The Jewels of the Danish royal house

Juvelerne i det danske kongehus – Bjarne Steen Jensen, 2001.

According to an interview with Bjarne Steen Jensen in 2006, he has spent years building up his knowledge of the Danish royal jewels, and this most certainly shines through in this quite excellent reference book on the jewels in the Danish royal family.

It is an extensive display of jewels in this book, and a veritable mass of information about them, and in sharing the histories about the jewels, we also get a small peep into the history of jewel inheritances in the royal Europe . (Such as Queen Alexandrine officially inherited the jewels from her mother, and then later divided it between her brother and sister, to avoid the discussion of nationalization of the jewels from Mecklenburg-Schwerin or Prussia’s side.)

If I am to pull out examples of the brilliance which intrigued me about the book, it is the “new” histories coming to life for me. I’m particularly fascinated with the picture of Queen Alexandrine wearing the so-called Queen Ingrid’s Ruby set, on p. 88, as she’s wearing it in the manner which was popular in the 1920s. I’ve often felt that this tiara was, albeit beautiful, too overpowering for Ingrid and Mary, when worn on top of the head, and watching the picture of the tiara around Alexandrine’s forehead, before it was modernized… it actually looks quite dainty and elegant. I am astounded. 🙂

The book is filled with similar pictures and historic evidence of the jewels, and the author has pieced it together from a lot of different sources, as well as interviews with Princess Elisabeth, and other (minor) members of the family.

I have to agree with the reviewer from Berlingske, who said in the review from 2001, that Bjarne Steen Jensen has written a magnificent book on jewels.

This version of the book is in Danish only, but in the interview linked to above, it is said that an English edition may be in the works, with the added focus on Crown Princess Mary to use so-called the Mary effect. However, even if you don’t read Danish, but just like to look at the pictures of jewels and royals wearing them, this might also be an interesting book.