Danish Royal Family Christmas: 2003, 2004, 2006-2014, 2016-2023

[csw]

Thank you both who corrected the bad google translation!!

I want to say a BIG SORRY to that member who felt offending and complained or reporting my above post.

Google is OFTEN a poor translator! I think it translates word for word and not in context. For that reason, it seems phrases and longer quotes are often a bit inaccurate. But - hey, it's better than nothing!!!

Thank you for posting all the links. I've been enjoying them.

 

[Muhler]

https://www.billedbladet.dk/kongelige/danmark/kgl-jul-saa-er-dronning-margrethe-ankommet-til-aarhus

QMII has arrived in Aarhus, for her stay at Marselisborg during Christmas.
She arrived by train.

PH is in Egypt and will fly in in the next few days.

 

[iceflower]

.

A beautiful wreath of hearts was chosen for December 22:

"Christmas celebration, eternal delight", the decoration is often used at Marselisborg Castle:


** Photo **

 

[M. Payton]

Oh how cute that is, did Queen Daisy make that? She is the artist in the family so not surprised if she did...

 

[iceflower]

She did, all decorations presented in this daily Advent calendar were made by Queen Margrethe over the years. It's a real joy to see her special collection! ?

 

[M. Payton]

Thanks Iceflower for the info. I have seen the needlework that she has done and I know how darn long that takes to do as I do lots of needlework myself. I have always so very much admired Queen Daisy as I like to call her for she is such a wonderful artist beside being queen, mother and grandmother. This admiration goes back decades now .....a very long time ago. I am also a crafty person as my sister says, sewing, needlework, quilting, knitting, cooking, reading ancient history and learning about history all the time, I love digs and so when she goes to Rome to see the museums I want to be there with her, needlework in hand when done with sights. So maybe someday a few of us here would love to sit and do our needlework with her and have tea or something stronger.... nice dreams to have

 

[maria-olivia]

Mr Payton a lot of families have Christmas Needlework from Mother to Mother. I did one myself , very easy to do it .

 

[Gaudete]

These Advent posts showcasing the artistic talents of Queen Margrethe are so touching! I’m sure the calendars HM has made for her grandchildren will be treasured for many years to come.

 

[eya]

Today December 23

https://www.instagram.com/p/BdCVFt6nz5W/?taken-by=detdanskekongehus

Beautiful Hearts made of course by Queen!!!

And the last today

"24. December
"High from the Green Tree Top"
Every year Christmas eve presents H.M. The Queen's Christmas tree in the morning, and in the days to come, all the Christmas decorations have been hung up in the living rooms at Marselisborg Castle.
Merry Christmas"

https://www.instagram.com/p/BdE63nSnCPt/?taken-by=detdanskekongehus

The royal couple attends at the Christmas Eve service in Aarhus Cathedral

https://www.billedbladet.dk/sites/b...styles/full_height_12grid/public/_lhl2753.jpg

Article
https://www.billedbladet.dk/kongeli...-prins-henrik-kom-sammen-til-julegudstjeneste


And for the Christmas Service today

https://www.billedbladet.dk/sites/b...styles/full_height_12grid/public/_lhl2826.jpg

Article
https://www.billedbladet.dk/kongelige/danmark/dronningen-og-prinsen-ankom-sammen-til-julehoejmesse

Queen Margrethe has a new dog!

"H.M. The queen's new dog, Nelly, is fed up with the two other dogs of the Regent couple, from left Helike and Tillia, at Marselisborg Castle on Christmas days."

https://www.instagram.com/p/BdS_bYWnhOM/?taken-by=detdanskekongehus

 

[HereditaryPrincess]

Those hearts are so lovely. HM really does have a talent for sewing and creativity - I wonder if she ever thought in creating a business selling her works like Prince Carl Philip of Sweden (though I don't know if the fact that she's queen would prevent her from doing so - being a prince Carl Philip has more freedom in this respect).

 

[M. Payton]

Thank you Eya for the picture, Queen Daisy seems to really be enjoying herself with the tree, that look in her eye says she is really paying attention to where that bulb is going to be hung. It is all in the details of what she does everyday of her life. Gotta admire this every strong intelligent lady who is a brilliant artist in her own right....yes I do sugar over for I just so admire her for decades now....

 

[zarat]

The royal couple attends at the Christmas Eve service in Aarhus Cathedral

https://www.billedbladet.dk/sites/b...styles/full_height_12grid/public/_lhl2753.jpg

Article
https://www.billedbladet.dk/kongeli...-prins-henrik-kom-sammen-til-julegudstjeneste

Prince Henrik must very frail if he needs the support of two people to walk...

 

[iceflower]

.

Very touching to see Prince Henrik like this, but good that he was well enough to attend both services and seemed in good spirits!


** BB: Dronning Margrethe hilste på sin nye præst ** translation **

 

[JR76]

Prince Henrik must very frail if he needs the support of two people to walk...

Sometimes people suffering from dementia needs more guidance than support to walk.

 

[Iain]

Summary of article in Billed Bladet #51, 2017.
Written by Trine Larsen

The Regent Couple will stay at Marselisborg until New Year, when it's time for them to return to Copenhagen for QMII to give her New Year speech live as always.
There will not be anyone with them this year, but it expected that they will be visited by friends.

M&F are of course in Australia.

Joachim and our Marie will celebrate Christmas abroad somewhere. Even though that has not been disclosed it is assumed in the article that they will stay with Marie's family.

Nikolai and Felix will celebrate Christmas with their mother.


[/URL]

They would never get away with that in the UK. Elizabeth insists that all family members spend Christmas with her.

 

[CrownPrincessJava]

They would never get away with that in the UK. Elizabeth insists that all family members spend Christmas with her.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge alternate who they spend Christmas with. Mike and Zara Tindall are in Australia this year. I suspect Harry and Meghan will spend Christmases away from the UK too. Prince William, in his engagement interview, said that the Middleton's will be very much apart of their lives.

Until 2015, the CP family spent every Christmas in Denmark. I think this is the first Christmas the Princely couple have spent Christmas away.

Both QEII and QMII are caring mothers and grandmothers, who understand the importance their inlaw's families. QMII has spoken very affectionately about CP Mary's family, who themselves have spent Christmas with the Danish Royal Family.

Gone are the days that someone who has married into a Royal family leave their respective family behind.

 

[M. Payton]

Being a huge doggie lover that is so cute, what a rambunctious house with 3 dogs running to and fro........the sounds of yapping dogs always makes my heart dance. And the new one is so cute, a darker brown then the other two. They need bows on them this time of year.......pretty red bows with tiny bells to hear them coming...........then watch out

 

[Muhler]

Summary of article in Billed Bladet #45, 2018.
Written by Trine Larsen.

This will be the first Christmas without PH.
QMII has recently said how she looks forward to Christmas this year, at Marselisborg, where the whole family will be gathered. Also Nikolai and Felix, who spend Christmas with their father every alternate year.
Christmas is of course about traditions, and the DRF Christmas will be celebrated the way it has always been celebrated as long as QMII can remember.

It's very much a back to basic Christmas, while Christmas at ordinary Danes is now very different.
In the DRF, it's rice-porridge first, with one almond. - For ordinary Danes it's risalamande as dessert, with one almond. Some start out with soup. But that seems to be fading out, people simply can't eat that much!
The main course is goose. - For ordinary Danes it's Duck or roast pork and a kind of sausages.
The dessert is an English plum cake. - For ordinary Danes, it's the before mentioned risalamande. With the almond!
An almond is put into the bowl, all are then served and the one who happens to have the almond win a prize. The trick is of course to pretend you don't have the almond until everyone has eaten. Or to pretend that you pretend you don't have the almond. In all modesty that's my specialty. To the eternal annoyance of the children, especially a certain daughter of my acquaintance who don't like to loose. ?

When everyone has eaten, the DRF sit in front of the Christmas and sing a handful of psalms. originally the Christmas tree was purely for decoration. - Ordinary Danes waddle around the Christmas tree hand in hand singing... which some people perhaps shouldn't...

So I guess it's going to be very lively at Marselisborg this year!
With I don't know how many dogs and even more children and not least four uncles/dads/half brothers playing... I mean checking the toys.

There is one more tradition though. When the family returns from the Christmas service at Aarhus Cathedral QMII will always stop to wish the guardsmen on duty a merry Christmas. And I imagine those who happens to drive with her (that has sometimes been Mary) will join her in the well-wishes.
That is something the guardmen look very much forward to, which is why there are always plenty of volunteers for guard duty on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve.

 

[iceflower]

Like last year there will be an Advent/Christmas calendar on the official Instagram account again.

Queen Margerthe has created a little (well-fed ) elfin family "who, in December, will tell hidden and forgotten stories about kings, queens, princes and princesses, and about all the traces they leave behind"..



** kongehuset: VIDEO: Julekalender 2018 **


** kongehuset: Jul på Hendes Majestæt Dronningens loft ** translation **

 

[Muhler]

Thanks, iceflower

The tradition about placing a bowl of porridge on the attic as an offering is ancient. Probably going back for as long as there has been permanent habitation in DK, that's about 6.000 years.
It was a way to placate what was originally probably some sort of spirit, which later on evolved into a kind of specific person in the shape of an house-elf and today into a "nisse", which has been what we in DK have called these entities for at least 600 years now.
I won't rule out that there are actually people who still put a bowl of porridge in their attic on Christmas Eve, but it's doubtful. No need to attract rats!
But in the countryside it's not uncommon to place a bowl in a barn or an outhouse. - The cats will eat it...

Anyway, when you returned the next day and saw that someone or something had eaten from the bowl, you knew your offering had been accepted and you had a benevolent house-elf/nisse in your home for the next twelve months.

You can read much more about ancient Christmas traditions in this thread, which will also serve as a guide when you wonder what on earth QMII is up to now!
http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/f187/christmas-traditions-around-the-world-37790.html

 

[polyesco]

That is just the cutest! Fantastic Queen. Looking forward to the pictures
Love her sweater

 

[Princess Larisa]

I need that sweater! My dachshund would be thrilled with random bowls of porridge around the house

 

[M. Payton]

I also must have that sweater for it is so cute and perfect for this doggie lover. My chihuahua, Payton would gobble that bowl up in a second, you would think he never gets fed here....

 

[Tarlita]

Great stories thanks Muhler. It is lovely to see Her Majesty getting into the spirit of Christmas.
I am off to a Christmas party tonight and look forward to getting into the feel of Christmas.

 

[eya]

Until Christmas Eve we have the Christmas Stories from the Danish Palace.

"The first "Christmas calendar cover" has been opened at the Royal Instagram, where Her Majesty The Queen until Christmas Eve has released four nisser on Fredensborg Castle's many ceilings and storage rooms.

Today, the nissedrengen found the old rocking horse of your Royal Highness Crown Prince and Prince Joachim, dressed in the Gardehusarregiment's riding bag in the early 1970s, rocking back and forth in Amalienborg's children's rooms. Here it fits well on the two princes, as numerous snakes (mussel shells) on the rocking fortress tradition are believed to protect the horse and the rider against the dangerous threats on the battlefield."

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq1kN1TAVf_/

 

[Muhler]

Thanks, Eya.

So QMII has turned four of her staff loose in the many storerooms and attics at Fredensborg to look for gems and items related to the family and Christmas. Like Christmas present, as we must assume this rocking horse is.
And the detail about the shells adoring the head of the horse is correct. It is indeed both for decoration but also in order to deflect or at least lessen the impact of sabre blows to the head of the horse.
A common cavalry tactic was to deliver the first blow to the head of your opponents horse and the second blow to the rider, as the horse was going down.

 

[Muhler]

Right now there is an exhibition at Christiansborg of how the Christmas table was laid within the DRF for the couple of centuries.

https://app.box.com/s/jr9kcn494g58pgxtqhomgd56d7ebcgd4
https://app.box.com/s/pday2svbmmb7mfu0pwd0fx323rxk6rgd
The first table was laid at some point by QMII at Marselisborg. Which is why there is a model of Marseliborg in the center. The original however is made from silver.
The three bowl contain rice porridge with cinnamon. And you can see a whole almond. The tradition is that you put an almond into the bowl with rice porridge. The porridge is then served for the individual guests. the guest who finds the almond win a present.
It's not always easy to find a present that covers adults, as well as children of very different age, so QMII has solved the problem by buying several almond-presents. So depending who wins, she selects a present that suits the age and gender of the lucky winner.

https://app.box.com/s/8o18bkxmk67assjds7jc5dx1l8rsp7gn
https://app.box.com/s/b0iyirkwi44v8j5n51rdv9wc4ty8dwl0
This table stems from back when QMII and her sisters were children and they celebrated Christmas at the hunting lodge in Trend. The table was laid by Queen Ingrid and she created the illusion of a frozen lake by using a mirror.
The red candle-holders were Swedish that Queen Ingrid brought with her as a memory of her childhood.

https://app.box.com/s/jajgyhq0krfw19s4xl3qdz353bkp5fjv
This Christmas setting is from 1896 at Amalienborg.
Christian IX often had the opportunity to gather his pretty extensive family for Christmas, so quite a lot could be present.
The sleigh was a present to two of the little princes that year.

https://app.box.com/s/brsvh6bxahyinlioi6paele0ba9b1vum
The top table is the from the 1700's. From the reign of Christian VII. The figures were made from sugar. And Christmas back then was party-time! With good food, masquerades and lots of mischief and general merriment. I imagine there was no shortage of wine either...

The bottom table is from 1841, from the court of Christian VIII.
The theme is an cornucopia. The china was the brand new Flora Danica and the mood must have been festive, because it is recorded that no less than 32 pieces of Flora Danica were smashed during that Christmas dinner! - It literally hurts just to think about it!

And finally I cannot resist this little endearing story from 1958.
https://app.box.com/s/tngosscd7g10qk3zs4es94nronwpqp8u
BB that year reported how King Frederik IX had been seen prowling through a department store in Copenhagen looking at scarves, shoes, toys and ties.
It is not known what the king decided to buy, because it was all send to the palace afterwards, but it is known that the king did not enjoy the ordeal. Like most men of his age, Frederik IX did not posses a well-developed shopping-gene!

Here is the rest of this weeks issue of Billed Bladet:
https://app.box.com/s/dl5ci2ljvdwqzlyoo5dsilbpboefhqvl

And here is the DRF calendar for 2019:
https://app.box.com/s/b4ppnax9229pt22llemwqwly6ypupdi6

 

[An Ard Ri]

I never knew about the Rice Porridge in the attic tradition ,the video of the queen in the loft was magical.

 

[eya]

Christmas Story and today 2 December

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq4Ko1JAEjK/

Christmas Story today 3 December

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq6rCnSgmUL/

And Christmas Story today 4 December!

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq9HVIzgr-Y/

 

[Muhler]

Thanks, Eya.
A nice little story, so I'll summarize.

This globe was used by Christian IX and Queen Louise, to follow their two grandsons Crown Prince Nikolaj of Russian and Crown Prince Georg of Greece, when they went on their grand tour to Asia.
Such a tour was an old tradition for sons of rulers.
- It is QMII's four "nisser", who has found this for us, QMII is, as you know, in Iceland.

And now I need a little help from English speakers.
The word is a "dannelsesrejse" and it is still very much used and done today.
It's a travel where all young gentlemen after finishing at least their basic education, in their late teens, sometimes early twenties, went on a longer travel abroad. Here they saw the world, in order to became "men of the world" and "wholesome". They learned about other cultures and languages and customs. They learned to stand on their own two feet, while getting to know other gentlemen from other countries. They sharpened their language skills and gained experience in how to conduct themselves when they visited foreign manor houses and stayed there as guests. Ideally they also studied classical architecture and art in Italy and Greece.
Princes would of course visit foreign royal houses, before the French Revolution, an absolute must was to visit the French court.

Today it's very common for young people to take a year off after high school and go traveling, and that is basically the same things as a "dannelsesrejse", just for ordinary people.

So what is the proper English word for such a travel?

ADDED:
Grand Tour it is then, thanks JR75.