royal Property. As such, they can only be worn by a sitting monarch or queen consort.

The tiara was commissioned around 1825 by King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia as a wedding gift for his daughter, Louise, who was set to marry Prince Frederik of the Netherlands. The crown made its way through many Scandinavian royal families before it was inherited by Queen Margrethe’s great-grandmother, Queen Louise. She married King Frederik VIII of Denmark in 1869. 

Since then, the Pearl Poiré tiara was worn by Queen Margrethe on many occasions including in her first official portrait as Queen.

The Baden Palmette Tiara is another diamond-encrusted tiara that Queen Margrethe inherited from her mother, Queen Ingrid. The tiara features tall, intricate heart motifs. Due to its romantic character, the Queen often wears this particular piece to royal weddings. 

It is thought to be a gift from German Emperor Wilhelm I to his only daughter, Princess Louise of Prussia, for her wedding to Grand Duke Frederick I of Baden in 1856.

Queen Ingrid inherited the tiara from her great-grandmother, Princess Louise of Prussia. Upon Queen Ingrid’s passing in 2000, the Baden Palmette tiara was bequeathed to Queen Margrethe where it became part of the Danish royal tiaras.

The Khedive of Egypt Tiara gives the Floral Aigrette tiara a run for its money as the most romantic tiara in the Danish royal family’s collection. It is made of diamonds and features an intricate scroll motif.

Khedive Abbas II of Egypt gifted the to Princess Margaret of Connaught and Prince Gustav Adolf, the future King of Sweden as a wedding present. It was a nod to the pair falling in love in Cairo.

When Margaret died in 1920, she left this tiara and her other jewels to her daughter, Queen Ingrid. Though Ingrid did not wear the tiara on her wedding day to Frederik IX, Queen Margarethe, her sister Queen Anne-Marie and countless other Danish royals have donned this tiara for their nuptials.

Whilst this is not exactly a tiara, it is one of the most interesting and artistic pieces that Queen Margrethe wears. Made in 1976 by Arje Griegst, the Golden Poppies were commissioned by Queen Margrethe herself. 

The piece features eight golden poppies which are attached to a comb. The comb is fastened at the nape of the neck and the flowers are placed across the wearer’s head. The poppies can be removed and worn individually making it a versatile and avant-garde piece.

As the name suggests, the Queen Alexandrine Diamond Drop Tiara once belonged to Queen Margrethe’s paternal grandmother, Alexandrine of Denmark. The tiara features hundreds of dainty diamond droplets hanging from the frame. 

There is not a great deal of information surrounding the tiara’s creation. However, Alexandrine of Denmark left the piece to her son King Frederik IX. He in turn gifted it to Queen Margrethe on her 18th birthday. 

Queen Margrethe often wore the Alexandrine Diamond Drop Tiara throughout her reign before gifting it to Alexandra Manley. Alexandra Manley, also known as the Countess of Frederiksborg, was married to Queen Margrethe’s son, Prince Joachim, from 2005 to 2015.

Though the couple divorced in 2005, Alexandra kept the tiara and often wears it to royal family occasions.

The Princess Dagmar Tiara was owned by Princess Dagmar of Denmark, Queen Margrethe’s great aunt. This particular tiara is quite dainty and features tall, floral diamond motifs. The Princess Dagmar Tiara is one of the more elusive tiaras in the collection. There is very little information about its origin or how the royal family came to acquire it. However, at some point, it was passed down to Queen Margrethe. She in turn loaned it to Princess Marie of Denmark, her daughter-in-law. 

This particular piece quickly became Princess Marie’s favourite of the Danish royal tiaras. She has since worn the Princess Dagmar tiara consistently since first wearing it on her wedding day in 2008.

For her ruby jubilee in 2012, the people of Greenland — part of the realm of Denmark — gifted Queen Margrethe a stunning yellow-gold tiara. 

The tiara features several floral motifs. It is made of melted-down coins retrieved from Greenlandic mines. It was named ‘Naasut’ as it is the Greenlandic word for flowers.

Designed by Nicolai Appel, a Greenlandic goldsmith, the tiara also came with a set of matching earrings.

The Floral Aigrette tiara is another interesting piece within the Danish royal family’s tiara collection. It has a special connection to Queen Margrethe’s great-grandmother. The tiara consists of three sections of intricate diamonds that together form the frame of the tiara. The pieces can be separated and worn as hair ornaments and a corsage ornament.

It is said to have been owned by Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia — Queen Margrethe’s paternal great-grandmother. The tiara then ended up in the possession of Danish opera singer, Lauritz Melchior’s wife. Upon her death in 1963, King Frederik IX brought the tiara back into the family fold. He purchased it for Queen Margrethe’s mother, Queen Ingrid. 

Queen Ingrid debuted the tiara at Queen Margrethe’s 1967 wedding to Henri de Laborde de Monpezat. In turn, Queen Margrethe wore the Floral Aigrette tiara to her son Prince Frederik and Princess Mary’s 2003 wedding.