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| By Frankie Fouganthin - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Which of Benedikte's tiaras is your favorite?
27 April 2017
Tiara Thursday: Princess Benedikte's Tiaras
Princess Benedikte of Denmark, sister of Queen Margrethe II, has a tidy little tiara collection to call her own, plus a few others she's tried out over the years. It's a collection that reflects her Danish royal upbringing, her Swedish royal roots, and her German princely marriage. In other words: it's a collection ripe for a tiara retrospective. (As always, click the name of the tiara for the jewel's full story.)
King Frederik IX and Queen Ingrid gave each of their three daughters a tiara for her 18th birthday. Benedikte received this classic diamond floral tiara, a piece created from an existing floral brooch and which can be used as brooches and with different center stone options. In addition to serving Princess Benedikte in all the years since, it's been a regular choice for her daughters, Princesses Alexandra and Nathalie.
Princess Benedikte's 18th birthday tiara wasn't actually her first tiara. Call it a perk of growing up royal: Queen Ingrid allowed her daughter to borrow the Danish Ruby Parure for a play Ingrid put together about the life of Queen Desideria, a rare moment when someone else was allowed to wear this enormous set and a memory shared by Benedikte in the documentary De Kongelige Juveler. This was the only occasion Princess Benedikte wore the rubies; they are now worn by Crown Princess Mary.
Another rare tiara choice for Benedikte, and another loan from her mother. The Baden Palmette Tiara was left to Queen Margrethe when Ingrid died.
Princess Benedikte's wedding look used the family wedding veil, the family wedding lace, and the family's wedding tiara. The tradition of wearing the Khedive of Egypt Tiara started at her sister Anne-Marie's wedding and it continues today for Queen Ingrid's female descendants.
This tiara came to Queen Ingrid through her own Swedish royal heritage, and she left it to Princess Benedikte when she died. In addition to loaning it to both her daughters and to her son's partner, Carina Axelsson, Benedikte wears the tiara regularly. She wore it to the wedding of her goddaughter, Princess Madeleine of Sweden, neatly highlighting the tiara's history.
And finally, one tiara from her marriage to Prince Richard of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg. The S-W-B family fringe tiara is a classic diamond fringe that, like many other fringe tiaras, can also be used as a necklace. It has been Princess Benedikte's "big gun" tiara; she often wears it to her most important events and to events where her full family is present, allowing her other tiaras to be worn by her daughters. Prince Richard passed away earlier this year and the couple's son, Gustav, assumed the title of Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg. The tiara does not necessarily follow, but it will be interesting to see if it ever appears on Carina Axelsson (she and Gustav are not married - it's a whole thing involving his grandfather's will, and we talked more about that when we covered the tiara she usually wears - but she is in all other respects a part of the family). It's incredibly well suited to Princess Benedikte, though, and I hope we see her in it for many more occasions.
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