Danish Ruby Parure | The Royal Watcher

Today marks the 25th Anniversary of the Death of Queen Ingrid of Denmark, who died on this day in 2000! The Swedish Princess became the Danish Queen and the mother of Queen Margrethe, Princess Benedikte, and Queen Anne Marie of Greece, to mark the occasion, we are featuring her trademark Danish Ruby Parure!

Danish Ruby Parure | Khedive of Egypt Tiara | Floral Aigrette Tiara | Pearl Poiré Tiara | Danish Emerald Parure | Queen Sofia’s Pearl and Star Tiara | Turquoise Daisy Bandeau | Daisy Brooch

Now consisting of diamond and ruby floral tiara, with a pair of versatile chandelier earrings, a versatile swag necklace which can also be worn in various configurations, a brooch, a bracelet, hairpins, and a ring, all set with diamonds and small rubies in clusters, to appear larger, the Ruby Parure was made for the celebrated Coronation of Emperor Napoleon in 1804.

Emperor Napoleon gave funds to his Marshals so their wives would be suitably bedecked, and one of them, Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, bought this Ruby Parure for his wife, the former Désirée Clary, Napoleon’s one time fiancée. The Parure made its way over to Sweden when Jean Baptiste and Désirée became King Carl XIV Johan and Queen Desideria of Sweden.

Queen Desideria left the parure to her daughter-in-law, Queen Josephine of Sweden, a grand daughter of Napoleon’s Empress Josephine, who in turn gave it in 1869 as a wedding gift to her granddaughter, who became Queen Lovisa of Denmark, saying the ‘Danish colours should go to Denmark’

In 1898, Queen Lovisa gave the Tiara, then set as a flexible diamond and ruby wreath, as a wedding gift to her daughter-in-law, the later Queen Alexandrine, who only inherited the rest of the Ruby Parure after Queen Lovisa’s death in 1926. Despite being one of the most historic and substantial parures in the Danish Royal Family, the Ruby Parure was not publicly pictured until Queen Alexandrine wore the Bandeau for a series of portraits around 1920.

In 1935, Queen Alexandrine gave the entire Ruby Parure, which then included a wreath bandeau Tiara and two large corsage brooches, as a wedding gift to Princess Ingrid of Sweden, when she married Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, and was debuted at her Wedding Gala at the Royal Palace of Stockholm in 1935.

Crown Princess Ingrid notably wore the Ruby Parure for King Christian X’s Silver Jubilee in 1937, King Gustav V’s 80th Birthday in 1938, a Visit to the United States in 1939 and at a Dinner in London in 1939 in addition to several portraits. Following the Second World War, the Ruby Parure was also worn for the Liberation Gala at Royal Theatre in Copenhagen in 1945, celebrating the liberation of Denmark from Nazi Germany.

Around the time of the Accession of King Frederik IX of Denmark in 1947, the now Queen Ingrid had the low wreath bandeau of the Ruby Parure altered, using the two corsage brooches, into a more substantial Tiara, which was unveiled at the Norwegian State Visit to Denmark in 1948, before it was worn at her grandfather, King Gustav V’s, 90th Birthday in 1948.

Despite gaining the use of the Danish Emerald Parure and the Pearl Poiré Tiara, the Ruby Parure remained one of Queen Ingrid’s most worn jewels, especially because the former could not be taken out of Denmark, and thus she needed more options for the many grand Tiara events on State Visits in those days, appearing for the Danish State Visit to France in 1950, the Danish State Visit to Britain in 1951, the Swedish State Visit to Denmark in 1952, the Dutch State Visit to Denmark in 1953, the Danish State Visit to The Netherlands in 1954, the British State Visit to Denmark in 1957.

Queen Ingrid loaned the Ruby Parure to her daughter, Princess Benedikte, for a Theatre Performances at Fredensborg Palace in 1954, along with a dress that had belonged to Queen Désirée, talking about it being:

a very great experience to be allowed to put those clothes and jewels on. I thought it was fantastic”

Queen Margrethe has talked about how Queen Ingrid used to wear the Parure all the time, and that “it was her favourite piece of jewellery”, worn for her Silver Anniversary in 1960, Danish State Visit to Norway in 1960, the Danish State Visit to the United States, the Danish State Visit to Thailand in 1962, the Danish State Visit to Iran in 1963, Official Portraits, the Wedding Ball of King Constantine of Greece and her youngest daughter, Princess Anne Marie, in 1964, the Danish State Visit to France in 1965, the Belgian State Visit to Denmark in 1966, Crown Princess Margrethe’s Wedding Ball at French Embassy in 1967, and the Royal Danish Ballet Gala in London in 1968.

After being widowed in 1972, and passing on the the Danish Emerald Parure, the Pearl Poiré Tiara, and later her Floral Aigrette Tiara to Queen Margrethe, Queen Ingrid retained the Danish Ruby Parure which she continued to wear to grand events up until the end of her life, which included many State Visits and Banquets, including for King Gustaf VI Adolf’s 90th Birthday Banquet in 1972, the Wedding of Princess Christina of Sweden in 1974, the Norwegian State Visit to Denmark in 1974, the Yugoslavian State Visit, the Swedish State Visit to Denmark in 1975, the British State Visit to Denmark in 1979, and the Spanish State Visit to Denmark in 1980.

Queen Ingrid also notably wore the Danish Ruby Parure for the Dutch State Banquet at Fredensborg Palace in 1984, Crown Prince Frederik’s 18th Birthday in 1986, Queen Margrethe’s 50th Birthday in 1990, the Norwegian State Visit to Denmark in 1991, Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik’s 25th Wedding Anniversary in 1992, Princess Benedikte’s 25th Wedding Anniversary in 1993, the Belgian State Visit to Denmark in 1995, and Queen Margrethe’s Silver Jubilee in 1997 as well as the Weddings of Prince Joachim in 1995 and Princess Alexandra of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg in 1998.

Queen Ingrid wore the Ruby Parure for the last time at a Gala Performance during Queen Margrethe’s 60th Birthday celebrations in 2000, just weeks after her 90th birthday and a few months before her death on this day 20 years ago.

Queen Ingrid wished for the Ruby Parure to remain with the Crown Prince and later King, and left it to her favourite grandson, Crown Prince Frederik, in 2000. Four years later, the soon to-be Crown Princess Mary wore the Ruby Parure for the first time for a Banquet at Christiansborg Palace and two days later at a Gala Performance at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen. Crown Princess Mary talked about how ‘overwhelmed’ she felt during those days to wear such significant jewels:

This set belonging to Queen Ingrid, that was very much loved and admired by the Danish people. Here was I, coming from Australia about to marry their Crown Prince, and at that time I felt very much that I was loaning this set and its a process one goes through and over time you start to feel you can wear it in your own right, but over the years its felt much more like its mine and I wear it as Crown Princess Mary.”

The Danish Ruby Parure was the most substantial of the four Tiaras Crown Princess Mary had access to, and as she grew more comfortable wearing it, in 2010, the Tiara was customised to fit the shape of her head, and two hair clips were created from the leftovers. The earrings and the necklace were also set with new mechanisms that allow them to worn in various configurations. The Crown Princess admitted that ‘she likes to play with it’.

The new Tiara was revealed at Queen Margrethe’s 70th Birthday celebrations in 2010, and a few months later, Crown Princess Mary took the Tiara out of Denmark for the first time, to wear at the Wedding of Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden. She also wore the Tiara at the Wedding Gala of Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume of Luxembourg in 2012, and wore pieces of the Parure at the Enthronement of Emperor Naruhito of Japan in 2019.

The Ruby Parure was only reserved for the most formal events, like the New Year’s Receptions, big Birthday and Jubilee celebrations, and Official Portraits, but in recent years Crown Princess Mary also wore the Ruby Parure at State Banquets, during Belgian State Visit in 2017 and the French State Visit in 2018.

In 2018, Crown Princess Mary unveiled another new version of the Tiara at the annual Danish New Year’s Reception, which incorporated one of the new hairpins to create a higher design, also being worn for the Danish New Year’s Reception in 2020.

Crown Princess Mary wore the Danish Ruby Parure for her 50th Birthday Portraits, Queen Margrethe’s Golden Jubilee Banquet, and the Danish New Year’s Banquet in 2023, as well as for Queen Margrethe’s final New Year’s Banquet in 2024.

In 2024, Queen Mary wore the Earrings, Brooch and Hairpins of the Danish Ruby Parure for the Proclamation of King Frederik X upon the the Abdication of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, symbolically wearing the Danish Colours.

Queen Mary wore the Danish Ruby Parure for the Danish State Banquet at the Royal Palace of Stockholm, on the first outgoing State Visit of their reign, which also honoured the Parure’s Swedish roots.

Most recently, Queen Mary wore the pieces of the Danish Ruby Parure for Princess Isabella’s 18th Birthday Gala in Copenhagen earlier this year. While Queen Mary has debuted several new Tiaras in the past year, there is no doubt we will continue to see the Danish Ruby Parure worn for years to come!   

Danish Ruby Parure

Khedive of Egypt Tiara

Pearl Poiré Tiara

Danish Emerald Parure

Floral Aigrette Tiara

Queen Sofia’s Pearl and Star Tiara

Turquoise Daisy Bandeau

Daisy Brooch

Diamond Stars

Diamond Pendant

Diamond Brooches

Diamond Fan Earrings

Sapphire Brooch

Ruby Bow Brooch

 Diamond Earrings

 Sapphire Brooch

Diamond Parure

The Jewels of the Queens of Denmark

The Danish Emerald Parure

The Danish Pearl Poiré Tiara

The Danish Ruby Parure

Danish Diamond Bandeau

Wedding Tiara

Diamond Necklace Tiara

Midnight Tiara

Danish Diamond Rivière