Danish Ruby Jubilee – Balcony Appearance, Church Service, Gala Banquet

The Ruby Jubilee celebrations of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark continued yesterday, with a full day of events to mark the Queen’s anniversary.

It began with the Queen’s 500th State Council meeting at Christiansborg Palace in the morning. The Danish Prime Minister, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, and her ministers were in attendance as per usual, as was Crown Prince Frederik. Immediately after the meeting, Prince Henrik and Crown Princess Mary joined the group for the presentation of the Danish government’s jubilee gift to Queen Margrethe – a multi-colour carpet featuring the Danish royal coat of arms.

At noon, the Amalienborg Changing of the Guard took place, and the royal family gathered on the balconies of Christian VIII’s Palace – the Queen and Prince Henrik on the central balcony, their sons and co (including a very pregnant Princess Marie) on the left, and the Queen’s sisters and brothers-in-law on the right. Thousands packed the Amalienborg square, including a youngster by the name of Frederik, who decided it would be much more worth his time to practice his guard walk (see this video).

It was then on to a private luncheon at the Crown Princely Couple’s residence, to which all the foreign guests were invited (Berleburg, Greek, Norwegian and Swedish royals, and the Presidents of Finland and Iceland). Glimpses of the guests as they were arriving to Frederik VIII’s Palace was all that the public got out of the lunch. Following the lunch, a thanksgiving service was held at the Christiansborg Palace Chapel.

Last night, the Queen was the guest of honour at a gala banquet held at Christiansborg Palace for the foreign visitors, official Denmark and other selected guests. It was jewels aplenty on the royal ladies, and all who are holders of the Order of the Elephant wore the collar of the order in lieu of the sash.

But the biggest surprise of the night – and possibly the biggest ‘steal’ of the festivities weekend – was what appeared on Crown Princess Pavlos of Greece’s head. Marie-Chantal accessorised her dark green velvet evening gown with the impressive diamond tiara which belonged to Queen Frederika, and came to Greece through Prussia when Princess Sophie married Crown Prince Constantine. The tiara has not been seen in over forty years, and as Queen Anne-Marie has never worn it in the years after Queen Frederika’s death, there was speculation that the tiara had been sold while the family was in exile. Clearly, this was not the case!

One more event will take place under the ‘jubilee’ section, on January 27th, the Queen and Prince Henrik will open an exhibition about Queen Margrethe’s artworks.

Click here to read more about the jubilee festivities.

Filed under Denmark
Tagged Accession, Margrethe II of Denmark, Margrethe II's Ruby Jubilee, Tiaras.