Denmark’s monarch always hosts a lavish New Year’s Eve reception and banquet. Queen Margrethe encouraged all of the royal women to wear their biggest and best jewels, and the royal men are usually in their dress uniforms. Well, King Frederik and Queen Mary have kept up the tradition, and here are some photos from the event. Mary pulled out all of the stops, even wearing a specially-made tiara. Mary had the tiara made from 19th-century diamonds repurposed from a belt.
Queen Mary of Denmark rang in the new year in style. The Danish royal and her husband, King Frederik, celebrated the holiday with a New Year’s Reception and Banquet at Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen on Thursday, Jan. 1, and the Queen dressed for the festive occasion in a champagne-colored Jesper Hovring gown.
She and the King also both donned the unique and ornate collars that denote them as members of the Order of the Elephant, a Danish order of chivalry and Denmark’s highest-ranked honor. New Year’s Day is one of the few collar days for the order.
But the standout piece of the Queen’s elegant ensemble was her bandeau tiara. The circlet’s impressive rose-cut diamonds were actually pulled from another piece in the royal archives: a medieval-inspired belt made by goldsmith Carl Martin Weisshaupt in 1840, according to The Crown Jeweller. Queen Mary and experts from the Danish Royal Collection designed the new tiara in 2024, removing the largest diamonds from the belt setting but leaving spacers so that they can be replaced if desired.
The King and Queen’s eldest child, Crown Prince Christian, 20, was also in attendance at the New Year’s reception. However, their other three children — Princess Isabella, 18, and twins Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine, 14 — were not photographed at the event.
In addition to the repurposed tiara, Queen Mary’s gown was also a bit of recycled royal fashion. The lace bodice and sleeves were reportedly added to the Jesper Hovring piece since the last time she wore it.
All of Mary’s jewelry and honors are impressive, and she’s a very handsome woman. Regal, even. But the dress is not my flavor whatsoever, nor do I think it’s right for Mary. The “champagne” color reads as lifeless and beige on-camera. The lace is much too fussy for New Year’s Eve. While the belt is awesome, it leaves the impression that the dress is two-tone, with a lighter shade of beige on the bottom. Anyway, the British royals rarely repurpose diamonds from some archival piece these days. It’s interesting that Mary was allowed to do it, although I’m sure the original belt was saved, and it’s possible that they could somehow put the diamonds back into the belt if push came to shove.
Also: Prince Joachim and his wife Marie were allowed to come to the NYE bash. They must have flown in from DC for the holidays. That’s where they live now, in Washington.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
-
- Members of the Danish royal family attend the annual New Year’s dinner and the Court at Christian VII’s Palace at Amalienborg in Copenhagen Featuring: Princess Marie and Prince Joachim Where: Copenhagen, Denmark When: 01 Jan 2026 Credit: Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR HELLO MAGAZINE**
-
- Members of the Danish royal family attend the annual New Year’s dinner and the Court at Christian VII’s Palace at Amalienborg in Copenhagen Featuring: Queen Mary and King Frederik Where: Copenhagen, Denmark When: 01 Jan 2026 Credit: Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR HELLO MAGAZINE**
-
- Members of the Danish royal family attend the annual New Year’s dinner and the Court at Christian VII’s Palace at Amalienborg in Copenhagen Featuring: Queen Mary and King Frederik Where: Copenhagen, Denmark When: 01 Jan 2026 Credit: Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR HELLO MAGAZINE**
-
- Members of the Danish royal family attend the annual New Year’s dinner and the Court at Christian VII’s Palace at Amalienborg in Copenhagen Featuring: Queen Mary and King Frederik Where: Copenhagen, Denmark When: 01 Jan 2026 Credit: Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR HELLO MAGAZINE**
-
- Members of the Danish royal family attend the annual New Year’s dinner and the Court at Christian VII’s Palace at Amalienborg in Copenhagen Featuring: Crown Prince Christian Where: Copenhagen, Denmark When: 01 Jan 2026 Credit: Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR HELLO MAGAZINE**
-
- Members of the Danish royal family attend the annual New Year’s dinner and the Court at Christian VII’s Palace at Amalienborg in Copenhagen Featuring: Queen Mary, King Frederik Where: Copenhagen, Denmark When: 01 Jan 2026 Credit: Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR HELLO MAGAZINE**
-
- Members of the Danish royal family attend the annual New Year’s dinner and the Court at Christian VII’s Palace at Amalienborg in Copenhagen Featuring: Queen Mary Where: Copenhagen, Denmark When: 01 Jan 2026 Credit: Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR HELLO MAGAZINE**
-
- Members of the Danish royal family attend the annual New Year’s dinner and table for the Government, the Speaker of the Danish Parliament, representatives of official Denmark and the Court at Christian VII’s Palace at Amalienborg in Copenhagen Featuring: King Frederik, Queen Mary Where: Copenhagen, Denmark When: 01 Jan 2026 Credit: Dutch Press Photo/Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR PUBLICATION IN THE NETHERLANDS OR FRANCE**
The design is made in a way that allows for the diamonds to be reassembled into the belt. It is a historic piece, part of the Crown Jewels – but the belt has not been worn for more than a century since it was designed for corseted fashions of the time.
The whole design proces was done in co-operation with the curators of the historic royal collection at Rosenborg Castle in Copenhagen where the Danish Crown Jewels are displayed. I recommend a visit if in the neighbourhood. You can see the gorgeous emerald parure when it is not worn – and I especially recommend the crown of Christian IV, which is the most exquisite example of Renaissance goldsmithing that I have ever seen.
The castle itself is a curious little dollhouse of a castle – Christian IV’s version of a summer cottage in palatial form. It was built outside the city walls but since then Copenhagen has grown to the extent that Rosenborg is now in the centre of the city. It is a very beautiful building in the distinctive style called the Dutch Renaissance.
I really want to visit Copenhagen and the rest of Denmark. It’s on my list.
I hope you get to fulfill that wish. Even if you just visit Copenhagen there is much to see just outside of it – and Denmark is geographically a small country. You can get far in a reasonable amount of time.
Ohh – am going to Copenhagen in Feb (hopefully its not too cold then) so will check it out. Out of interest is Tivoli Gardens worth checking out – have heard mixed things about it.
I love the Tivoli Gardens, at least one yearly visit was the stable of my childhood and I have so many fond memories. It is expensive though – I haven’t kept up with the rides but the Gardens themselves are beautiful (especially when illuminated in the evening) and have several good eating places. It is one of the oldest amusement parks in Europe and is built on top of part of the old moat of Copenhagen), right in the middle of the city, very close to the City Hall (also worth a visit for the architecture) and the splendid museum Glyptoteket.
The Tivoli Gardens aren’t open in February.
Her earrings are also from the crown jewels, the pendants haven’t been pictured on anyone before. As someone whose main interest in royals is the jewelry I’m so excited to see the pendants worn
I have such mixed feelings about her. Against my usual judgement I respect her for not letting Frederik destroy her queening dreams and she stayed through the cheating scandal. The dress is terrible and matronly though.
Would it change your opinions to hear that the gossip out of Denmark is that Fred and Mary have an open marriage. Supposedly Mary has been in a longer term relationship with a Danish political figure
That’s great intel. If true, I sincerely hope her lover (if married) is in a similar arrangement.
I agree that the dress is yuck – At first glance it looks like she’s wearing a breast-plate, not to mention it looks like what it is – a mish-mash of a gown! That lace is yuck! She can do better!
She can do better, which is why this outfit is such a surprising fail. Not only is the dress a mishmash, the whole look is. That circlet, while beautiful, needed a different hair style to show it off, or maybe it needed another row of diamonds or something. (And good gad, those diamonds are humongous!) The earrings are fab, but I think instead of pendants maybe just the large button of diamond would have paired better & echoed the circlet. Maybe?
And then there’s that dress. Yikes! I do like how she has her gowns & dresses reworked to be worn again but lace? In the same color tone? And it does look at first glance like she’s wearing some sort of metal breast plate which I thought, wow! That’s a different look for Mary! But no.
Best part: that Elephant Order chain! I’ll have to google why–I’m imagining Danish knights in full metal suits of armor jousting from the backs of elephants, and I know that can’t be it!
He still looks to me like he’s about to cry.
Yeah, I am definitely getting some Spanish Inquisition vibes from the dress in terms of styling, which is doubly weird for a Scandinavian queen….
Mary’s dress looks very stuffy and matronly to me, and the color is not doing her any favors.
The dress is a horror!
Wiglet has worn worse!
@BayTampaBay – agree. At least Mary looks occasion-appropriate and very regal. And no fake hair extensions, thank God !
There’s a lot of tiaras I don’t love. Sometimes they just look too big and spiky. But not this one. The gems are so big and sparkly but it feels more demure, like a headband. So I’m into it.
As for the dress, I gotta say, this feels like Mary copy-keened Kate in this instance, and I never thought I’d say that. Adding the gold lace and sleeves to the dress is very reminiscent of Kate’s gold lace dress with Trump. I didn’t love Kate’s dress and I don’t love this one.
Nah, mary isnt copying lazy, she’s done lace like this before, even on her official portrait, iirc. She also slightly alters older gowns often. She’s always been a classic dresser with a modern twist but this isn’t that. I personally dislike this much lace and find it too victorian. I like most of her fashion but not all. This was a miss, though I’m sure in person she looked great.
It’s cool that she repurposes dresses and I usually like her style. She may have worn lace before but no lie when I saw the goldish-colored lace sleeves and collar added, I thought of what I call Kate’s Trump dress. That’s just where my mind went. The lace might have worked if it had been attached to a dress in a color other than this champagne one, maybe a darker color. Mary has had some truly great gowns that I’ve loved. This one just isn’t doing it for me.
I LOVE the new tiara. So beautiful.
Mary looks much better than keen in wearing the tiara. She has her hair appropriately styled for a tiara
I think her hair needed to be bigger & higher & more elaborate. The diamonds, oddly enough given their size, seem to disappear from some angles.
The colour washes her out but the tiara looks good this time. When she first wore the tiara it looked flat. I think changing her hairstyle has improved how the tiara looks this time around.
You also have to take lighting into account. Especially with old rose cut diamonds like these, the harsh lighting of the photographer’s blitz does them no favours. They are cut to sparkle in candle light (just like the more modern and popular brilliant cut was created in the age of electricity.
I bet that tiara looks stunning in person, in the right lighting. I have seen most of the Danish royal tiaras on exhibition and they are beautiful – but even then the lighting can set them off to disadvantage.
I really like the tiara and the cut of the diamonds but Mary’s gown is very old fashioned and veering on frumpy. It’s too busy with embellishments, shiny fabric and those hideous balloon sleeves. Is it on of her MILs gowns from the 70s? She’s too young to be dressing like that. I like what her SIL is wearing, nice color and cleaner silhouette, despite the Barbie hair. Prince Joachim looks like a big awkward stork. Did the King and Queen resolve the issue of his friend in Spain?
I think I would like the gown if it were without the lace, reminds me of what our real Queen used to wear in the 50s and 60s. But there are too many awards, they not only ruin this dress but they also ruin the dresses of our royals.
@L4Frimaire I think you are confusing Prince Joachim with Prince Joachim of Belgium?
The puff sleeves are VERY much early 70s style. Like the old McCall’s dress pattern packages ca 1972!
I’m quite a fan of Queen Mary’s style and this look is no exception! I like the gold dress and really like how she reworks old dresses with new details. The bandeau tiara is very similar to the Dutch bandeau tiara and imho, is a very elegant design. I’m giving this look 10/10! No notes!
The order of the elephant LOL. The highest order because she…. married this guy. OK. Giving accolades to people for being born or married into a family devalues that award completely.
At least she works hard (for a royal) is appropriate, never rude or thoughtless in public, learned Danish and gives full, regular speeches in it and her children have always been respectful and appreciative in public. Even when much younger. They all seem to know their jobs and get on.
I know someone who has worked with her in the past and he has great respect for her. He says that she is always super prepared with eyes on the particulars of the job – and not that interested in being around people who suck up. When she’s on an engagement she wants to talk to the ordinary people that are the focus on the visit and she’s good at establishing a rapport with people.
@arthistorian, thanks for that insight. It’s how she comes across but in pics its hard to tell. I think its annually summer they do a tour on the yacht, lots of traditional dress, she’s always on the ball and people look genuinely pleased to she them. I love that popping into my feed. I think isabella went last year as well.
I don’t think it’s commented enough on how she learned another language and seems proficient in it. It does show her work ethic especially since she gives speeches in a language she only learned in her 20s.
The BRF especially William and Kate, look pathetic compared to this.
Nic, I believe it was just after she was engaged she first gave a speech in Danish in public. Pretty impressive.
If only the UK had Mary as PoW what a sublime difference that would make, just imagine – genuine, confident, hardworking and kind.
Shows immediately all that’s wrong with KM, sorry but it does.
The Order of the Elephant was founded in the 17th century – and it has always been given out only to royals (and later on to Heads of State). The same is true for the other old royal orders that go back centuries. There were never badges of merit in a modern sense. They were for the rulers and leaders of countries. It is a foreign thing in this modern age but it is a relic of the past that is kept on as a symbol of deep historical continuity, which is a key part in how Denmark and its national identity is imagined/created. I can recommend Benedict Anderson’s book “Imagined Communities” that explore and analyse how different nations imagine themselves – some with deep continuity, others with radical rupture (like fx the US).
Thanks for the rec, @ARTHISTORIAN! I will check this book out.
It is such a good book. It really restructured my thinking about how shared identities are built and imagined – and the role that media plays in it.
I don’t care for the gown, too fussy, and I would love to see it before the addition of the lace. I agree that THIS is how you style a tiara.
My mind boggles at the idea of a belt with diamonds. Excessive.
I wonder how they keep those chains (collars?) in place? The fit very close to the edge of the shoulder.
I would guess, a few stitches.
The sew them on!
Found this on tumblr, FOUR previous versions of this dress: https://pogglepoppy.tumblr.com/post/804776519495008256
It is nice that she keeps repurposing the gown – but this iteration is unfortunate. It is too fussy.
Interesting. Not keen on any of them but I do like the fabric.
It’s not great. I thinking last year the lace on her dress was too much given she was wearing the emerald tiara and the necklace and the lace overwhemed it (the official portrait pic). Such an odd thing for someone normally so modern. She does like lace though!
I wouldn’t wear that dress, definitely not my style. But maybe in another color it might have worked for her. A jewel tone green, blue or maroon, something that matched her nail polish, I think would have been better. She so washed out, she looks ill.
I just scrolled back over a mary fashion page and shes worn beautiful outfits over the last 12 months- classic and stylish. The insta doesn’t get all of them either!
I guess she kept seeing Queen Maxima wear the Dutch diamond bandeau and decided she wanted her own. Something about the shape feels off, and I hate that you can see the base. The dress is too fussy and a bad color. I do give kudos for it being free of wrinkles though.
I can forgive the dress because of the jewels. She is deep-delving into the vault and pulling out some genuine gasp-inducing pieces, and wearing them like a pro.
Tiara: gorgeous. A lovely way to repurpose the large old rose-cut diamonds in a classic modern style.
Gown: absolutely awful.
This has a look to me of a dress that was altered for two purposes: to refresh it into a new look, and (if the previous version of the gown was what we see minus the lace) a way to cover her shoulders to prevent the Order collar from resting on bare skin.
So, both of those are laudable goals, IMO, but this is a total failure of execution. As everyone has said, the color is unflattering, the plain satin sections become flat & boring while the lace is overly fussy, plus the lace medallions near her face are specifically unflattering also.
She’s an attractive woman and it looks like she’s choosing to age gracefully, for which I absolutely applaud her, but as we get older we have to pay attention to the changes aging brings and adjust accordingly.
When she plans to wear the Order of the Elephant, she would be far better served to wear a jewel tone or dark gown in a simple, even severe cut, that covers her shoulders but leaves her neckline below her collarbones. A sash or belt to fasten the other pinned orders to would be preferable to letting them fight for space with the large collar.
The woman in the blue velvet gown did much better in matching the gown to the Order collar, but even she has the gown’s lapel collar and the other Orders fighting with the collar.
Mary should either highlight the Order collar, let everything else she wears be visually in service to it, (especially since she doesn’t wear it often) or if that’s not desirable, then wear a fully patterned piece that lets the collar just blend in.
Looks like it was originally a gold strapless gown. I think it’s always difficult to convert a strapless gown into one with a full bodice and sleeves. In the case of this gown, it just seems like none of the three elements, the skirt, the lace, the original bustier are complementing each other at all. The lace makes the gown very fussy. You have modesty of the lace high collar and poofy sleeves competing with the “look at me” vibe of the gold satin. I should think that royal women would have figured out specific designs to wear when they are in full regalia. To my mind, something plain to allow the regalia and jewellery to shine. If you wear an overly ornate gown, nothing stands out and you can end up looking like an over-decorated Christmas tree. The first thought that crossed my mind when I saw the photo was “too much.”
I think that most of the royal ladies spoil their gowns with all their awards. They certainly do not enhance them
The dress isn’t my favorite but she looks beautiful. I like how it shimmers like a candle. Makes her kind of glow.
I love the new tiara but the earrings should be the headline here. They’re massive and I read she’s the first to be photographed in them. That’s huge! I love how she keeps bringing out old jewels. Rebuilding the tiara out of old stones is a plus to me too. She’s truly modernizing the jewels.
Her makeup job is terrible. She looks ghostly. The color of her gown looks good on dark hair and eyes with a golden tinge to pale skin. She looks washed out with that horrible makeup job. One of the worst looks I’ve seen her in.
Came here just to say that the Order of the Elephant is adorable and I want one.
I would have had those diamonds made into a “tennis necklace” and wear it every day with those earrings, my jeans and tee. LOL.
It’s not just the dress, it’s the makeup- she looks like she’s dipped her face in talcum powder!
The Danish royal family strikes me as so messy- what is it about European royals?
Latest is the Spanish royal couple…
I’m here for other messy royals besides the unattractive BRF lol