Queen Margrethe II and Prince Henrik, Current Events 1: May 2003 - November 2006
Live from Las Vegas
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By Howard R. Knowles
19. december 2002 Print Article (IE & NS 4+)
I commented a few weeks ago about how much I despised smokers. The reaction has been generally positive, with the majority agreeing that yes, Denmark is a couple of light-years behind the rest of the world in smoking etiquette. There was one particular vitriolic e-mail from Mr Angry Smoker in Canada which deserves a response, but he's probably on an iron lung by now, so what the hell, it's Christmas - let bygones be bygones.
A particularly interesting e-mail came from Mr Ernst Joost, owner of 'Cigarettes Plus Cigars' in Las Vegas, USA. Ernst has been mentioned in the Danish press before because of a giant portrait of the patron saint of smokers, Queen Margrethe, hanging in his store. He said he hadn't appreciated my disparaging references about our forty-a-day monarch and that she deserved a little more respect, so I gave him a call.
Did he still display the portrait of the Queen?
'Sure do. She's right up there between posters of JFK, Martin Luther King, John Lennon, all puffing away.'
I was tempted to ask if this indicated a connection between smoking and getting shot, but Ernst was busy lobbing cigars over the counter.
How had he come up with the idea to use the Queens image?
'She's renowned in our business. She smokes those extra-strong Greek cigarettes. None of this light crap. She's a cult, an icon, a spunky lady.'
I asked Ernst what he thought about Queen Margrethe being the official protector of the Danish Cancer Society, to which he replied, 'People are gullible.' I didn't quite understand that.
Ernst has an interesting theory about smokers. He says that it can't be purely coincidental that the fascists and aggressors during the Second World War, Hitler, Mussolini and Franco, were non-smokers, whilst the peacemakers, Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin were chain-smokers.
I was going to make some stupid comment about Joe Stalin massacring about the same number of people who die of cancer every year, but Ernst had that disarming American way of being extremely positive about everything.
'Denmark's a great little country, you shouldn't knock it. Danes are very health conscious, so they must know what they're doing,' he said. 'I'll be over in Copenhagen next summer.'
I promised to show him round and hopefully point out a couple of health-conscious Danes.
New Year's Eve in this country always seems to develop into a game of psychological warfare
It's usually around the beginning of December, when the first tentative enquiry is dropped subtly into the conversation.
'We don't know what we're doing this New Year's Eve' - which actually translates into, 'We haven't been invited anywhere yet but we need something to fall back on. What about you?' (Anyone breaching the matter earlier than December 1st is obviously sending a message that he or she is a New Years Eve loser and has to be avoided like the plague.)
This is usually met by 'We haven't decided yet either' meaning we want to keep all our options open, but would preferably like to avoid last year's eight hours of mind-numbing boredom with you and your alcoholic neighbour.
Around the middle of the month, those who still haven't got fixed up try again. 'So what are you doing New Year's Eve then? (The emphasis on the you can lead one to believe that they have in fact now got some deal in place.) Optimistic that a better offer will crop up, this often prompts the first lie to be told.
'We've been invited to Jacks/Jørgens/Karens/whoever, but its so far away/they're so boring/we haven't made up our minds yet,’
With less than 14 days to go, one of the sides always weakens. 'We're having a quiet New Year this year,' to which the reply is invariably, 'So are we, why don't we get together?'
It's always a sad sight to see four middle-aged people in party hats drinking cheap champagne, but at least on the first of January the trauma is over - for another 11 months.
A Happy New year to you all - except that guy in Canada.
FROM: The Copenhagen Post online
__________________ It's clever, but is it art? ~Rudyard Kipling
Hi Julia! Thanks for the article. I remember reading somewhere that Queen Margrethe was being blamed by some at one point for the new rise in lung cancer among Danish women caused by smoking (this was a while ago). I thought that was appalling. It's not as if she is going door to door and telling them to just go for it and light up. I think that if she wants to smoke people should let her smoke. They are her lungs. I was once told that she smokes somewhere around sixty cigarettes a day . Does anyone know for certain?
Here are a few pictures of Her Majesty enjoying one of her favorite activities.
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Women have served all these centuries as looking-glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of man at twice its natural size. -Virginia Woolf
Even though I despise smoking, I think she should be left alone to do it. The thing that grates with me is that she lights up at official banquests. There is nothing nastier than someone smoking at the table. People around her who don't smoke end up smelling it. And she lit up while visiting a hospital. That's what caused the commotion a few years ago.
I can't believe that Her Majesty smoked at a hospital. Goodness! She must really want to smoke to do that. I don't really mind smoking at the table unless the tobacco just creates an awful smell. However, I do think that one should wait until the meal is complete. I have two great aunts who smoke World World II cigarettes (still making their own with that awful World War II tobacco) and it is disgusting. That smell drives me crazy. It's so strong and musty.
Her Majesty smokes very strong Greek cigarettes that she can't even get in Denmark, so I am sure that the odor must be somewhat unpleasant.
I smoke as well, but I couldn't call myself an avid smoker. I only smoke socially at times and when I am really annoyed.
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Women have served all these centuries as looking-glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of man at twice its natural size. -Virginia Woolf
:o :x :x Hi Kelly D! Okay, I am speechless at this point. That is just horrible. I wonder why she did that? I gues that Her Majesty seriously didn't give a thought as to how it would appear and the backlash of it all.
Well, I think that it is safe to say that she will most likely never do that again.
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Women have served all these centuries as looking-glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of man at twice its natural size. -Virginia Woolf
I don't think she cared how it would appear. When she gave a 30-minute press-conference about her smoking, she smoked 2 cigarettes. And when they asked about her "smoking problem", she replied "I don't have a problem". The fact that she's patron of some Cancer Society in DK is the height of hypocrisy. And she was criticised for being patron at that time, too. There was an article in the Copenhagen Post that talked about it and it was mentioned at BBC's website when she visited the UK, and they had a few articles devoted to it. But still she puffs on
I found an article about Queen Margrethe's smoking. It seems that there were quite a few articles written about it, especially in Swedish and German. I would post them, but I doubt that anyone has time to translate for those of us who cannot read in the languages. I would think that most of them say basically the same as the one that I found in english.
Here is an article that I found in English which talked about the visit that I think Kelly D. is referring to-Her Majesty was visiting patients in a nursing home that suffered from severe asthma and she lit up a cigarette. :x :o
The Drag Queen Is Here
There is something sensible in the state of Denmark: Queen Margrethe II, who arrived yesterday. She should be the envy of our royals: there is no talk of abdication, abolition or scandal in Copenhagen. The chain-smoking 59-year-old (second cousin of Queen Elizabeth) beats Gwyneth Paltrow in approval ratings (97 per cent).
True, there was a brief outbreak of Windsor Syndrome when her son Frederik tried to marry a lingerie model [Correction: Prince Frederik is not married. His younger brother, Joachim, is.]. Margrethe pursed her lips. He made a more appropriate marriage. As an equal to our dear Queen, they will be served simultaneously when they nosh at Windsor. Queen Margrethe is tall, blonde, deeply regal and a decent artist - she illustrated Lord of the Rings under a pseudonym and studied in Paris, Cambridge and the LSE. She met her hubbie, a Count Henri de Laborde de Monpezat, in London in 1963 when he was toiling as second secretary at the French Embassy. The slave is now Prince Henrik.
The only attack on Margrethe (from glooomy Swedes, not jolly Danes) is her smoking. Vulgar Swedish papers call her the Ashtray Queen and complained when she puffed on a dreary visit to asthmatic residents of an old people's home. Her cousin Carl Gustav of Sweden also smokes, but more discreetly.
The Danish press came to her defence. "Is it a sign of responsibility for the Swedish King to slink off to the toilets (sic) to have a drag on the sly?" ventured one. When asked recently how she was dealing with her "smoking problem" the queen replied crisply: "I have no problem." A heroine of our times.
Here is the photo/sketch that accompanied the previous article.
__________________
Women have served all these centuries as looking-glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of man at twice its natural size. -Virginia Woolf
Friday, 23 March, 2001, 17:50 GMT Danish royals angry at cancer accusation
By Julian Isherwood in Copenhagen
The husband of the Queen of Denmark has reacted strongly to suggestions that the high number of Danish women who die from smoking could be linked to the fact that his wife is a smoker.
Queen Margrethe II's heavy smoking habit was thrust into the realms of international debate when an article in the British medical journal, The Lancet, suggested a possible link between deaths from smoking among Danish women and the queen's ascension to the throne in 1953.
"If people want to die of smoking then that's their business," the Royal Consort, Prince Henrik, was reported as saying.
"One should not be over-impressed or affected by what may or may not be politically correct.... Political correctness leads to neo-puritanism - and no-one wants that," the prince, who no longer smokes, told journalists.
The Lancet report, by Belgian academic Hugo Kesteloot, said Queen Margrethe's smoking could help explain why the number of cancer deaths, which had been falling, started rising again five years after she came to the throne.
Role model
"The queen is very popular in Denmark and a known cigarette smoker. As a role model for women, the queen's example could offer an explanation for the unusual mortality in Danish women," said the article.
The issue made headlines in one of Copenhagen's main tabloid newspapers, sparking a national debate into which the queen herself was drawn.
"People may discuss what they wish," Queen Margrethe told a group of Finnish journalists who were in Denmark ahead of a visit by the Finnish president.
"It is a somewhat sensational way of publicising something that most of us know - that many Danish women smoke," she said.
"Most Danes believe that people should be allowed to do what they wish," she added.
The queen's comments came during a 30-minute press conference, during which she smoked two cigarettes.
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Women have served all these centuries as looking-glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of man at twice its natural size. -Virginia Woolf
Where was this article from? That's cool about the tissue boxes. Maybe I ought to do that to my kleenex boxes.
When my sisters and I were young we all would cut out people and rooms from catalogues. We'd have a family of paperdolls with their house to go along. We didn't really care for the punch out drawn paperdolls that you can buy. We wanted real looking people. Margrethe cutting out things from catalogues and making her own tissue boxes made me think of that.
Thank you for the article and pictures Josefine. I really enjoyed reading this. What wonderful advice and what a wonderful attitude Her Majesty possesses about life in general.......
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Women have served all these centuries as looking-glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of man at twice its natural size. -Virginia Woolf
Someone from the SRMB has reported that Queen Margrethe is currently in the hospital recovering form a four-hour back surgery. I believe the surgery was in the lumbar region of the back.
__________________
Women have served all these centuries as looking-glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of man at twice its natural size. -Virginia Woolf
Article about Queen Margrehe's surgery and recovery from the AP.
Denmark's Queen Margrethe in good condition after back surgery, palace says
Thu Jan 16, 6:58 AM ET
COPENHAGEN, Denmark - Denmark's Queen Margrethe is in excellent condition, the Royal Palace said Thursday, a day after she had back surgery.
"The queen has had a calm and good night," palace spokesman Soeren Haslund-Christensen said. "Everything goes forward as it is supposed to."
The popular queen will be hospitalized for a week. Haslund-Christensen couldn't say when she would resume her duties.
Four doctors on Wednesday performed the surgery on her spinal column at the Aarhus City Hospital, 200 kilometers (125 miles) northwest of the capital, Copenhagen.
Her French-born husband, Prince Henrik, was with her, but her youngest son, Prince Joachim had no immediate plans to visit the hospital. Crown Prince Frederik, who is heir to the throne, was in Australia taking part in a yacht regatta.
Because of her back pain, Margrethe, 62, who assumed the throne in 1972, was forced to sit while she received traditional News Year's wishes from diplomats Jan. 6.
In December 2001, she broke two ribs after falling at Marselisborg Castle, the royal family's summer residence in Aarhus. She has also suffered from a degenerative joint disease in both knees and operations to remove small pieces of loose cartilage were performed on her right knee in 1992, 1993 and 2001.
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Women have served all these centuries as looking-glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of man at twice its natural size. -Virginia Woolf
Danish queen released from hospital a week after back surgery
Thu Jan 23,12:57 PM ET
COPENHAGEN, Denmark - Denmark's popular Queen Margrethe was released from a hospital Thursday where she spent a week recuperating from back surgery.
The 62-year-old monarch was in her palace in downtown Copenhagen and doing well, a royal spokesman said.
The queen had surgery Jan. 15 on her lower spinal column because of severe back pain.
Spokesman Soeren Haslund-Christensen didn't say when she would resume her duties.
Four doctors performed the surgery at the Aarhus City Hospital, 200 kilometers (125 miles) northwest of Copenhagen.
The figurehead monarch, who assumed the throne in 1972, broke two ribs in December 2001 after falling at Marselisborg Castle, the royal family's summer residence in Aarhus.
She has also suffered from a degenerative joint disease in both knees and doctors removed small pieces of loose cartilage from her right knee in 1992, 1993 and 2001.
__________________
Women have served all these centuries as looking-glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of man at twice its natural size. -Virginia Woolf
Queen Margrethe suspend plans for official visit to Japan
Wed Jan 29,12:13 PM ET
COPENHAGEN, Denmark - Preparations for Queen Margrethe's official visit to Japan in April have been put on hold because of her recent back surgery, the palace said Wednesday.
The 62-year-old monarch had surgery Jan. 15 on her lower spinal column because of severe back pain. She was released from Arhus City Hospital Jan. 23 and has been convalescing at home, royal spokesman Soeren Haslund-Christensen said. It's unclear when she will resume her official duties.
However, Queen Margrethe decided to suspend preparations for the April 6-12 visit to Japan after receiving "medical advice following the back surgery," Haslund-Christensen said. No other details were available.
Margrethe, her French-born husband, Prince Henrik, and their oldest son, Crown Prince Frederik, were scheduled to meet Japan's Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko.
Denmark's royal family was invited to Japan by the emperor when he and his wife visited the Scandinavian country of 5.3 million in 1998.
Margrethe, who assumed the throne in 1972, broke two ribs in December 2001 after falling at Marselisborg Castle, the royal family's summer residence in Aarhus.
She has also suffered from a degenerative joint disease in both knees and doctors removed small pieces of loose cartilage from her right knee in 1992, 1993 and 2001.
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Women have served all these centuries as looking-glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of man at twice its natural size. -Virginia Woolf
From Billed Bladet online: Queen Margrethe dancing onstage at an event in Denmark.
www.ibl.se - Prince Henrik - 20030517 Copenhagen, Denmark - Prince Henrik at the annual meeting of the so-called Tivoli-Club in the Tivoli-garden in Copenhagen. Photo: Michael Stub / Colourpress
www.ibl.se - Prince Henrik - 20030517 Copenhagen, Denmark - Prince Henrik at the annual meeting of the so-called Tivoli-Club in the Tivoli-garden in Copenhagen. Photo: Michael Stub / Colourpress
www.ibl.se - Prince Henrik attending a Red Cross charity event with some friends. I thought you removed the corsage with your teeth???
www.ibl.se - Prince Henrik attending a Red Cross charity event with some friends. I thought you removed the corsage with your teeth???
www.ibl.se - Prince Henrik attending a Red Cross charity event with some friends.
www.ibl.se - Prince Henrik attending a Red Cross charity event with some friends.
www.ibl.se - Prince Henrik on the island Bornholm for hunting and a visit at the local newspaper Bornholms Tidende. Photo: Michael Stub
www.ibl.se - Prince Henrik on the island Bornholm for hunting and a visit at the local newspaper Bornholms Tidende. Photo: Michael Stub
www.ibl.se - Prince Henrik on the island Bornholm for hunting and a visit at the local newspaper Bornholms Tidende. Photo: Michael Stub
__________________
Women have served all these centuries as looking-glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of man at twice its natural size. -Virginia Woolf
Thank you Alexandria for these beautiful pictures. On page 1 Prince Henrik and Queen Margrethe are in gala and both look incredible! This particular photo is time stamped May 2nd, 2003 - 1:37 am.
Prince Henrik's hands aren't visible and the Queen has this interesting expression on her face and it makes me wonder where exactly his hands are. They both were gorgeous back in their day.
. Does anyone know for certain?
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