This is an excerpt from the book by Tom Buk-Swienty, which I wish for Christmas and hope to get my hands on.
This episode took place in Southern Jutland in July 1948.
Princess Margrethe sat on the passenger seat next to Queen Ingrid, whit her two year old sister, Anne-Marie.
The driver sat on the backseat.
There was of course no seat belts back then.
Queen Ingrid had been one of the first women in Sweden to drive cars and she was fond on driving. (And remained fond of driving with a pretty heavy foot! Also after this accident.)
"While she drove, she tried, as far as I remember, to help Anne-Marie up on my lap and as such didn't pay full attention on the road.
Suddenly a mighty crash was heard.
The next thing I know is that I woke up in a hospitalbed at Sønderborg Hospital (the nearest major hospital back then) with bandages around my head. I didn't feel well. I had a laceration on my chin. It wasn't serious but it was bad enough for there to be blood all over the place."
They had crashed the car a few km from Gråsten Manor.
Queen Ingrid had hurt her knee.
The impact has caused Anne-Marie's face to become a little askew.
The driver was bruised as well and had lost a few teeth.
Princess Margrethe had had a laceration and a concussion.
They were committed to hospital from some days, during which Princess Margrethe was not allowed to read for herself, but a nanny had to read aloud to her. Instead she listened to the broadcasts from the Olympics in London on the wireless.
Queen Ingrid was pretty embarrassed. This accident could really have changed things in regards to the DRF and Denmark!
King Frederik was deeply shocked.
Princess Margrethe did not share her mother's enthusiasm for driving. In fact she got her first car at eighteen in 1958, but it took several years before she acquired a drivers license.
"I wasn't keen on the idea and simply hesitated. (getting the license.) I never became a good driver, on the contrary, I simply wasn't good at it and (I) was an unsure driver and I only drove for a relatively short period of my life."
Anyway, she had the option of drivers.
"So why sit behind the wheel and thinking it wasn't particularly nice and not doing it particularly well. And darn it, when I wasn't especially comfortable with me being a driver it was no wonder that other people weren't either."
- (PH thought being driven from Copenhagen Airport back in 1966 by Princess Margrethe was a frightening experience!)
- The rest of this article is about Joachim, Frederik and two of their friends crashing in a car in France back in 1988. That's an except from the book Under the Beam, that can be found elsewhere on this forum.
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