Queen Margrethe And Prince Henrik Current Events: January 2005 - December 2005

[GrandDuchess]

Today journalist Annelise Bistrup presented her new book about Queen Margrethe, in connection to her 65th birthday this year, to the Queen herself at Fredensborg Palace. The book features Magrethe's views on her life, her family's happiness, art and the monarchy. Margrethe has participated in long talks with Annelise in 2003 and 2004 as a base for the book. From Polfoto:

[sara1981]

she looks nice!

what about foreign Royals will attend her 65th birthday? like past 60th birthday years ago

Sara Boyce

[HMQueenElizabethII]

Yes,it';s nearly her 65th birthday now.I think it will be great celebration.

[GrandDuchess]

As I've understood it, there won't be any bigger celebrations for Margrethe's 65th birthday this year (like for her 60th). It will only be a family thing as I've heard, and I'm not even sure the Crown Princely couple will be at home (since they are in Thailand on the 16th). The book is the only exception, it's of course special - but I'm sure it would've been released no matter her age.

[Alisa]

Here are a few articles from the official biography of Queen Margrethe. The Queen was interviewed by journalist Annelise Bistrup.

Queen gives Mary top grades
From correspondents in Fredensborg, Denmark
April 14, 2005



DENMARK'S Queen Margrethe has praised her daughter-in-law, Australian-born Crown Princess Mary, for adapting to royal life since she married Crown Prince Frederik in a fairytale wedding last May.

"It must be strenuous to come to a new country and take on her position," the queen told reporters at Fredensborg Palace north of Copenhagen on the launch today of a new royal biography.

"She's doing a great job, I'm a proud mother-in-law," said Margrethe, who ascended to the Danish throne in 1972.



If Mary Donaldson, who worked as a real estate agent in Sydney before meeting Fredrik at the 2000 Olympic games, found her new role difficult, the queen said she could expect it "to get easier as the years go by".

"My job has become easier as I gained more experience but it will never become a routine for me," said the queen, who turns 65 later this month.

Earlier this month, Frederik's younger brother Prince Joachim officially divorced his Hong Kong-born wife Alexandra, but the divorce did nothing to dent the popularity of the Danish royal family which is supported by a large majority of Danes.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...5E1702,00.html

[Alisa]

Denmark's Queen will not abdicate


April 15, 2005

DENMARK'S Queen Margrethe II has no intention of abdicating so her son Crown Prince Frederik can take over the throne, she said in a new book just released.

“To be queen is a profession, a job, a duty, a position for life. For me, it is a responsibility that does not include an abdication,” she said in the authorised biography Margrethe.



The hugely popular monarch, 65 this Saturday, has reigned since 1972.

Unlike in Britain, there has been no debate in Denmark about the queen's possible abdication, even as she approaches a time when most people her age are moving into retirement.

Speaking of 36-year-old Prince Frederik, who married Mary Donaldson, an Australian commoner, last year, the queen said he had “matured, especially after meeting Mary”. The Australian

http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/st...toryid=2968857

[Alisa]

Danish queen warns against rise of Islam

Queen Margrethe II says in her new book people must on occasion show their opposition to Islam.


COPENHAGEN - Denmark's Queen Margrethe II warned against the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Denmark and the world in a new book out on Thursday, saying people must on occasion "show their opposition to Islam".



"It is a challenge we have to take seriously. We have let this issue float about for too long because we are tolerant and very lazy," she said in the authorized biography "Margrethe" written by journalist Annelise Bistrup.



While she did not specifically refer to fundamentalism, she spoke of "these people for whom religion is their entire lives".



"We have to show our opposition to Islam and we have to, at times, run the risk of having unflattering labels placed on us because there are some things for which we should display no tolerance," she said.



"And when we are tolerant, we must know whether it is because of convenience or conviction," added the queen, who has reigned since 1972 and celebrates her 65th birthday on Saturday.



Denmark has in recent years been accused of fuelling xenophobic tendencies after implementing a slew of measures aimed at curbing immigration. The government has argued that it wants to focus efforts on improving the assimilation into Danish society of immigrants already in the country.



Queen Margrethe, who professes a knowledge of Islam due to her interest in archaeology, said it was "natural that young Muslims would be attracted" to the faith's absolute values and seek refuge in religion "as they are cut off from our community because of their lack of (Danish) language skills."



"It's not just a matter of speaking and understanding" Danish, she said, but also "understanding the language's codes, and we have to help them."

The queen, who is hugely popular among Danes, is the head of the Lutheran-Evangelical Church, of which 85 percent of Denmark's 5.4 million inhabitants are members. Muslims make up about three percent of the population.

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=13230

[Alisa]

Here are a few pictures from the interview/biography.

www.polfoto.dk

[Alisa]

The black and white photo is my personal favorite.:)

[Alisa]

That's as much as my Danish can translate. However Stig, at the SRFM translated this bit:
How the phone conversation went

Af BODIL CATH
Dronning Margrethe er meget bevidst om, at Mary mistede sin mor, da hun var ung - hun vil gerne støtte sin svigerdatter så meget som muligt. Dronningen fortæller i Anne Bistrups nye bog, om sit første møde med Mary.

Jeg mødte Mary Donaldson første gang i sommeren 2003. En eftermiddag ringede Frederik: »Mor, kommer du over og får en kop te?« »Er det, fordi du gerne vil have, jeg skal møde Mary?« »Ja, det er det.« »Det vil jeg forfærdelig gerne.«
Sådan fortæller dronning Margrethe til Annelise Bistrup om det første møde med sin svigerdatter og fortsætter.

Jeg var glad og meget spændt. Men jeg var ikke særlig urolig, for det indtryk, jeg havde fået af hendes utrolige diskretion og stilfærdige fremtoning - på trods af pressens meget påtrængende nysgerrighed - viste mig, at der måtte være noget helt usædvanligt ved den pige. Selv om man vælger med hjertet, behøver man jo ikke at slå hjernen fra.



Prinsen havde truffet Mary ved en tidligere lejlighed, men nu var vi klar over, at det var ramme alvor.

Senere i juledagene på Marselisborg fik vi lejlighed til at opleve Mary, ikke bare som nogle korte glimt, men i et par dage i familiens skød, hvor vi var der alle sammen og opførte os så pænt eller så fjollet, som vi nu gør. Det var ikke bare os, der skulle se hende an. Hun skulle også se, hvad det var for en familie, hun var havnet i, og finde ud af, om hun turde binde an med sådan en familie. Hun havde tilbragt et helt år i Danmark, så hun havde en anelse om, hvad Danmark var for noget,« fortæller Dronningen til Annelise Bistrup.

At dronning Margrethe holder meget af sin nye svigerdatter Mary, kan der slet ikke herske tvivl om.

Det fremgår da også tydeligt af »Margrethe«, hvor Dronningen åbent erkender, at hun har været meget bevidst om, at Mary mistede sin mor, da Kronprinsessen endnu var meget ung. Henrietta Donaldson døde under en hjerteoperation i 1997.

Vil gerne støtte

»Man skal ikke trænge sig på. Men Mary har mistet sin mor, og jeg følte, at hvis jeg på nogen måde kunne være der for hende, så var det noget, jeg gerne ville.

Jeg måtte tænke på min egen mor, der havde den forfærdelige sorg som kun 10-årig at miste sin mor, og hvor meget min mor kunne have været en støtte for Mary, fordi hun vidste noget, jeg ikke vidste. Men det betød noget for mig, at Mary vidste, at havde hun brug for mig, så var jeg der. Ikke på nogen anmassende måde,« siger Margrethe, der også fortæller, at hun ligesom sine søstre er helt overbevist om, at dronning Ingrid ville have været glad for kronprins Frederiks valg.

I bogen understreger Margrethe i den sammenhæng:

»Jeg er ikke den, der vil trænge sig på med gode råd. Man snakker lidt om tingene og håber på, at man kan sige noget, der er væsentligt, og som hun kan bruge. Det er først, når man lærer hinanden bedre at kende, at man kan føle sig helt fri over for hinanden. I den første tid var det vigtigt for mig og Prinsen, at Mary mærkede, at hun virkelig var velkommen.«

Frederik smiler mere

Dronningen siger også i bogen, at den modning, Frederik har været ude for i løbet af de sidste år, er noget, der virkelig glæder: »Han er blevet mere åben. Hans smil sidder løsere, det kommer helt anderledes nemt. Og det har han god grund til, for Frederik og Mary er et meget fint par. Ikke mindst i de senere år har folk omfattet Frederik med stor hengivenhed og varme.

Men vi mærker også, hvordan man har taget parret til sig. Mary har en meget smuk udstråling, som også Prinsen er begejstret for,« siger Dronningen.

Om sin alder siger Margrethe, der lørdag fylder 65 år: »Jeg er ikke nået så langt, at jeg for alvor er klar over, at jeg virkelig ikke er ung mere. Indimellem glemmer jeg totalt, at jeg er en gammel kone midt i 60erne. Et eller andet sted er man aldrig helt så mange år, som man i virkeligheden er.«

http://www.bt.dk/royalt/artikel:aid=...fid=100300158/

[norwegianne]

Hendes Majestæt Dronningens fødselsdag


Amalienborg, den 14. april 2005

I anledning af Hendes Majestæt Dronningens fødselsdag viser Regentparret sig på balkonen kl. 12.00. Den Kongelige Livgarde trækker op i rød galla.

Gratulationslister vil være fremlagt i Det Gule Palæ, Amaliegade 18, i tidsrummet kl. 10.00 - 14.00.

Ove Ullerup
Hofmarskal

On Saturday (the Queen's birthday) the Queen and Prince Henrik will make an appearance at the balcony at noon. No mention of anybody else in the family.

[paulette]

I really admire the frankness of Queen Margrethe on certain issues on which she really expresses on. A lot of people seemed to understand her easier than most politicians as what I have observed because she seems to be straight to the point when she talks and she really talks with sense.

I admire her praises for CP Frederik and especially to CP Mary. Both of them really deserved it.

[bolla]

Is there going to be a ball or some kind og gala on Saturday?

[GrandDuchess]

There won't be any bigger celebrations for Margrethe's 65th birthday this year (like for her 60th), it will only be private thing and I think the Crown Princely couple will in Thailand on that day.

Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik will make a balcony appearance (like Norwegianne so kindly translated), and there will be a congratulatory book that the people can sign.

[Reina]

I agree with QMII's stance. Europeans have got to have more strenuous immigration laws. And thi is not just to protect the culture, but that the immigrants are having such a hard time assimilating. The Europeans need to get smarter, especially the Netherlands-don't get me started on how foolish their policies are. But I am sooo glad that QMII stands up for the truth-even if it isn't hard or politically correct (which I don't believe in being in).

[galuhcandrakirana]

Originally Posted by Alisa

Here are a few pictures from the interview/biography.

After her daughter inlaw and ex daughter inlaw the queen herself would like to have a pose such a pro models:)

[Lyonnaise]

Polfoto 17-04-2005 Dronning Margrethe ankommer søndag til uddelingen af Rungstedlundprisen. Hun følges ind af Bestyrelsesformand direktør Tore Dinesen. Forfatteren Suzanne Brøgger var modtager af Rungstedlundprisen. Prisen er på 25.000 kr., den blev uddelt på forfatter og baronesse Karen Blixens 120 års-dag. Uddelingen foregik på Rungstedlund i Rungsted. (Stine Larsen / Polfoto)

[Bubbette]

Saturday, April 16 2005 @ 07:09 AM Central Daylight Time

Views: 242Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II claimed that Islam poses a global threat and urged government to show no tolerance toward the Muslim minority in the north European country, reported the Telegraph on Friday, April 15.



“We have to show our opposition to Islam and we have to, at times, run the risk of having unflattering labels placed on us because there are some things for which we should display no tolerance,” the queen said in an official biography published on Thursday, April 14.

The queen told her biographer Annelise Bistrup that Islam is posing a major challenge to the whole world which requires taking serious measures to face it.

“We are being challenged by Islam these years - globally as well as locally.

“It is a challenge we have to take seriously. We have let this issue float about for too long because we are tolerant and lazy.”

Queen Margrethe, who turns 65 on Saturday, April 16, said the country could have handled “this challenge a bit better, if we had realized what we were up against”.

The monarch who has ascended the throne since 1972, wields no political power in the north European country but does occasionally give comments on political issues.

Extremists
Queen Margrethe said she was feeling frightened from Muslim “extremists” who have dedicated their life only for religion, Reuters said.

“There is also something frightening about such a totality which is also a part of Islam.”

She stressed that certain response must be shown “and sometimes one must run the risk of being labeled in a less flattering way. Because there are certain things with which one should not be tolerant.”

The monarch said there is “something impressive about people for whom religion imbues their existence, from dusk to dawn, from cradle to grave.”

The Danish government announced last year plans to curb the activities of “radical” religious leaders, a measure seen as specifically targeting imams.

The rules oblige religious leaders to be financially self-sufficient, speak Danish and respect Western values or risk being declared persona non grata.

Integration

The monarch said immigrants in the Nordic country should learn the Danish language in order to easily integrate into society.

She maintained “it is wise to make demands on the language. We should not be content with living next to each other. We should rather live together.”

Many newcomers do not learn Danish and unemployment rates among them is still much higher than among Danes, as are crime rates.

Immigrants make up about 8% of Denmark's 5.4 million -- about a third of them come from other EU countries or North America.

Among the immigrants is Margrethe's daughter-in-law, the very popular Crown Princess Mary, who is from Australia.

But Denmark has cracked down on migration in the past three years and the anti-immigrant Danish People's Party, an ally of the center-right government, has pushed through laws making it harder to bring in foreign spouses or qualify for asylum.

Danish Muslims - estimated at 170,000 or around 3 per cent of Denmark's 5.4 million - sounded the alarms that much more restrictive steps would be taken by the government in future.

Islam is Denmark's second largest religion after the Lutheran Protestant Church, which is actively followed by four-fifths of the country's population.

[Lyonnaise]

Polfoto 19-04-2005 Dronning Margrethe og prins Henrik ankommer til Nordre Toldbod tirsdag inden de går ombord på Kongeskibet Dannebrog, som ligger ved Bøje 1 i Københavns Havn. Togterne går i år bl.a. til Bornholm og Færøerne. (Kim Nielsen / Polfoto)

[Mandy]

Copyright Imaginescandinavia
Copenhagen Denmark. Queen Margrethe II of Denmark & Prince Consort Henrik, Copenhagen harbour, on the way to Royal boat/yacht "Dannebrog" & Kai Rasch Larsen.