So, one can wonder if the Danish Court has always some Orders in stock for a State Visit or some special occasion not to has the cost to order a new one.
--Previous Message-- : Nellie, the elephant in your photo is a quite : special one (diamonds bigger than normal), : and it is reserved for the King (Queen) of : Denmark. As far as I understand, it is only : used on those rare occasions where the order : is worn in a chain (as seen here): : : : : : I think Queen Margrethe has another more : normal elephant "for daily use", : i.e. when it's worn with the blue sash. I : can't find a photo to confirm this - but : maybe a challenge for Tamara? This : "normal" elephant did earlier : belong to Margrethe's grandfather Christian : X. : : Because the elephant in Nellie's photo is : "in its own league", it might well : be worth more than Queen Paola's. But that's : just my guess. I don't know why Paola was : lucky to get the most valuable of the : "normal" stock, but probably : because it was one of few available : elephants at the time she received the : order. Besides, I think the more precious of : the elephants are given to royalty rather : than presidents. : : Actually Queen Margrethe has a third (small) : elephant. It sits in a brooch that her : father had made to her in 1958. She wears it : when she receives people in audience: : : : : With the Order of the Elephant comes also a : star-shaped badge. Again, the Queen has two : different at her disposal - a big one for : special occasions and a smaller one for : other occasions. You can see the difference : in these two photos: : : : : Trivia: The elephant is made of gold covered : with white enamel. It cosists of 15 : different parts. New elephants are still : made on rare occasions, but they are : terribly expensive. In 1992, the price for a : new one was no less than 700.000-800.000 : Danish kroner ($ 117,000-134,000) - so no : wonder it has to be returned to the royal : court after someone has died. : :