Death and Funeral of Countess Anne-Dorte of Rosenborg; January 2nd and 9th, 2014
 

News just broke that Countess Anne-Dorte of Rosenborg, widow of Count Christian who died last May passed away last night.
In the current issue of Billed-Bladet, her daughters told of a wonderful and yet slightly melancholic Christmas without Count Christian. Her mother had taken part in the celebrations 'just fine'.

However they did not reveal - in case they knew around the BB deadline - that their mother was approaching the end of her life. A long time sufferer of throat cancer, the countess eventually had respiratory problems and was tube fed. Apparently she was admitted to Gentofte Hospital some time after Christmas.

Today Josephine of Rosenborg, a daughter told that she was summoned to Gentofte Hospital. 'My mother said that she wanted to die' and I said ' then we need to make plans for the funeral'. When that was sorted, the countess rested and died later last night.

The three sisters are mourning the loss of their parents some seven months apart, however they also stated that they took comfort in knowing that their mother was now relieved of her pain.

Anna Johansen, a former royal correspondent at Billed-Bladed paid tribute to the countess and her 'fun, unsnobbish and down-to-earth personality. She visited Anne-Dorte in December and was met with the 'usual hospitality'.

The funeral will take place on Thursday the 9th of January at Lyngby church North of Copenhagen,

viv

Grevinde Anne Dorte af Rosenborg er død - Royale | www.bt.dk
She passed away yesterday, Jan 2, and her funeral will be held on Jan 9th in Lyngby Kirke.
May she rest in peace.

She died yesterday on 2 January following a long battle with cancer.

May the Countess rest in peace.

Very sad for her daughters even tho they had time to prepare for it. Time marches on and that generation are getting on, but I always considered the Countess to be young and just lovely. Thats how I will remember her; as a lovely lady with a sense of humour. My condolences to her daughters.

How sad for her family and the extended Danish RF,may she rest in peace.

Now you mention the extended family; so far the death of the countess is not announced on the DRF website. Maybe something will happen next week, but I won't bet on it! At the end of the day the countess was a commoner who married a Prince on the perimeter of the Royal Family.
Prince Henrik has a shoot on Thursday, and I wonder whether HM will attend the funeral. I won't bet on that either!

Viv

Sadly I don't think we'll see a great show-up from the RF either. While I don't want to undermine Joachim and Marie, who both represented the RF well at Count Christian's funeral, I think the representation from the DRF was so poor. Count Christian was QMII's cousin after all and normally preexisting events in the calendars get cancelled for important funerals. I'm thinking that Joachim and Marie or Benedikte will go if they don't have anything planned beforehand, but it's also very plausible that the DRF wont be represented at all. Just further proof that there are still a lot of strains between the DRF and Prince Knud's descendants.

I agree Archduchess Zelia, Joachim and Marie are likely to attend if
not otherwise engaged. But then again, you never know;). IMO it
would be a dent in the image of DRF if they don't send at least
one representative to the funeral.

Outwardly the DRF and the Rosenborgs had a courteous
relationship; Christian and Anne-Dorte were invited along to many
DRF events over the years. However that doesn't really say much;
a gala ball with a great number of people is an excellent opportunity
to invite those you feel obliged to invite but don't want to spend an intimate dinner with!

They hardly ever met in private, according to interviews. Count
Christian was always loyal to HM and PH, but he never let on that
they were best friends!

viv

I thought it was just Marie and Bennedikte that attended Count Christian's funeral? i might be thinking of another funeral though :ermm:

The estrangement between King Frederik and his brother Prince Knud seems very bitter. I can understand Knud's disappointment when the succession laws were changed in 1953, but if the two brothers had been close I have a hard time understanding how the two families would become so distant.

I guess what I am asking is if the estrangement was solely do with the change in succession laws or if the brothers already had a bad relationship. If they already had a bad relationship what was that due to?

From the biography ' King Frederik, the sailor king', by Jon Bloch Skipper (2005):
The relationship is mentioned by Queen Margrethe and her sister Princess Benedikte.
Queen Margrethe:
'They (the brothers) were very different and there were several clashes, perhaps even more so than what's normal among siblings. I'm left with the impression that they didn't have en easy relationship'.
Princess Benedikte:
'They developed different interests and with those different circles of friends. Traditionally, my father would invite the entire family for lunch on his birthday, among them my uncle (Knud). But apart from official events they never met in private.'
The author adds:
Adding to the tension was the fact that Prince Knud as the younger son got more attention from his mother - and he was never comfortable in his role as the 'spare'.
The predicament of their relationship was never easy and it didn't improve over the years .. quite on the contrary!

viv

Thanks Viv, that is very interesting.

Actually Count Christian's funeral was attended by the Regent Couple, Princess Benedikte and Princess Marie. No poor representation at all IMO. Prince Joachim as well as the Crown Prince Couple did not attend because they were not in DK at the time: Joachim was in Afghanistan, Frederik in Russia and Mary in Malaysia.

Does this apply also to Princess Elisabeth?

Of course you are both right, QMII, the Prince Consort and Princess Benedikte attended as well. Apparently my mind is not capable of holding any piece of information for a very long time :bang: :biggrin: I also felt quite certain to have seen Joachim there but my mind is playing tricks with me these days, must be all this Christmas hullaballoo that has gotten to my head :tongue:

To the best of my knowledge, Princess Elisabeth hasn't been terrifically close to the RF either. She's been closer to them in the sense that she has retained her royal title and therefore naturally is invited to most things, but I don't get the impression that they've been best friends either. IIRC Count Ingolf and Prince Joachim are quite good friends because they both have worked with agriculture.

According to DRF's calendar the funeral will be attended by the Regent Couple.

Prince Henrik's Hunt is not cancelled.

:previous:
The royal Court is not in mourning, so there's no need to cancel.
A guess on my part: maybe HRH will be present at the 'kick off'
of the shoot, attend the funeral and then return . Though he's the
host, I'm not sure that he actually takes part in the shooting any longer..
...... or what, compatriots??

viv

I think Frederik or Joachim will stand in for PH. The calendar says the Regent Couple will attend the funeral and a hunt is an all day event. And attending a funeral and a hunt at basically the same time, that is pretty poor taste methinks.

So Frederik or Joachim will replace dad on the hunt, or at the funeral. In which case we are likely to see Mary or our Marie as well.

I agree. They wouldn't write 'the Regent Couple' unless Henrik attends as well. It says on the DRF website that the Crown Prince will be present at the hunt, so I think it is very plausible that he will stand in for his father and that Henrik might join them all after then funeral.