General News about the Danish Royal Family Part 2: January 2013 - November 2015

[polyesco]

what horrible news.
My best for the artilleryman

[LibrarianDaisy]

Oh dear, that's really sad news. The soldier's really lucky to have only suffered bruises from a fall from that height. Let's hope they can do something with his fingers - it's amazing what they can do these days.

[Spheno]

they need to replace old cannons with modern and safe ones :(

[Archduchess Zelia]

Such sad news. I hope they will be able to fix his fingers. Thank god he wasn't killed.

[Muhler]

A follow up on the story about the accident.
The soldier will lose his little and ring fingers, and half his middle finger.
He may also require a skin transplant for his burns. - Judging from footage I've seen I'd say it's his left hand, that has suffered.
Miracously he suffered no fractures and no internal injuries from his seven meter fall from the ramparts.

Excatly 20 years ago yesterday a similar accident occoured when two soldiers suffered burns from a charge going off prematurely at a salute in honour of Prince Henrik. Back then it was a 155 mm howitzer. (*)


(*) A howitzer is of course a modern breach loader, but apparantly the cannon hadn't been cooled properly inbetween shots and the charge (gun propellant) went off prematurely during loading.
The cannons at Kronborg use blackpowder, one kilo to be exact, as the older bronze cannons there are not designed to handle modern gun propellant. That is also why the cannons at Kronborg develope so much smoke.
FYI: The pieces at Holmen, the naval yard, where there are also traditional salutes, use blank shells, and they are safer than both blackpowder and gun propellant.

[Muhler]

And now for something inevitable albeit less pleasant: Dronningens grav snart klar - TV 2 Nyhederne

The final preparations for the tomb inside Roskilde Cathedral where the Regent Couple will be laid to rest have begun.

The floor has been removed and archeologists have begun digging in the ground to learn what might be there, before the ground is cleared so that the Regent Couple can be buried there.
A David Høyer explains: "Now we have reached the stage where we have make an archeological excavation prior to establishing the future tomb and a crypt.
The chapel was build in the latter half of the 1400's on a part of the yard belonging to the cathedral, which before then was a cemetary, so the archeologists will no doubt find graves. - But we also hope to find the remains of the monastery, which belonged to the original cathedral, which was build around 1080.

---

For the past several hundred years Danish monarchs have been buried inside Roskilde Cathedral. However Frederik IX and Queen Ingrid was buried outside, but QMII has for whatever reason opted not to be buried with her parents.

Perhaps our resident clerical expert FasterB has a few words to add?

[dbarn67]

Denmark's special 20 korner coin was issued on May 2004. 1 side has H.M. Margrethe II Queen of Denamrk. The other side HRH Crown Prince Frederik and now Crown Princess Mary has been added. Can anyone explain the coin? Is it rare is regularly used in money exchanges?


http://i43.tinypic.com/k2cxfp.jpg

http://i42.tinypic.com/m9p1rk.jpg

[Muhler]

Originally Posted by dbarn67

Denmark's special 20 korner coin was issued on May 2004. 1 side has H.M. Margrethe II Queen of Denamrk. The other side HRH Crown Prince Frederik and now Crown Princess Mary has been added. Can anyone explain the coin? Is it rare is regularly used in money exchanges?


http://i43.tinypic.com/k2cxfp.jpg

http://i42.tinypic.com/m9p1rk.jpg

Yes, here is what the National Mint has to say: Nationalbanken // Sedler og Mønter // Web dokument // H.K.H. Kronprins Frederik og frk. Mary Donaldsons bryllup

The coins were issued to commemorate M&F's wedding as you say.
There were two sorts of coins, a regular 20 DKK coin, which is of course valid as payment. 1.2 million of these were made.

And a collectors item, a 200 DKK coin with the same motif. 125.000 of these were made.

[Muhler]

In BB #26, we are informed that while Benedikte and Mary will attend the World Equestrian Festival CHIO in Achen next week, they will also be at a big party in the evening and here Roger Moore will present a check for charity and the winner of the European Song Contest, Emmelie (*), will perform and greet Mary and Benedikte.

During CHIO, Mary and Benedikte will visit "the Danish Village", which is a part of the cultural offensive, Experience Denmark. Here Danish organisations and businesses are represented.

(*) She comes from a very small town, Mariager, basically down the road from where my in-laws live and as such they know both Emmelie and her family. Emmelie has not always looked so presentable as she does now. She has had her "punker-period", if you can call it that. In a town the size of Mariager, which consists of little more than a barn and two outhouses, that is noted... But her talent is undisputed.

[Muhler]

Trine Villemann has made an appearance again. This time in the serious newspaper Politiken, where she has written about the DRF. This time calling for QMII to abdicate due to her poor health...
Unusually, the court has this time refuted Trine Villemann's claims in a very direct and undiplomatic manner!!

Er Dronningen for syg til at passe sine pligter? - Royale | www.bt.dk

I haven't got access to the actual newspaper, (being a Copenhagener newspaper the local shops don't even sell it over here in Jutland).

Anyway, it's no secret that QMII has back problems, suffering as she is from Spinalstenosis.

Trine Villemann writes: "The truth is that Her Majesty Queen Margrethe the Second of Denmark is too ill to do her duty/job. Amalienborg is flipping backwards in attempting to hide that the Queen is so plagued by arthritis that it over time has become impossible for her to perform her official duties.
What other company in Denmark - private as well as public - can get away with having a leader, who by now can neither stand nor walk without very strong medication?
And who several times for health reasons have cancelled the important statevisits, which are said to benefit the export, because our crowned head is there to smile and toast?
My quesition is, how much pain relieving medication a Queen can take before before the mental capabillities are no longer intact. Will a Queen on heavy pain relieving medication for example understand the laws that are presented for her to sign"?

For once the court responds and Lene Balleby says: "What nonsense. Her Majesty the Queen does indeed have a poor back with the good and bad periods that entails. The Queen has recieved medical treatment, there is nothing new in that. But the Queen has not cancelled a single one of her official duties with the exception of the planned state visit to Chile, where the doctors advised her from travelling only because of the long flight, which at that time could be particularly strenous for the back".

- Well... I shall refrain from commenting. I don't think that's necessary...

[Tarlita]

Will this Villemann woman ever go away!! Is she a doctor?? There are many people around who suffer the same thing and keep on working. Villemann prefers to portray Her Majesty as some sort of basket case, which is simply not so. I am sure HM will step down if her health situation were to prevent her from continuing her duties in the proper manner. But I don't think she is anywhere near that bad yet. She appears to be able to walk quite well for someone with this condition. Villemann loves to make uninformed negative comments about the DRF. I think She is the basket case.
Well thats my soap box comment for the day. Cheers and a good day to all of you.

[polyesco]

Originally Posted by Muhler

Trine Villemann has made an appearance again. This time in the serious newspaper Politiken, where she has written about the DRF. This time calling for QMII to abdicate due to her poor health...
Unusually, the court has this time refuted Trine Villemann's claims in a very direct and undiplomatic manner!!

Er Dronningen for syg til at passe sine pligter? - Royale | www.bt.dk

I haven't got access to the actual newspaper, (being a Copenhagener newspaper the local shops don't even sell it over here in Jutland).

Anyway, it's no secret that QMII has back problems, suffering as she is from Spinalstenosis.

Trine Villemann writes: "The truth is that Her Majesty Queen Margrethe the Second of Denmark is too ill to do her duty/job. Amalienborg is flipping backwards in attempting to hide that the Queen is so plagued by arthritis that it over time has become impossible for her to perform her official duties.
What other company in Denmark - private as well as public - can get away with having a leader, who by now can neither stand nor walk without very strong medication?
And who several times for health reasons have cancelled the important statevisits, which are said to benefit the export, because our crowned head is there to smile and toast?
My quesition is, how much pain relieving medication a Queen can take before before the mental capabillities are no longer intact. Will a Queen on heavy pain relieving medication for example understand the laws that are presented for her to sign"?

For once the court responds and Lene Balleby says: "What nonsense. Her Majesty the Queen does indeed have a poor back with the good and bad periods that entails. The Queen has recieved medical treatment, there is nothing new in that. But the Queen has not cancelled a single one of her official duties with the exception of the planned state visit to Chile, where the doctors advised her from travelling only because of the long flight, which at that time could be particularly strenous for the back".

- Well... I shall refrain from commenting. I don't think that's necessary...

Muhler, please comment lol

Im surprised Trine was reported on in such a serious paper. but im glad the court has quickly address this nonsence.
I couldnt remember the Queen canceling any event, so i was a bit confused. (Besides Chile, which i think was greatly done by Frederik and Mary)

oh well...im sure her 15 minutes of fame are almost up, or she can go again and attack F&M, and J, with her "inside sources"

[Muhler]

Suffice to say we are in the middle of the silly season.

[dazzling]

Trine seems to think that its a good time to address the matter just a few days before King Albert abdicates. Moreover, no sure why her facts aren't correct. QM hasn't cancelled one event that has been listed on her calendar so far except for an overseas trip as the court mentioned.

[Muhler]

And to illustrate the often familiar tone and relationship between some journalists and members of the DRF.

BB this week has an article about one of their journalist, Trine Larsen, who has lost 72 kilos and is now weighing 62 kilos. That's all very impressive. However Trine Larsen explains how she has been complimented by members if the DRF.

When she a few years ago discussed diets and cooking books with Prince Henrik he said to her: "You (formal you) are just erotically chubby".

- Trine Larsen is IMO the best royal reporter in DK at present, not that there are that many, but easily filling the shoes of former royal reporters like Bodil Cath and Poul Jørgensen.
Her articles often contain a good deal of depth and she has landed a number of very interesting interviews in the past few years.
The only competitor would be Ulla Therkelsen, but she doesn't really count because she is among the very top of TV news correspondents - no matter what topic.

[Tarlita]

Muhler what about Anna Johansen the reporter from Billed Bladet? Was she a serious journo? Or has she retired now?

[Muhler]

Originally Posted by Tarlita

Muhler what about Anna Johansen the reporter from Billed Bladet? Was she a serious journo? Or has she retired now?

Yes, she has retired.

She was a serious reporter in the sense that she was very good at establishing a personal rapport with members of the DRF. They could also rely on her discretion, knowing there were things she wouldn't write about and that they could trust her to respect a request. - That's basically in line with the current BB policy and also the policy Se & Hør followed beforehand, so in a sense she helped cementing that line.
However Anna Johannsen tended, I think, to focus very much on the more glamorous part of being royal and the emotions and love and idyl, sugarcoating the whole thing quite a lot sometimes, while putting the purpose of what the royals were doing somewhat in the background.
That's fine for bedtime reading or while at the hairdresser but not if you want hard info.
She did however have an abillity to get some members of the DRF, PH in particular, to open up and talk about themselves, confide to her actually. - I remember an interview where PH felt sorry for himself and apparantly opened up and got it out that way

Trine Larsen can sugar coat too when she want's to, but over the past say tree to five years, her style has changed to very much focusing on what the royals are actually doing, explain the purpose and allow them to get their message across, something the DRF are of course very much interested in. Which is why I believe she has landed and continue to land some very good interviews. And inbetween the hard facts we also get some personal stories from the DRF as a biproduct of these interviews.

I've been translating and summarizing BB articles for eight years now, so you get to know the style of the individual reporters and I can now tell by reading the name of the reporter what kind of coverage we will get.

Annelise Weimann is a journalist who follow the same line as Anna Johannsen. She has also been around forever. She has a very good connection with older members of the DRF.

Ken Richter is a reporter. You can count on him reporting exactly what went on with a minimum of sugar coating, he is litterally the readers eyes out there. He's not particular interested in emotions and dresses, but when you finished reading an article of his, you have a very clear picture of what physically happened.

Henrik Salling sometimes deals with the royal stuff and he basically follow the line of the older reporters. I.e. light reading, positive angling and some sugar. I suspected him of having a crush on our Marie, certainly in the beginning, as she got a very good press from him!

Marianne Singer has moved from BT, where she was a royal reporter. She is still new and it's difficult to form an opinion about her style yet. Her style has certainly softened from her time on BT, which is a tabloid, and has conformed with the line BB has.

The last of the BB staff is Ulrik Ulriksen. He has defined the style he writes as "being what my mother would like to read". He has a very flowery way of writing and he sure can sugar coat! He does it however with style. But he has a tendency to be too shallow in his articles, which is a pity because when he gets the chance he can actually make some very good interviews.

Then there is Jan Körner from Ekstra Bladet, a tabloid. He is anti-DRF. The angling of his stories are anti-DRF. To the extent that EB's own readers don't take him serious. He is way over the top! - Which is a pity, because some of the issues he raise are worth debating because sometimes the DRF deserve critisism or at least scrutiny.

The last royal reporter worth mentioning is Kirsten Balslev from Her & Nu. A discount magazine. I don't read that magazine, so I won't assess her style. That I'll leave to others. But in regards to royal stuff she's the only one on that magazine worth noticing.

[Tarlita]

Thanks for that Muhler, you have given a good comprehensive run down on different reporting styles. Here in Australia we have grown up with Fairytale written stories about the Windsor royal family. They could do no wrong for so many decades. Things of course are different now, and we are finaly getting some thruthful reporting.

[crm2317]

I hope this is the correct thread to ask but I had been wondering if there was any more news on the portrait of the Queen and her consort with their children and grandchildren. A small portion with Christian was released but then I never heard if the whole portrait had been revealed.

[Muhler]

I guess we can put this here: Dansk krimi udfordrer monarkiet: Margrethe er morderen - Kendte | www.bt.dk

A crime novel, The Holy Alliance, has just been published and according to that QMII is the murderer of an important person here in DK.
So far so good, I think we have even discussed the possibillity here on the forum.
Apparantly there is a Europe wide conspiracy in order to cement and preferably increase the number of monarchies, by murder if need be.

The book is written by Anders Rønnow Klarlund and Jacob Weinreich under the pseudonym A Kazinski.

The review on BT isn't particularly good!

Because in order to establish a plot and to create a background for the murder in the first place Trine Vilemann's (under a different name) claims are brought up as well as various rumours.

The Italian republic is under threat from monarchists, Greece and Spain is also a part of a conspiracy and so on.

The reviewer concludes: "The Holy Alliance is an unholy alliance between a hardcore thriller and political propaganda".