Today marks the 90th Anniversary of the Birth of the late Princess Elisabeth of Denmark, who was born on this day in 1935! Queen Margrethe’s accomplished cousin who was a skilled diplomat and the last-in-line to the Danish Throne, Princess Elisabeth possessed some spectacular royal heirlooms, which included Queen Alexandrine’s Fabergé Diamond Crown Brooch!
Sapphire Tiara | Diamond Bandeau | Diamond Fringe Tiara | Diamond Bandeau | Sapphire Pendant | Diamond Crown Brooch | Diamond Meander | Emerald Bracelet
To mark his Coronation in 1896, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia commissioned eighteen Diamond Brooches from Fabergé in the shape of the Russian Imperial Crown to be distributed among the Russian Grand Duchesses, which included this Fabergé Diamond Crown Brooch given to Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Another Diamond Crown Brooch belonged to Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirova.
The beautiful and richly diamond-studded brooch is shaped like the Russian imperial crown. The brooch was created on the occasion of Nicholas II’s coronation in St. Petersburg in 1896 and is just one of a total of 18 coronation brooches that were presented by the newly proclaimed emperor to the Russian grand duchesses on the occasion of the change of throne.
After the death of Grand Duchess Anastasia in 1922, the Fabergé Diamond Crown Brooch was inherited by her elder daughter, Queen Alexandrine of Denmark, and paired with her Fringe Tiara and Diamond Sautoir on numerous occasions and portraits, including the Wedding of Prince George, Duke of Kent and Princess Marina of Greece in 1934, King Christian X’s Silver Jubilee Banquet in 1937, and the Wedding of Grand Duchess Kira Kirillovna of Russia and Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia in 1938.
After the death of Queen Alexandrine in 1952, the Fabergé Diamond Crown Brooch was inherited by her daughter-in-law, Hereditary Princess Caroline-Mathilde of Denmark, who may have worn the Brooch with the Diamond Fringe Tiara on a few occasions, but was never clearly pictured.
Princess Elisabeth most notably wore Queen Alexandrine’s Fabergé Diamond Crown Brooch with Princess Thyra’s Sapphire Tiara for the Gala Dinner for the Danish, Faroe Islands, & Greenland Governments at Christiansborg Palace, ahead of the Wedding of Crown Prince Frederik and Mary Donaldson in 2004.
A few days later, Princess Elisabeth also wore the Fabergé Diamond Crown Brooch with Princess Thyra’s Sapphire Tiara for the Wedding of Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and Mary Donaldson in Copenhagen.
Princess Elisabeth continued to occasionally wear Queen Alexandrine’s Fabergé Diamond Crown Brooch with Princess Thyra’s Sapphire Tiara for State Banquets and Galas into the latter years of her life.
Upon her death 2018, Princess Elisabeth bequeathed Queen Alexandrine’s Fabergé Diamond Crown Brooch to the Kongelige Samling, the Danish Royal Collection, at the Amalienborg Palace Museum. Let’s hope it can be worn again soon!
Sapphire Tiara | Diamond Bandeau | Diamond Fringe Tiara | Diamond Bandeau | Sapphire Pendant | Diamond Crown Brooch | Diamond Meander | Emerald Bracelet
