Denmark: A royal sister act in Denmark for a sparkling new museum

NordenBladet – Queen Margrethe II was, once again, accompanied by her younger sister, Princess Benedikte, for a major engagement in Copenhagen. The princess joined Margrethe at the official opening of a new permanent feature at the Amalienborg Palace which will showcase glittering items made by one of the most famous jewellers in the world.

The Faberge Room is home to over 100 exhibits including a sapphire and diamond tiara that belonged to the sisters’ grandmother, Queen Alexandrine. The new display will be a permanent part of the Amalienborg Museum. Several of the items in it belonged to Alexandrine who was herself a descendant of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia whose Imperial Family were famous patrons of the Faberges.

The Queen of Denmark and Princess Benedikte were presented with flowers as they arrived for the official opening on February 7th 2020. They then toured the exhibition which features items made between 1860 and 1917 and puts a focus on the close relationship, at the time, between the Danish and Russian ruling houses. Among the display is a gold egg, thought to have inspired the famous range of jewelled eggs created by Carl Faberge in the late 19th century.

There are also some personal items on show including a golden picture frame in the shape of a heart which was presented by Queen Louise of Denmark to her husband, King Christian IX, to mark their 50th wedding anniversary. It contains a portrait of the queen at the time of her marriage, opposite another from the time of the couple’s golden wedding anniversary.

Several of the items in the exhibition have been loaned by the Danish Royal Family, with Princess Benedikte and her younger sister, Queen Anne-Marie of Greece, contributing items. However, the ownership of the famous tiara in the display still isn’t known. The sapphire diadem was presented to Alexandrine for her wedding in 1898 and passed to the family of her younger son, Prince Knud. It was eventually sold at auction in 2018 although news about who bought the gems wasn’t revealed. Given its inclusion in the exhibition, speculation that it has been rebought by the Danish Royal Family has begun again.

Princess Benedikte has accompanied her sister on a string of engagements in recent times and has been a great support to her, in private and public, since the death of her husband, Prince Henrik, in 2018.