Queen Mary Brings Back Her Dazzling Wedding Tiara

King Frederik and Queen Mary at a banquet, with Queen Mary wearing her wedding tiara and a blue gown

(Image credit: Getty Images)

While some royal women, like Princess Diana, make their wedding tiaras a part of their wardrobe throughout their lives, others—like Princess Kate—choose not to wear their wedding-day designs again. Queen Mary of Denmark, for one, has gone a different route and altered her antique tiara to make it her own, and she brought the sentimental design back for a state banquet in Estonia on January 27.

Queen Mary and King Frederik married in 2004, and Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik gave a vintage diamond tiara of unknown provenance to their new daughter-in-law. She's worn the piece on numerous occasions since then, opting to pair it with a custom navy Prada gown for Tuesday's banquet.

Jewelry expert Nilesh Rakholia, founder of Abelini, tells Marie Claire that "wedding tiaras are often frozen in time, locked to a single moment." However, in Mary's case, she opted to alter the design to make it more versatile.

Queen Mary wearing her wedding tiara and a blue dress — Queen Mary wears her wedding tiara to a state banquet in Tallinn, Estonia on January 27.

Queen Mary wearing a white gown and veil at her wedding — Mary is pictured at her 2004 wedding.

"What makes Mary’s different is that she has allowed it to evolve alongside her," Rakholia says. "In 2011, she commissioned alterations so detachable pearls could be added to the fleur-de-lis motifs, along with a row of pearls at the base. That decision is quietly significant.”

For the banquet in Tallinn, Estonia, Queen Mary chose to wear the diamond design in its original form rather than including the newer pearl additions.

Rakholia continues, “By choosing to adapt the tiara rather than preserve it untouched, Mary asserted authorship over her jewelry. It remains a wedding gift, but it is also a living object—shaped by the woman who wears it, not just the moment it commemorates."

Queen Mary in a navy gown and tiara walking next to King Frederik in a tux — Queen Mary and King Frederik are pictured at a state banquet in Tallinn, Estonia on January 27.

Mary and Frederik have weathered some ups and downs in recent years amid infidelity rumors, and Rakholia says that the Danish queen's choice to wear her wedding tiara reflects a "sense of continuity" that "lends the tiara a deeper emotional weight."

"Two decades on, this piece no longer symbolizes a wedding alone," he tells Marie Claire. "It reflects endurance—a marriage that has matured under public scrutiny and responsibility."

Kristin Contino is Marie Claire's Senior Royal and Celebrity editor. She's been covering royalty since 2018—including major moments such as the Platinum Jubilee, Queen Elizabeth II’s death and King Charles III's coronation—and places a particular focus on the British Royal Family's style and what it means.

Prior to working at Marie Claire, she wrote about celebrity and royal fashion at Page Six Style and covered royalty from around the world as chief reporter at Royal Central. Kristin has provided expert commentary for outlets including the BBC, Sky News, US Weekly, the Today Show and many others.

Kristin is also the published author of two novels, “The Legacy of Us” and “A House Full of Windsor.” She's passionate about travel, history, horses, and learning everything she can about her favorite city in the world, London.