Crown Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece quietly shifted a key accessory at Prince Christian of Denmark’s birthday gala.
On Sunday, Marie Chantal, 55, attended the glittering 18th birthday bash for the second in line to the Danish throne at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen and arrived with her navy Order of Saints Olga and Sophia sash on the wrong shoulder.
Meanwhile, her husband, Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece, sported his sky-blue Order of the Elephant shoulder from his left shoulder to his right hip.
While that draping is the correct way to wear Denmark’s highest order of chivalry, protocol calls for the Order of Saint Olga and Sophia sash to be worn from right to left. King George II of Greece established the order in 1936 to recognize women’s contributions to royal life, The Court Jeweller reported. Though the Greek monarchy was abolished in 1973, the honor has continued, and Princess Marie-Chantal previously received the royal rank from her late father-in-law, King Constantine II.
As seen in photos from the glam gala, the crown princess was quick to catch the faux pas and switched her navy sash to her right shoulder.
She’s hardly the first guest of a royal event to make the same mistake, as David Beckham famously arrived at the 2011 wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton with his Order of the British Empire medal on the wrong lapel. The soccer legend similarly swapped it to the other side after taking a seat for the ceremony at Westminster Abbey.
Prince Christian was fêted on his 18th birthday Sunday in pageantry that began with a balcony appearance for a changing of the guard at Amalienborg Castle and continued with the epic celebration at Christiansborg Palace that night. The Danish Royal House revealed that the prince even received something special from his grandmother Queen Margrethe — the private presentation of the Order of the Elephant.
According to the court, the order dates back to the 15th century and is primarily reserved for royalty and heads of state — a fitting tribute as Crown Prince Frederik’s eldest son steps into his destiny ahead.
Christian proudly sported the blue sash and elephant charm with his white tie ensemble at the gala, where he posed for a photo with four fellow future European monarchs.
In the formal portrait released by the Danish Royal House, Prince Christian smiled beside Princess Estelle of Sweden, 11, Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway, 19, Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands, 19, and Princess Elisabeth of Belgium, 21. Like Prince Christian, the princesses all follow their parents — Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and King Philippe of Belgium — in the line of succession to the throne as their first-born children.
While Prince Christian and Princess Ingrid Alexandra matched in their Order of the Elephant regalia, a close look at the photo shows that Princess Catharina-Amalia and Princess Elisabeth wore their sashes the opposite way. That’s because the Order of the Netherlands Lion (which Catharina-Amalia belongs to) and the Order of Leopold (which Elisabeth is in) dictate that sashes are sported from right shoulder to left hip.
The Scandinavian royal families share a tight bond in both their royal duties and their personal connections, and Princess Ingrid Alexandra was honored with the Order of the Elephant when she turned 18 in January 2022, The Court Jeweller said. In another tie, her parents Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit are Prince Christian’s godparents!
Ingrid Alexandra and Christian even sat next to each other during the gala dinner, where the prince gave his first official speech, where he shouted out his peers in the crowd and touched on the challenges of starting a new school last year.
“I would like to thank everyone who helped celebrate me. Both you who are here and all of you who have sent greetings and gifts. I will never forget today. But maybe I will remember it as less challenging already tomorrow,” he said in his address.
“I have to find my way, even if it leads to a familiar place. I have roots in many places in the world, and I enjoy traveling. But home will always be here because I love my country,” Prince Christian concluded.
The prince’s birthday celebrations will continue next month when he attends a meeting of the Council of State (which is comprised of government ministers) and declares that he wishes to comply with the Danish constitution.
Source: People