Queen Margrethe's 70th Birthday Celebrations: March-June 2010


If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
I really dont get the critiszism about the festivities. Denmark is a small country with the vast majority of people obviously feeling close or very much loyal to their monarch.

These festivities are not behind closed doors, keeping the public out, but rather for the public and including them. Pics like those from the balcony speak volumes about the relationship between the Danish Queen and the Danes that support a monarchy that is very hands on and close to the people, rather than the Brits who do their parties "in private" (Charles' 60th) because they are afraid of the public complaining or the Spanish who almost offically don't celebrate at all because they fear being kicked out by the jealous public.

Of course the DRF can consider themselves lucky about the way it is but life isnt fair. Its great that they do such festivities, people who are asking to abolish such traditions or consider it a waste of money should rather ask for the whole institution to be abolished, that would be more consistent.

I am sure the Danes will go on as they do, with Frederik enjoying a similar popularity as his mother.
 
That was really disgusting and unnecessary. There are people starving out there. Have a little respect, please.
Of course, the DRF are free to throw the Danish people money to sea. In a certain way, they do.
And by this we can say to each their own, therefore you are obviously donating all your surplus income left after paying for the necessities of life.

How sad is it that with the entire Danish nation celebrating their much beloved Queen's 70th birthday and participating in a celebration of life and joy, all you see are starving millions. Man does not live by bread alone . . . . . .

If of thy mortal goods thou art bereft,
And from thy slender store two loaves alone to thee are left,
Sell one, and with the dole
Buy hyacinths to feed thy soul.
- Moslih Eddin (Muslih-un-Din) Saadi (Sadi),
Gulistan (Garden of Roses)

Next time you have a special day, a birthday, anniversary, wedding, etc. skip the celebration and write a cheque and enjoy!

To each their own and, to be honest, I have to ask, what on earth are you doing on a forum like this when it celebrates that which so offends you?
 
I know this is a delicate question - but - was Alexandra there too? I thought she has still a good relationship with her ex-mother in law?

No, Alexandra was not present.

The guests were mainly other royals, family, common friends of the Regent Couple and in particular personal friends of Prince Henrik.
A couple of government representatives were also present. Like the PM, Lars Løkke, who actually delivered a good speech.

And Caroline Mathilde & Eliza, you are most welcome :)
 
Excerpts from a very long interview of Queen Margrethe in Billed Bladet #14, 2010.
Interviewer: Annelise Weimann.

A very good, honest and surprisingly open interview with QMII.
A number of very relevant questions and she can certainly answer them!
This interview says more about her character, feelings and personality than the answers in themselves.

Q: You are an elequent woman and you can sometimes appear stern. Are you aware of that yourself?
QMII: "Hmm, that's probably correct. That's what I call "Auntie Queen". She laughs loudly before continuing: "I do sometimes see the rearside of the medal/facade, than what you are used to seeing and then it can be difficult not to mention it".
Q: Are there anyone who says something about that to you?
QMII: "The family sometimes say something. But I can also sense on people's reactions that, things went perhaps it bit too fast. And when things are a bit too fast for yourself, you can get a bit impatient with other people, even if you don't want to. But I try not to bite the head off people".

Q: Should a royal family also be a rolemodel in regards to whom they associate?
QMII: "Where do want to go with that"?
Q: I think about your daughter-in-law, who was recently photographed at a dinner with Rigmor Zobel?
QMII: "I don't think she knew that it was a dinner where it was possble to be photographed. And it's after all not she, who made the guestlist".
Q: But the Crown Princess had an invitation, which she had accepted?
QMII: "Perhaps she didn't know who else were invited. We don't know that, do we"?
Q: Have you talked with your daughter-in-law about it?
QMII: "Of course we have talked about it".
Q: Does the Crown Princess regret she went to that dinner?
QMII: "I'm not inclined to talk about that. It's really nobodys business how we deal with a situation within the family". (QMII is here using a less diplomatic word, "rager", which clearly signals that this debate ends here)!!!

Q: But will you make a smooth transition, so that the CP couple will take over more and more tasks?
QMII: "There are certain things that you from a constitutional point of view cannot leave to someone else, at least not as long as you are capable of doing it yourself".
Q: But there are surely many things the CP couple could take over from you?
QMII: "There are quite a few things you could leave to the younger. But there are also quite a few things that may appear to be strenous but which you actually have to do and not leave that to someone else. Unless you are ill, as I was the other day, so that the Crown Prince had to deal with both the State Council and a parade". (The Watch Parade, see summary in the Frederik thead).


Q: There is hardly any doubt that you too were surprised over the divorce between Prince Joachim and Princess Alexandra?
QMII: "Oh dear, yes. That's hardly something you dream about".
Q: Was it Prince Joachim who told you?
QMII: "Yes, he told me".
Q: Is it extra sad when it happens in a royal family?
QMII: "I always think that in nine out of ten cases a divorce is wrong. There is something that didn't turn out as you hoped. When people get married it's because they believe it will last. And that has been the case with them (J&A) as well, no doubt. So you have to find joy in realising that when it does go wrong, they are able to handle it in a sensible way. Then the rest of us have nothing else to do than also to aproach it in a sensible manner".
Q: Do you think it is worse when a divorce occour in a royal family? Should a royal family be a rolemodel for others?
QMII: "That has got something to do with you thinking: What a huge commotion this will cause in the entire press. It's also the attention you think about. But then we have to grit our teeth and take in it's stride".
Q: Do you think there was a lot of trouble/stir, while it lasted?
QMII: "Do you perhaps think there was too little"? The Queen almost shout the sentence. - "Or would you have preferred to cause a little more? No, sorry. I think that was Auntie Queen, talking here. But we have moved on, of course we have. And that is very much because the two persons have handled it so maturely and well".
Q: But it was a big surprise - for you too?
QMII: "Of course it was. But it was also because they, despite everything, maintained a facade, before it all shattered. I very much appreciate that they could. Do it so discreetly".

Q: You speak very commendable about the Crown Princess. Do you think she is doing well?
QMII: "Yes, I simply do".
Q: And Princess Marie?
QMII: "She hasn't been here for so long yet, but it'll come. I believe that just the fact that she is working hard to learn to speak Danish is really, really good. So she'll learn alright". (Her job as a member of the DRF).
Q: Do you have a close relationship to both you daughters-in-law?
QMII: "Yes, but to the Crown Princess in particular. She has been here longer, so I've had more time to look at her. And she is closer for the simple reason that when we live at Fredensborg, we almost live next door to one another".
Q: But you don't bump in to each other on a daily basis?
QMII: "Not all the time, but it does happen when I go to Fredensborg, usually on Thursdays when I live in the city. If it's convenient I often have lunch with the CP couple or one of them. That's very cosy and I get a glimpse of the kids as well".


Q: You have five lovely grandchildren. Do you feel a particular attachment to Prince Christian who will one day succeed you on the throne?
QMII: "Yes, so I do. It's a strange thing but there is something. That about the oldest son of the oldest son. It means something, it's something special. I am endlessly fond of all my five grandchildren. They each have their own character and each their charming sides. But there is something about little Prince Christian".
Q: Do you take more care of Christian than the other grandchildren?
QMII: "He is geographically easier to bump into than the others because he lives right next door, when we are at Fredensborg. But there is something emotionally too".
Q: He really is a sweet boy.
QMII: "Yes, all grandmothers think they are, - virtually all".
Q: Do you see Prince Christian regularly?
QMII: "Relatively regularly. I must admit that we don't see our grandchildren nearly as often as we had imagined. Both they and we are a little too busy with all sorts of things, and then suddenly, vupti, time goes by".
Q: What type of boy is Christian? Is he shy?
QMII: "I won't call him shy. But he doesn't burn off all his powder at once like Isabella does, for better or worse. But he is a lovely kid, he sure is. He spoke well and clearly very early on, and when children can speak well and clearly pretty early on, it leads to more things tagging along. They can communicate with others and recieve communication. And then he has a thing I find so funny, something his father also had. He has fantastically well developed motor skills, from very early on. He has a lot of strength but he is in control of his own body. He can coordinate and so could the Crown Princes too from very early on. In that way he resemble his father".
Q: How is Princess Isabella like?
QMII: "Here the other day I said to my daughter-in-law and son: You need no dachshund. You have Isabella". The Queen laughs aloud.
Q: They were hopefully not offended?
QMII: "No, they laughed. Isabella will become a handful I think. It's typical that the slightly younger would like to follow suit with the bigger one. There are a lot of frustrations before you can express yourself just as well and move just as well as the bigger one. I can sense that she is already cathching up. Now she can already both talk and move. I haven't experienced the big rows (recently) nearly as much as I did, when she was a little younger. She doesn't get frustrated because now she can follow suit. She let us know what she want's whithout having to wail her head off".
Q: "How will you describe little Prince Henrik?
QMII: "He is still very little, but he is a very, very lovely child. But I haven't seen him so much yet".
Q: "Have you any sense of his character?
QMII: "Not yet".
Q: "The two big ones, Prince Nikolai and Prince Felix, are doing well?
QMII: "They are dong so well. They are doing well at school, they are sweet, it's a pleasure to be with them".


The entire interview is interesting, but I've selected the 25% or so I found most telling.
She's a little bit tricky to translate. Frederik is very much his mother's son in that respect. :p
 
Thank you to all of those who posted pictures! Everyone looked very happy and very beautiful! I am so delighted to see Crown Princess Victoria and Daniel looking so happy together! I cannot wait for their nupitals in June!
 
The videos in Tv2 have dissapeared, anyone can find the one where Marie is arriving to the opera? Thanks :flowers:
 
Thanks for the interview translation, Muhler - it was very interesting. You wrote that the Queen was difficult to translate. Why?
 
The interview was interesting. Thank you for the translation. It never ceases to shock me how personal interviewers seem to feel that they can get with their questions. As if the family is not entitled to some privacy.

As for the money spent on the celebrations, that is the business of the Danish people. Any other opinion on the matter is irrelevant (including mine).
 
I think the Danish just don´t care about this. It´s hard to believe ALL OF THEM are interested in such superficial matters. And please, do not tell me what to do, because I follow everything that happens in the world, even a war, as much as i hate it.

The comparison between a president´s security and this celebrations in quite naive, so i won´t comment any further.

I don´t intend to start a discussion, so please do not defend yourselves, this is not an attack. I have the right to say this is obscene as well as you have the right to take delight in events you can just watch from far away and only dream about. If i´m not entitled to express my opinion, then i´m in the wrong forum.

I never said a queen should not celebrate her birthday (if you read well); I never said starvation is a problem in Denmark (please do not assume things I didn´t write); I only said a dinner would have done it. And that this tour of celebrations was just OBSCENE.

And yes, a comment about throwing their incomes to the sea is offensive and disgusting. And i stick to my point.
Some people need to take their eyes out to the screen and see the real world. and grow up.

I don't believe that anyone, yourself included, should be subjected to the "wrath" of faceless people sitting behind their computer screens throwing out rebukes of a personal and forceful nature, ie' 'and grow up'. But it was you who made such a comment so perhaps it is you who should mind your manners also, if you expect the same courtesy in return.

Certainly you're entitled to convey your opinion as is anyone else, but posters have made relevant inquiries as to the nature of your post and have themselves expressed/discussed their opinions. I certainly don't agree with a single thing you have said, nor your tone, but I can appreciate that the contents of your participation reflects your opinion, respectively :)

Excerpts from a very long interview of Queen Margrethe in Billed Bladet #14, 2010.

Thanks Muhler. The translation is very much appreciated.

It's always nice to have ones' opinion confirmed, ie; Margrethe and Mary having a wonderful relationship. They really seems to share a mutual admiration for one another.

I thought it interesting, re her admission, that both she and the Prince Consort don't see their grandchildren as much as they would like. Particularly little Prince Henrik.

I mean, when one considers she is the Queen (and we all know Queen's have much to contend with day in day out, particularly those regnant), then it's not so hard to understand why. But having it confirmed still seems to make one take note. The freedom to be able to spend quality time with their grandchildren must often flash through their minds. But, it is what it is.

Christian strikes me as a child who, even if only subconsciously, knows who he is. He just seems to have a command about him. An assurance, even at such a young age as this.

Mary and Frederik are on record as saying they would have liked a big family, but I don't think they'll have any more children myself. Having got one of each, I would endeavour to suggest they are both entirely greatful and happy to be the parents of two healthy children and that that's more than enough to be thankful for.

Of course, these are solely my observations and opinions and I may very well be wrong.
 
You are welcome.

Because she speaks in a somewhat quirky way and use mental images. In other words she has a tendency to speak like she thinks, just like Frederik, who can be a real challenge sometimes!
Joachim and Mary are easy to translate, because their wording tends to more precise and descriptive. They tend to speak like they are writing what they are saying.

It's a little tricky to explain.

Thanks for the interview translation, Muhler - it was very interesting. You wrote that the Queen was difficult to translate. Why?
 
Excerpts from a very long interview of Queen Margrethe in Billed Bladet #14, 2010.
Interviewer: Annelise Weimann.

A very good, honest and surprisingly open interview with QMII.
A number of very relevant questions and she can certainly answer them!
This interview says more about her character, feelings and personality than the answers in themselves.


The entire interview is interesting, but I've selected the 25% or so I found most telling.
She's a little bit tricky to translate. Frederik is very much his mother's son in that respect. :p

Muhler, thank you for the translating:).
 
No, Alexandra was not present.

The guests were mainly other royals, family, common friends of the Regent Couple and in particular personal friends of Prince Henrik.
A couple of government representatives were also present. Like the PM, Lars Løkke, who actually delivered a good speech.

And Caroline Mathilde & Eliza, you are most welcome :)

I was hoping that the Countess would be invited and wear the beautiful Alexandra tiara
Marie's father attended, but I don't think her mother or step fatheer attended.
I also noticed that none of the Donaldson's attended
Did anyone from Liechtensteein attend ??
 
The waste in these celebrations is really distressing. A dinner would have been enough. If they had to pay it, the story would be different.
Look at all the people who had a job to go to these past few weeks with all the preparing and security and food prep and flowers and hairdressers and manicurists and waiters and.............!;)
 
I was hoping that the Countess would be invited and wear the beautiful Alexandra tiara
Marie's father attended, but I don't think her mother or step fatheer attended.
I also noticed that none of the Donaldson's attended
Did anyone from Liechtensteein attend ??

The Liechtenstein's had the Fuerstin's 70th birthday this weekend (born 14-4-1940)
The Donaldsons were in Australia.
I think none of them would have made it due to the vulcano-problems
 
where do these very special guests stay, don't forget they come with LIW,hair stylists,makeup,keeper of the royal jewels,mains,+++++lots of security people and drivers..................some obviously must stay at their Embassy, but who stays with the Queen and who stays with CP Couple---and do ALL their people also have to stay at the same place ???????????????

Who stayed with the Queen and who stayed with the CP Couple.
Obviously Marie's father stayed with them and got to play GrandMa for little Henrik................did others stay with Joachim ???

We all enjoyed the many speaches/toasts/tribuates to the Queen............BUT she does have TWO sons.......and Joachim wasn't asked to join in the tribuate to his Mother the Queen.......................only the Heir (and numerous others),
Just think how poor Joachim must be feeling............it was still his Mother and he wasn't able to join in................my heart went out to him for the poise he always has and not a flicker of emotioin on how hurt he must have been...............guess he is use to it...but he is still human and this must have hurt
 
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We all enjoyed the many speaches/toasts/tribuates to the Queen............BUT she does have TWO sons.......and Joachim wasn't asked to join in the tribuate to his Mother the Queen.......................only the Heir (and numerous others),
Just think how poor Joachim must be feeling............it was still his Mother and he wasn't able to join in................my heart went out to him for the poise he always has and not a flicker of emotioin on how hurt he must have been...............guess he is use to it...but he is still human and this must have hurt

We don't know that he wasn't asked to do a speech, he may have turned it down. You can't just rule out that he wasn't asked. He may have given a tribute/speech to his mother at another of the events throught the past 2 months.


where do these very special guests stay, don't forget they come with LIW,hair stylists,makeup,keeper of the royal jewels,mains,+++++lots of security people and drivers..................some obviously must stay at their Embassy, but who stays with the Queen and who stays with CP Couple---and do ALL their people also have to stay at the same place ???????????????

Who stayed with the Queen and who stayed with the CP Couple.
Obviously Marie's father stayed with them and got to play GrandMa for little Henrik................did others stay with Joachim ???

Some will stay at the royal palaces, I think the Kings and Queens would stay at Amalienborg perhaps and Crown Princes/s would stay with Mary and Frederik.
Other guest with no titles stay at hotels. Marie's family most likely stayed with them. We obviously don't know for certain, these are just guesses.
 
One observation I had about the royals this week was how different Mette-Marit looked. At first I did not recognize her at the Gala with Frederick and Mary. Maybe it was her makeup and gown style but she looked older and larger boned than I thought she was. Did anyone else notice this? This is an observation only as I thought she was extremely glamorous, almost unrecognizably so.:flowers:
 
I think is because the make up...It was different of what she is used to...But I found her gorgeous, for me she looked younger with pink tones
 
Her hair aswell I think. I found her hair at the private dinner to be the most flattering she's ever worn it. And I liked that her tiara was positioned on an angle.
 
Perhaps Frederick consulted Joachim with regards to his speech, and was "speaking" for both of the Queen's sons? It was certain he hadn't run his speech past Mary beforehand, or else she wouldn't have reacted that way afterward. And I certainly don't think her behavior was that big of a deal - she was just one table over from his in the ballroom. She didn't go far!
 
Perhaps Frederick consulted Joachim with regards to his speech, and was "speaking" for both of the Queen's sons? It was certain he hadn't run his speech past Mary beforehand, or else she wouldn't have reacted that way afterward. And I certainly don't think her behavior was that big of a deal - she was just one table over from his in the ballroom. She didn't go far!

She may have been asked to read the speech herself before hand, but not heardf Frederik say it. It's always been said in interviews that they help each other with speeches etc. :)
I agree she was only one table over, it's not like it took her 5 minutes to walk there and 5 minutes back. It was a beautiful sign of affection. :flowers:
 
One observation I had about the royals this week was how different Mette-Marit looked. At first I did not recognize her at the Gala with Frederick and Mary. Maybe it was her makeup and gown style but she looked older and larger boned than I thought she was. Did anyone else notice this? This is an observation only as I thought she was extremely glamorous, almost unrecognizably so.:flowers:


I prefer her with natural make-up
 
One observation I had about the royals this week was how different Mette-Marit looked. At first I did not recognize her at the Gala with Frederick and Mary. Maybe it was her makeup and gown style but she looked older and larger boned than I thought she was. Did anyone else notice this? This is an observation only as I thought she was extremely glamorous, almost unrecognizably so.:flowers:
Mette Marit has gained some weight in the past year or so, yet she was undeniably beautiful in the galas for the Danish queen's bday
 
Rosana you seem to have a problem with the Danes wasting their money on birthday celebrations for the queen. :cool: But doesn't it seem reasonable for the Government to honour & thank the Queen with a dinner for all her hard work. Also the Copenhagen City Council giving her a lunch. I don't know who paid for the Theatre evening but the private party at Fredensborg would have been paid for by the Royal Family not the Danish people. I believe her celebrations were understated compared to say QEII of England and were tasteful and in keeping with what Danes expect from a royal family.
Don't forget a great many Danes benefited from these evenings as guests and performers :whistling:and stylists/staff etc. If we had a royal family residing here then I would expect exactly the type of celebrations that Denmark just enjoyed. I don't believe it was wasting money at all. Queen Margrethe is hugely popular in Denmark, and I for one am a big fan in outback Australia.
There is nothing obscene about honouring your Head of State appropriately.:flowers:
 
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