KAREN STENSGAARD

On Sunday, the 14^th of January 2024, Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II will voluntarily hand the crown and its heavy weight of responsibilities over to her oldest child, HRH Crown Prince Frederik. The last time a Danish ruler abdicated was 900 years ago, but she will still retain her title as HRH the Queen.

The Queen, nicknamed Daisy, made the surprise announcement during her traditional New Year’s Eve speech to Danes and the world. After 52 years on the throne, she has decided now’s the time to relinquish the crown to her 55-year-old son.

As she mentioned in her speech, her recent back surgery, the future, and when to pass the crown to her son were all factors. She may also have considered the death of her third cousin, Queen Elizabeth II, and the transition to the 74-year-old King Charles.

When Crown Prince Frederik transitions to King Frederik X, his wife, Crown Princess Mary, becomes a Queen. Their oldest child, Prince Christian, will assume his father’s title of Crown Prince. If Queen Margrethe’s and Crown Prince Frederik’s firstborn child had been girls, a queen or princess would have assumed their titles and roles. The rule to pass the crown to the oldest male no longer exists in Denmark.

I wanted to include some recent photos of the Danish royals but decided to avoid any copyright issues. So here’s a link to their official website with lots of photos. Crown Princess Mary is stylish and wears many local designers. https://www.kongehuset.dk/en 

Here’s a modern painting of the Danish royal family with a young Prince Christian in the center displayed in the Amalienborg Museum. The man standing on the far left is the Crown Prince with his wife and children. The man on the far right is Prince Joachim and his wife and children. The Queen is wearing a red dress, and her husband, who died in 2018, is on her left. Prince Christian celebrated his 18th birthday in October, and his heart-felt, endearing speech even impressed the Queen.

The story of how Mary Donaldson, born in Tasmania, Australia, to Scottish immigrants, became the Crown Princess of Denmark and soon the Queen Consort of Denmark is a genuine fairy tale. She met Crown Prince Frederick at a local bar during the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. Introduced as Fred, she learned about the Danish royal connection later. Fred is a Danish word which means ‘peace.’

Luckily, the Danish royal family hasn’t suffered through continual drama as their cousins in England. The Crown Prince and Princess have been married for 20 years and have four beautiful children. Mary is fluent in Danish, and many Danes admire her dedication.

The royal family resides at Amalienborg in the fall and winter, which consists of four palaces:

• Christian IX’s palace is the residence of Queen Margrethe;
• Frederick VIII’s palace is Crown Prince Frederik’s family residence;
• Christian VIII’s palace contains the Amalienborg Museum; and
• Christian VII’s palace is a representative palace of the queen, likely used for events and meetings.

A model of Amalienborg’s four palaces built around an octagon-shaped courtyard. Founded in the 1700s as mansions for four aristocratic families, they are identical only on the outside.

The equestrian statue of King Frederik V who founded Amalienborg stands in the center of the octagon square. A local rode by on the much more common iron horse. Denmark is a bike-friendly country.

The Queen’s Royal Life Guards wear traditional uniforms with black bearskin headdresses originating in the 1600s. A friend was in the Guard to complete his military service. Danes used to joke around and called this group “the queen’s pants.” But to me they resemble adorable Christmas nutcrackers.

Queen Margrethe’s palace with the Danish flag, called Dannebrog, overhead. On January 14^th, the royal family will gather again and wave to the crowd. The flag will be moved to his palace when the crown is transferred to King Frederik.

The Amalienborg Museum in Christian VIII’s palace participated in the annual ‘Culture Night’ held in October. In the Gala Salon, a live model covered in gold brought a classic statue to life.

A photo of a painting of King Christian IX and his extended royal family is also exhibited at the museum. He is called the father-in-law of Europe since so many of his children married into other European royal families.

King Christian IX’s study, located in Christian VIII’s palace museum, has a beautiful library!

You can take a virtual tour of the museum on this website:

https://www.kongernessamling.dk/en/amalienborg/

I’ve seen Queen Margrethe II in person three times over the years. Once at a Fourth of July festival, later at a ballet in Copenhagen’s Royal Theatre where she sat in the royal box, and most recently on her birthday when she waved to the crowd of well-wishers from the balcony of Amalienborg, her Copenhagen palace.

I found my photos of Queen Margrethe and her French-born husband Prince Henrik in my scrapbook. I saw her at the Rebild Park Fourth of July Festival in 1978 when I was an exchange student in Denmark. A Danish-American bought the land for the park in 1911 and donated it to Denmark. So every year, a 4^th of July celebration is held there.

If you want a Danish way to celebrate, try mini-pastries from Karen’s Bakery, available at Costco, Walmart, and other mega stores in the USA. They’ve even earned the Crown’s special seal of approval called a Royal Warrant. Karen is the Danish form for Katherine, not a name-calling, bullying meme. Some Karen’s in the USA have changed their names, so hopefully, people will stop being cruel.

As they say in Danish, Hurra og længe leve. Hurrah, and many wishes for a long life to all the Danish royals!

Next time my photo blog will include some words from the Queen’s impressive New Years speech about the Nazi occupation during World War II and a Jewish synagogue in the heart of Copenhagen.

Karen Stensgaard has written three novels: Aquavit, Blueness, and Project Onion. Her soon-to-be-published book, Project Pepper: The Client, takes place in Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland. Her upcoming photo blogs will focus more on travel, history, and culture. After spending a year in Denmark as an exchange student, Karen still visits her Danish husband’s family yearly. Each trip brings new, fascinating experiences.