There was no crown, tiara or even a Philip Treacy hat to mark Queen Mary of Denmark’s first appearance on the balcony of Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen on Sunday.
Even Mary’s hands were bare, with the newly proclaimed King Frederik X instead wearing gloves, as part of his military uniform.
King Frederik X and Queen Mary, with their children Prince Vincent, Princess Josephine, Crown Prince Christian and Princess Isabella.Credit: Getty
In a white gown by Danish designer Soeren Le Schmidt, Mary still looked the part she has been training for as Crown Princess for 20 years.
“Choosing to wear white has a symbolic feeling to mark this new beginning as King and Queen of Denmark,” says Mattie Cronan, style director of the Australian Women’s Weekly. Cronan worked with Mary on the magazine’s anniversary cover in 2014. “This modern fairytale continues.”
White, which is part of the Danish flag, has been worn to great effect by royalty, such as Queen Camilla in Bruce Oldfield at her coronation in May and the character Princess Leia, played by Carrie Fisher in the Star Wars films.
Mary’s cowl-neck dress, with long sleeves, belted skirt with a silver buckle and decorative sash thrown over the shoulder was closer in spirit to Leia’s costume – which earned its designer John Mollo an Oscar in 1978 – than Camilla’s stiff coronation tunic. Fortunately, Mary pinned her hair at the back rather than the side.
Queen Mary on the balcony of Christiansborg Palace in a dress by Soeren Le Schmidt; Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia in Star Wars in a John Mollo-designed dress; Queen Camilla on the balcony of Buckingham Palace following her coronation last May, wearing a Bruce Oldfield tunic.Credit: Getty, supplied, Alamy
Adding a degree of royal force were pieces from the Danish Ruby Parure, with rubies in Mary’s earrings and hairclip, providing the red from the country’s flag. The jewellery was fit for purpose, commissioned by the Sweden queen, Desideria, for the coronation of her ex-fiancee Napoleon at the Notre Dame, Paris in 1804.
Le Schmidt also has coronation form: he designed Camilla’s purple belted dress for her crowning alongside King Charles III.
“The colours of Denmark are red and white, so a graphically beautiful white dress adorned with the earrings and a brooch from the Ruby Set seemed like the right choice,” Le Schmidt told Vogue Scandinavia.
Le Schmidt only had 14 days to work on the dress, following Queen Margrethe’s surprise New Year’s Eve abdication announcement.
“The first dress that Queen Mary would wear under her new title as queen – a dress for the history books – means a great deal. I am very moved.”
Mary’s outfit, wearing a dress by a familiar designer and her favourite jewellery pieces, failed to rock the boat, signalling a continuation of her safe style despite the title upgrade.
“The look was distinguished, regal and offered a gentle nod to the formality of great portrait painters such as John Singer Sargent,” says Australian celebrity stylist Ken Thompson. “Here she was painting her place in history with her outfit.”
Also taking her place in history was Margrethe, who wore black to her own coronation in 1972, as it followed the death of her father King Frederik IX.
The artistic queen wore a subdued purple suit with ruby and diamond earrings given to her by her late husband Prince Henrik and a horseshoe brooch from her father. After 52 years on the throne, Margrethe happily let the spotlight fall on Mary and her son.
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