Photos: @detdanskekongehus/ Steen Evald, Kongehuset ©️
Three and a half months after they ascended the throne (on January 14), after the queen’s abdication Margarida IIthe Royal House now releases the new official portraits of the kings Mary It is Frederick X from Denmark. The portrait, by Steen Evald, was captured in the Green Room of the Royal Reception Rooms at Christiansborg Palace.
Appointed admiral after ascending the throne, King Frederick X displays his navy military uniform and displays several symbols of the nation, as explained by the Royal House:
“The reigning monarch in Denmark is, at any time, the Sovereign of the Orders of the two royal orders of chivalry, the Order of the Elephant and the Order of Dannebrog. Therefore, in the portrait, the king wears for the first time a series of historical objects that kings – and more recently Her Majesty Queen Margaret – used during their reigns.
This applies, first of all, to the special elephant that Her Majesty wears on a chain. The elephant was probably created in 1671 for the anointing of Christian V in Frederiksborg Castle Church, while the chain of the order was first made in 1693, in connection with the issuing of statutes (rules) for the Order of the Elephant. The elephant’s distinctive mark is made up of five large, square, flat cross-shaped diamonds, and the elephant is colloquially referred to as ‘The Mother Elephant’, as it is the first elephant in the entire Order of the Elephant. According to tradition, this elephant is used by the monarch on special occasions.
In the portrait, the king also wears the pectoral star of the Order of the Elephant from around 1770. The pectoral star was made for the later Frederick VI. In 1947, the king’s grandfather, Frederick IX, began to wear this chest star again on special occasions. On the lower part of the uniform, the king wears the breast star of the Order of Dannebrog, which was made for Frederik VI after the order’s rules were changed in 1808.
The elephant and the chain, as well as the two pectoral stars that the king wears in the gala portrait, are normally displayed together with the regalia – that is, the objects that constitute the king’s badges, such as the crown, the scepter, the globe , the coronation sword and the anointing ampoule – in the Treasury of Rosenborg Castle.”
As for Queen Mary, “wears the crown jewels for the first time in the portrait. This is the emerald set with tiara, necklace, earrings and a large breast pin that can be divided into three parts. The emerald set is one of four sets of jewels, or garnitures, that are at the disposal of the Queen of Denmark and that are normally displayed in the Treasury of Rosenbo Castle.rg.
When not in use, the crown jewels are on display in the Treasury, in the protected basement beneath Rosenborg Castle. It is customary for the crown jewels to remain in Denmark, which means they are not taken on visits abroad. The Danish crown jewels are the only ones in the world that are displayed as museum objects and, at the same time, are worn by the country’s queen.
On her chest, Her Majesty wears a brilliant diamond dorei miniature portrait on a ribbon bow of the Order of Dannebrog. It has been tradition for generations for female members of the Royal Family to wear a miniature portrait of the sovereign. Thus, in her time as crown princess, the queen wore a portrait of Queen Margaret.
From today onwards this is the image that will be displayed in government institutions, including Danish embassies and consulates around the world and on Danish ships.
