{"id":636229,"date":"2026-10-20T11:28:21","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T11:28:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/636229\/"},"modified":"2026-10-20T11:28:21","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T11:28:21","slug":"queen-mary-of-denmark-wears-reworked-sapphire-tiara-for-vietnam-state-banquet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/636229\/","title":{"rendered":"Queen Mary of Denmark wears reworked sapphire tiara for Vietnam state banquet"},"content":{"rendered":"

Queen Mary<\/a> has added another tiara to her growing collection, wearing a diamond and sapphire headpiece with links to Russia\u2019s last imperial family and purchased at auction for $500k.<\/p>\n

It is the latest example of Queen Mary reworking an heirloom piece<\/a> to make it her own, something she has done on several occasions since her husband Frederik X ascended the throne<\/a> as king in 2024.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

King Frederik X and Queen Mary of Denmark hosted a state banquet for Vietnam\u2019s visiting presidential couple at Christiansborg Palace on Tuesday.\u00a0Martin Sylvest Andersen\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Queen Mary wore the historic tiara for a state banquet at Christiansborg Palace<\/a> on Monday evening, held in honour of Vietnam\u2019s visiting president and his wife who are on a three-day visit to Denmark.<\/p>\n

King Frederik<\/a> and Queen Mary were joined by their son and heir Crown Prince Christian<\/a>, who celebrated his 21st birthday on October 15<\/a>. Christian wore the gala uniform of the Royal Life Guards and the Grand Commander\u2019s Cross with the star of the Order of the Dannebrog, awarded by his father on his birthday.<\/p>\n

But it was Queen Mary\u2019s outfit, and choice of jewellery, which has surprised royal watchers.<\/p>\n

Mary, 54, debuted the tiara once known as the Russian sapphire diadem. <\/p>\n

It belonged to King Frederik\u2019s great-grandmother Queen Alexandrine and was a wedding gift from Russian Tsar Nicholas II when she married Prince Christian, later known as Christian X, in 1898.<\/p>\n

Since then, the jewel has been worn by several generations of the Danish royal family and underwent several redesigns and adaptations in keeping with the changing fashions of the time.<\/p>\n

It was sold by the Rosenborg\u00a0family at auction in 2018 for two million Danish kroner (approx. $445k) to an unknown buyer. <\/p>\n

In 2024, the tiara was acquired by the Danish Royal Collection from a private owner. <\/p>\n

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Queen Mary debuted a newly reworked tiara from the Danish Royal Collection featuring sapphires and diamonds.\u00a0Martin Sylvest Andersen\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Soon after, Queen Mary worked with Copenhagen-based jewellery designers Diana Holstein and Hanan Emquies to give \u201cthe piece of jewellery a new, fully reversible design\u201d, the Royal House said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA design that respects the piece\u2019s history and special tradition and makes it usable today,\u201d the Royal House said.<\/p>\n

The piece can now be worn as a tiara, necklace or brooch, \u201ccontinuing the historical tradition of royal jewellery being adapted to the needs and tastes of new generations\u201d, it added.<\/p>\n

Pinned to a velvet band on Queen Mary\u2019s wrist was the brooch which was previously the central motif attached to the tiara.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Pinned to Queen Mary\u2019s skirt and top by Danish designer Jesper H\u00f8vring was the Order of the Elephant.\u00a0The Danish Royal House<\/p>\n

Since Mary became queen in January 2024, she has delved into the vaults to wear pieces that had previously been ignored or worn very little.<\/p>\n

In December 2024, Mary wore a new tiara<\/a> that had been made using stones from the rose-cut diamond set of the Danish Crown Jewels. Aptly named the rose-cut diamond bandeau, the tiara was made with the large stones taken from a diamond belt. Mary chose to have the belt re-fashioned into a tiara that could be worn throughout her husband\u2019s reign. <\/p>\n

It was the first time in more than 180 years that the Crown Jewels had been reworked in such a drastic fashion.<\/p>\n

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The state banquet was held inside the Great Hall at Christiansborg Palace and the floral arrangements chosen to represent the flags of Vietnam and Denmark.\u00a0Martin Sylvest Andersen\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Months later, Mary would surprise again.<\/p>\n

During a state visit to Finland in March last year, Queen Mary wore a tiara that had not been seen in public for 140 years<\/a>. The gold tiara was made in 1820 for Caroline Amalie, who was married to Denmark’s Christian VIII, who reigned from 1839 to 1848.<\/p>\n

And in May this year to the 80th birthday celebrations of Sweden\u2019s King Carl XVI Gustaf, Queen Mary wore a diamond bracelet mounted onto a frame<\/a> allowing it to be worn as a tiara. The jewel once belonged to Sweden\u2019s Queen Lovisa, whose daughter later became Queen Lovisa of Denmark in 1906.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Crown Prince Christian joined his parents for the state banquet just days after celebrating his 21st birthday.\u00a0The Danish Royal House<\/p>\n

For the palace gala this week, the queen wore a favourite outfit by her long-time Danish designer Jesper H\u00f8vring which was first seen on Mary in 2014.<\/p>\n

The outfit has been worn many times, and in various forms, since then.<\/p>\n

In 2022, H\u00f8vring told nine.com.au<\/a> how the outfit had undergone several changes since it was acquired by Mary after seeing it during his catwalk show.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is absolutely one of my favourites and one of the dresses that we get the most response to from our clients,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey still come with pictures and say, \u2018Can we have something like this?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Queen Mary also had a leading role in the floral arrangements which decorated the Great Hall, where the state banquet took place.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Queen Mary welcomed Vietnam\u2019s first lady Ngo Phuong at Copenhagen Airport on Monday.\u00a0Liselotte Sabroe\/Ritzau Scanpix via AP<\/p>\n

The red and yellow colours of the flowers were chosen to represent the Vietnamese and Danish flags. Guests dined on Greenlandic cod with seaweed, roasted free-range veal\u00a0 and macaroon cake.<\/p>\n

The Danish royals and their family connection to Vietnam<\/p>\n

Earlier on Monday, King Frederik and Queen Mary welcomed Vietnam\u2019s president T\u00f4 L\u00e2m and his wife, Ng\u00f4 Ph\u01b0\u01a1ng Ly, to Copenhagen marking the start of the state visit.<\/p>\n

The king and queen met the visiting couple at the airport before joining them in a carriage procession to palace square at Amalienborg.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The two couples rode in a carriage through Copenhagen, arriving at Amalienborg marking the beginning of the state visit.\u00a0Martin Sylvest Andersen\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The three-day visit aims to highlight areas of common interest between Denmark and Vietnam including green solutions, health, food, and further regional and international cooperation.<\/p>\n

In what was likely a coincidence, Queen Mary and the president\u2019s wife both wore burgundy. Mary flew the flag for local designers, wearing a headband by milliner Katrin Cecilia Jacobsen and a blue checked boucl\u00e9 dress with a navy silk collar by Lasse Spangenberg.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Then-Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark visited Hoan Kiem Lake during a business promotion to Hanoi, in November 2022.\u00a0australscope<\/p>\n

In 2022, Frederik and Mary travelled to Hanoi on a business visit<\/a> as crown prince and crown princess to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.<\/p>\n

They spent the majority of their time in Hanoi, a city that has a special connection to the Danish royals. Prince Frederik\u2019s late father Prince Henrik was born in France but spent the first five years of his life in Hanoi which at the time was the capital of French Indochina.<\/p>\n

On the eve of the tour, Mary and Frederik were photographed outside the childhood home of Prince Henrik in the bustling city.<\/p>\n

Prior to 2022, the couple\u2019s last visit to Vietnam took place in 2009 with Queen Margrethe II and her husband.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Queen Mary has added another tiara to her growing collection, wearing a diamond and sapphire headpiece with links…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":636230,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[156,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-636229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=636229"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636229\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/636230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=636229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=636229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=636229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}