Queen Mary of Denmark made an oh-so-subtle tribute to her children as she celebrated one of the most controversial royal figures in Danish history. The mother-of-four appeared in a video promoting the new ‘Danner of Denmark’ exhibition at Frederiksborg Castle, which investigates the remarkable life of Countess Danner.
As royal watchers have come to expect of the ever-stylish Danish Queen, Mary looked regal in a powder blue dress, but which she wore with her characteristic chestnut locks cascading over her shoulders. It was Queen Mary’s brooch that drew the most attention, however. The Connaught Sapphire brooch, with its diamond and pearl decorations, is a profoundly sentimental jewel for Queen Mary, and one with a history that stretches down through five generations of the House of Glücksberg.
Beginning its journey as a wedding present for Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia when she tied the knot with the Duke of Connaught (one of Queen Victoria’s sons) in 1879, the brooch made its way to Scandinavia through Louise’s daughter, Princess Margaret of Connaught, when she married King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden. Margaret’s daughter, Queen Ingrid, then brought the jewel to Denmark after her wedding to the future King Frederik IX.
Queen Ingrid reserved the Connaught Sapphire brooch for milestone family occasions, rather than diplomatic galas or royal celebrations. In 1966, Ingrid was seen sporting the sapphire to celebrate the engagement of her daughter, the future Queen Margrethe, to Count Henri de Laborde de Monpezat. Margrethe would follow in her mother’s footsteps, wearing the brooch in 1999 for the christening of her first grandson, Prince Nikolai (now Count Nikolai of Monpezat).