The Danish Orders and Monograms

[MoonlightRhapsody]

I can't wait to see Prince Nikolai, Prince Felix, and Prince Christian's monograms when they get older. The monograms are fascinating to me.

 

[robby86]

What is the "Order of the Elephant" and why an elephant?

 

[Louise]

What is the "Order of the Elephant" and why an elephant?

The order of the Elephant is the highest danish order, and mostly given to foreign heads of state. Mærsk McKinney Møller (owner of the shippingcompany mærsk) is the onbly dane in 50 years to recieve it, the last one before him was Niels Bohr (the physicist).
I actually have no idea why it's an elephant. The order is about 500 years old, and my best guess is that the elephant was a very strange animal, but known for it's strenght, therefore it was a good symbol.

 

[betina]

Princess Alexandra's arms are currently displayed below the royal arms alongside those of her husband and the Crown Prince. Her shield is her marital arms, marshalling the arms of Prince Joachim [Denmark with an escutcheon of Oldenborg impaled with de Monpezat] and the her own arms with quater those given to her father Mr Richard Manely with an orchid. .

Actually i think the flower is an Edelweiss because its a very popular flower in Austria where Alexandras mother is from.

 

[Laura]

Crown Princess Mary's Coat of Arms

I wonder if Mary has got her own coat of arms. Unfortunately, the Danish royals seem not to use their personal arms that often: for instance, the only time I got to see Princess Alexandra's was in a photo taken of Frederiksborg Castle's Chapel, where all knights and ladies of the Order of the Elephant have their arms displayed in a shield with their name, coat of arms and the date they became members of the order.


Perhaps somebody has visited the castle recently and noticed the CP's shield?

Prince Frederik's coat of Arms in Frederiksborg Chapel:
http://www.crownprincecouple.dk/49000c

Shields of other knights and ladies of the Order of the Elephant:
http://p.vtourist.com/1080739-Shields_in_Stairways-Frederiksborg_Slot.jpg

 

[sirmax]

On the Official web site of the Crown Prince Couple, it says that they created an official standard for the King, Queen and the Regent. Does anyone have a clue of how the Regent Standard looks like?

 

[politikgirl]

Did Joachim and Alexandra have a joint monogram (like Frederik & Mary's) when they were married? If so, does anyone have a picture of it?

 

[soCal girl]

Here's Joachim and Alexandra's joint monogram:


(I'm guessing it was on the official site of the Danish monarchy but was taken off after the divorce)

Here's their monogram as part of a gate (Does anybody know what palace/castle/home that is? Is the gate still like that?)

(Credit: Polfoto)

 

[UserDane]

soCal Girl - I'm sure it must be Schackenborg Castle; the castle that was given/bought for Joachim when he was a boy and where he lives now. I haven't seen pictures of the gate recently so I don't know whether it has been changed.
(http://kongehuset.dk/publish.php?dogtag=k_en_pal_sch)

 

[soCal girl]

soCal Girl - I'm sure it must be Schackenborg Castle; the castle that was given/bought for Joachim when he was a boy and where he lives now. I haven't seen pictures of the gate recently so I don't know whether it has been changed.
(http://kongehuset.dk/publish.php?dogtag=k_en_pal_sch)

Thanks for the answer, UserDane. I would hope the gate is changed since the monogram no longer exists in a sense.

 

[HenrikaB]

Perhaps he's waiting to remarry so he can re-monogram the gate and the furniture. I understand a lot of the furniture has their monogram carved into it.

 

[politikgirl]

That must be a little awkward for Joachim, having to look at his former "joint couple" monogram everywhere throughout his home.

Thanks for posting the monogram!

 

[HenrikaB]

That must be a little awkward for Joachim, having to look at his former "joint couple" monogram everywhere throughout his home.

I agree. I know if it were me, I would have thrown everything out the minute the ex walked out the door - wouldn't have even tried to sell it. Come to think of it there was an article stating that Joachim went on a buying spree after the separation, so perhaps he did throw it out(?).

 

[norwegianne]

It was stated around the divorce that the joint monogramme on the gates of Schackenborg would stay. (I presume until a potential new wife...)

 

[billie-jo]

doe's mary have one as well?
billie-jo

 

[Madame Royale]

doe's mary have one as well?
billie-jo

Of course

Look over the page billie-jo

 

[billie-jo]

won't page is that madame royale.
Billie-jo

 

[Madame Royale]

won't page is that madame royale.
Billie-jo

Page 2 Billie-jo.

You were referring to the Crown Princess' personal monogram were you not?

 

[politikgirl]

I agree. I know if it were me, I would have thrown everything out the minute the ex walked out the door - wouldn't have even tried to sell it. Come to think of it there was an article stating that Joachim went on a buying spree after the separation, so perhaps he did throw it out(?).

It's possible. Because who would want to look at that everyday?

It was stated around the divorce that the joint monogramme on the gates of Schackenborg would stay. (I presume until a potential new wife...)

And if Joachim never remarries, I guess the monogram will always be on the gates.

 

[Ms Griffin]

It was stated back in the day that they were given quite a few wedding gifts from the danish people, associations, etc., also for Schackenborg. Among those gifts was the gate. Therefore I'd assume both Joachim and Alexandra would be careful to not just throw it out.

 

[MoonlightRhapsody]

Wasn't Mary awarded an Order of the Elephant yet? Does anyone have picture of her coat of arms?

 

[CasiraghiTrio]

Mary has the Order of the elephant since the year of her wedding, slightly before the wedding. She wears the eight pointed star to gala events, sort of on her left rib cage I guess. She does have a monogram. There is a chart showing all the family's monograms on this thread, page 2 I think. (?)
She does not have the Dannebrog yet, however. Strange no? Isn't the elephant considered the most prestigious?

 

[Madame Royale]

Mary has the Order of the elephant since the year of her wedding, slightly before the wedding. She wears the eight pointed star to gala events, sort of on her left rib cage I guess. She does have a monogram. There is a chart showing all the family's monograms on this thread, page 2 I think. (?)
She does not have the Dannebrog yet, however. Strange no? Isn't the elephant considered the most prestigious?

Yes, CasiraghiTrio

The Order of the Elephant is the Danish equivilant to the British Order of the Garter or the Swedish Order of the Seraphim etc.

It is highest Order of Chivalry in the land.

Mary will probably (again, no one can be certain) be made a Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog when Frederik becomes King.

 

[CasiraghiTrio]

Thanks, MR!

there are pics of Niels Bohr on Getty wearing his Order of the Elephant. He's not royal but I love him and I think it's great to see non-royalty achieve orders of chivalry. I don't care about actors who get it or musical entertainers. I could care less about the Rolling stones and their knighthoods, but someone like Niels bohr made real contributions to the understanding of the universe with his work on quantum mechanics.

One question: Does the Elephant order work the same way as the Garter, the Thistle, etc. in terms of prefixes? Are the Knights given a prefix of "Sir" and the Ladies "Dame"?

 

[Sister Morphine]

That must be a little awkward for Joachim, having to look at his former "joint couple" monogram everywhere throughout his home.

I completely agree. A friend of my family is going through a rough divorce and she's got reminders of him all over her house....pictures, things they bought together, souvenirs of trips they took, etc. I can't imagine having to look at reminders of happier days when I feel like happy days are long gone.

 

[RhapsodyBrat]

I can't wait to see Prince Nikolai, Prince Felix, and Prince Christian's monograms when they get older. The monograms are fascinating to me.

that's what i would like to ask--why don't Prince Nikolai and Prince Felix have their own monograms? Prince Christian's monogram was released soon after his birth. Is this a prerogative given to the children/grandchildren, or is it done upon the discretion of the Queen?

 

[politikgirl]

I can't wait to see Princess Isabella's monogram.

 

[agapi]

Me too! I think Queen Magrehte is working on it right now

 

[politikgirl]

The Queen must be working on Marie's monogram as well. I'm really curious about how that will look, since Marie is another "M" along with Margrethe and Mary.

 

[magnik]

It will be M with the same crown as Alexandra had. - Principal crown like Joachim has, I think.

Is it Alexandra's new crown, right Countess Alexandra of Frederiksborg