The new chasuble was created by Her Majesty The Queen, and the work commenced in December 2019, when Her Majesty visited the Danish Church in London. The Queen studied the church’s layout, colors and glass mosaic, and the inspiration for the choice of colors came both from the colors in the church’s interior and from colors associated with Denmark and England. The white cross on the red background symbolizes Dannebrog, and the red and white colors also appear throughout the glass mosaic in the large window over the church’s altar. The chasuble has a blue lining, which together with the red and white colors alludes to the colors of the British flag.

On the front of the chasuble, The Queen has embroidered a Christogram. The monogram, which is based on the three first letters of the name “Jesus” in Greek, is surrounded by a crown of thorns. An embroidered cross with a Luther Rose in the middle is seen on the back piece. The Luther Rose is a widely used symbol for the Evangelical Lutheran Church. The winding vines seen in the chasuble’s pattern suggest the Gothic lines in the church, which is a 200-year-old neo-Gothic church building.

The cloth used to make the chasuble is from England. And, in the design, Her Majesty has attached great importance to the chasuble’s use throughout the church year and for all religious celebrations.  

Over the years, The Queen has created various textiles for churches both in Denmark and abroad. The textiles are often sewn and embroidered in bright colors and with visual symbols related to the Christian theme. Among the other works created for churches abroad, one can mention the antependium, which also had the Luther Rose as the central motif, for the Palace Church in Wittenberg in connection with the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017. Most recently, in 2019, Graasten Palace Church was presented with a new chasuble, supplementing The Queen’s antependium for the palace church from 2018. And a new antependium and hymn book covers were presented to the Church of Holmen on the occasion of the its 400th anniversary.

The Danish Church in London, which is situated in the northeast corner of Regent’s Park, is housed in the historic church building St Katharine’s. After a thorough restoration, in 1952, King Frederik (the 9th) and Queen Ingrid were able to take part in the dedication of St. Katharine’s as the church for Danes. And, since then, the Danish Church in London has been a church for Danes who reside in the city for short or extended periods of time.

Because of the coronavirus epidemic, there was only space for a limited number of churchgoers to attend the unveiling of the chasuble, but the Danish Church had made it possible for all interested to follow the service via a digital link.