Queen Margrethe II, Current Events Part 1: February 2018 - June 2020

[gerry]

Originally Posted by Muhler

https://www.billedbladet.dk/kongelig...aften-i-tivoli

QMII went to Tivoli Saturday evening to see the re-premiere of the ballet The Steadfast Tin-soldier (or whatever it's called in English.)
It was cool with slight rains, so it's good the ballet didn't last ore than 30 minutes.

also called "the brave tin soldier" in english

[Tarlita]

Thanks for the clarification Anglophile, I was only guessing. Perhaps I should have looked it up.

[iceflower]

.

The programme for Queen Margrethe's official visit to Tallinn, Estonia, on June 15 and 16, has been released today:


** kongehuset: Program for officielt besøg i Tallinn **


Saturday June 15th

10:00 & 10:35
Arrival with the Royal Ship Dannebrog in Tallinn, welcome ceremony with Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid at the Presidential Palace

10:50
Walk in the rose garden at the Presidential Palace & visit at the Kadriorg Art Museum

11:00
Official opening of the exhibition "Dannebrog - the flag that fell from the sky. Danish Golden Age Art"

12:00
Ceremony at the Freedom Monument in Tallinn

12:20
Presence at the show "The legend of the Danish flag" at the Freedom Square & visit to the photo exhibition "Estonia-Denmark. Historical moments over 800 years!"

12:50
The Danish Ambassador in Estonia will host an official lunch in honour of the Queen.

14:00
Opening of the exhibition "Dannebrog and Estonia 1219-2019"

14:50
Opening of the Danish Queen's Garden

15:15
Visit to the garden of the Danish King, where the Danish Boys' Choir will perform and Queen Margrethe will receive a copy of the oldest known version of Dannebrog

16:50
Performance "Estonia 100 and Dannebrog 800" at the Estonia Concert Hall

20:00
Gala dinner at the Arvo Pärt Centre

Sunday June 16th

11:00
Attendance at the anniversary celebration of the St. Mary's Cathedral

13:00
Queen Margrethe will host a reception at the Royal Ship Dannebrog

[Muhler]

Thanks, iceflower.

Yes, in fact most of the DRF will be on the field Saturday to celebrate the 800th anniversary of Dannebrog. That according to legend fell from the sky during a battle in Estonia on 15th June 1219.

I'll write more about that later.

[LadyFinn]

Queen Margrethe and Dannebrog have stopped today in Helsinki on their way to Tallinn.
https://www.is.fi/kuninkaalliset/art-2000006142384.html
Tanskan kuningattaren Dannebrog-alus saapui Helsinkiin

[polyesco]

what a beautiful sight.
Frederik is now regent from today until the 16, while the Queen is in Estonia

[LadyFinn]

Obviously queen Margrethe wasn't on Dannebrog when it came to Helsinki
"They arrived in rather ruff #weather but at least for moments #helsinki offers #sunshine. Luckily the #queen was not yet on board."
https://www.instagram.com/p/Byp4XfEgh0r/

But she arrived
"And there the #queen is boarding in her pink outfit."
https://www.instagram.com/p/BysY_tAgP72/

The Helsinki Boat Police at its Instagram
"Today we escorted out to the sea The Queen of Denmark's yacht Dannebrog, which left from the South Harbour of Helsinki."
https://www.instagram.com/p/BysmtaFgEXr/

[Muhler]

Denmark has close ties with Estonia, not only historical, but especially after the fall of the Wall in 1989 and the latest independence of the Baltic countries.

That also meant helping in building up a state administration. To be honest there are examples of the Baltic countries being heckled shamelessly due to inexperience and an legislation that was not yet geared to making deals with private companies in the modern world.
So Danish civil servants helped adjusting the legislation and training Estonian civil servants.
On top of that Danish police officers and judicial experts helped setting up a legal system in Estonia after the independence. And the Danish military has for more than twenty years now had a very close co-operation with the Estonian military. Danish military advisors running around in Estonia was and is politically more palatable for Russia than advisors from a larger NATO country. Not least because there are very significant Russian minorities in the Baltic countries.
Sweden and Finland has also assisted the Baltic countries in similar ways.

[JR76]

Originally Posted by Muhler

Denmark has close ties with Estonia, not only historical, but especially after the fall of the Wall in 1989 and the latest independence of the Baltic countries.

That also meant helping in building up a state administration. To be honest there are examples of the Baltic countries being heckled shamelessly due to inexperience and an legislation that was not yet geared to making deals with private companies in the modern world.
So Danish civil servants helped adjusting the legislation and training Estonian civil servants.
On top of that Danish police officers and judicial experts helped setting up a legal system in Estonia after the independence. And the Danish military has for more than twenty years now had a very close co-operation with the Estonian military. Danish military advisors running around in Estonia was and is politically more palatable for Russia than advisors from a larger NATO country. Not least because there are very significant Russian minorities in the Baltic countries.
Sweden and Finland has also assisted the Baltic countries in similar ways.

Wasn't Denmark the first country to recognise independent Estonia? I seem to remember footage of The Queen receiving Estonian officials at Fredensborg in a documentary some time ago?

[Muhler]

Originally Posted by JR76

Wasn't Denmark the first country to recognise independent Estonia? I seem to remember footage of The Queen receiving Estonian officials at Fredensborg in a documentary some time ago?

That's correct.

[Muhler]

Today is Valdemars Day. The official birthday of Dannebrog.

According to legend Dannebrog fell from the sky during a critical point during a battle outside Tallinn in Estonia on this day in 1219, with a message from above saying that if you (the Danes) raise this banner you'll win.
We did and Dannebrog became the national symbol ever after.

What is today the Baltic countries and Poland were heathen (and pretty well developed) nations around 1200, and since Jerusalem is far from Northern Europe even on bicycle someone came up with the great idea to Christen these nations, whether they wanted to or not.
The Church agreed. Poland and the Baltic countries are just around the corner from Northern Europe and it's better European knights fight and win glory there, than fighting among themselves, so crusades were formed and the Baltic countries invaded.
That the local kings, not least the Danish and Swedish had a considerable interest in expanding their territory to the east with ultimate goal of gaining control over the Baltic Sea wasn't said out loud...
Anyway, Sweden crusaded in Finland (mainly). Denmark colonized, I mean crusaded in Estonia. A semi-religious order, The Sword Brethren, crusaded in Latvia and Lithuania and the Teutonic Knights (a religious warrior-order, based on the Templars) crusaded in Poland.
These "colonists" were relatively few, but they formed the core of the annual "winter crusades". (In that part of Europe there was no infrastructure. No roads, so you moved via the rivers. and during winters these rivers froze making the rivers highways.) Elsewhere in Europe the campaigning season lasted from harvest in the late summer until late autumn.
In wintertime, nothing really happened, so many European knights and men at arms, thought why not go to the east on a crusade there? Win some glory and meet up with the lads and have a merry time and return home in the early spring? Great idea! Said the church. You go slay some heathens and earn brownie points for God and should you die you'll go to Heaven.
So it was an extremely cheap way to conduct crusades.
The warrior monks only needed equipment and upkeep and foreign "tourist-crusaders" returned home.
But in Estonia where Denmark, as a nation, tried to colonize and settle, it was another matter. It was simply too expensive and having to fight constantly in order to keep your fief wasn't exactly that attractive to colonists and Danish knights, so Estonia was eventually handed over to the The Sword Brethren. But they too lacked the means to control the Baltic countries, so that order was amalgamated with the Teutonic Knights. Not that it helped much, the Baltic countries were still difficult to control. Not least since they received active support from Novgorod, who were not that interested in having religious fanatics as neighbors and it would be much better if Novgorod had a better access to the lucrative trade in the Baltic by controlling the Baltic countries.

That was the political and historical background, so back to Dannebrog.
As you can imagine with loads of crusader-tourists around there was a myriad of banners around too! Many of them with a cross. In fact Dannebrog looks suspiciously like the Hospitaller Banner. Another religious warrior-order. They visited each other from time to time, even though they were competitors.
But the symbol of the cross was common. In fact it appears of Danish coins prior to 1219. So somehow, during the period Dannebrog was adopted as the official symbol for Denmark, to be used by the Danish king, his ships and his men. (Both as their banner but also painted on their shields.) There are even suggestions that Dannebrog was adopted as early as 1208.
What is certain is that in a Dutch book from the 1370's Dannebrog is shown and named Dannebrog = the flag of the Danes. And a reference from the 1400's refers to Dannebrog being an old symbol by then.
However, the legend of Dannebrog falling from the sky, became popular by the 1590's.
The first Danneborgs were square, a cavalry-standard rather than a rectangular flag, and even though it contained a cross it hadn't evolved into the modern "cross-banner" that (inspired by Dannebrog) spread all across Northern Europa from around 15-1600. Sweden, Cornwall and later on Norway, Finland etc.
The first Dannebrog was embarrassingly lost in 1500 in a battle in a marshy area south of the now Danish-German border. The Danish king was actually not supposed to have brought it into battle as he acted as the Duke of Schleswig and Holstein in that campaign. - It is hardly likely to have been the very first Danneborg though! Three hundred years old, subjected to moths and sunlight? Nah. More likely it was the official Danneborg used only by the king.)
Anyway, Dannebrog became more rectangular, being mainly used by ships. As well as armies. But Danish ships were all over the place, we were a very well-developed trading nation by the late medieval age, so Dannebrog became a well-known symbol.
But it was still a symbol only to used by the ships and men of the Danish king.
That changed totally during the First Schleswigan War 1848-51. That national feelings focused on that one symbol everybody knew, Dannebrog.
And it's from this period most of the many, many, rituals surrounding Dannebrog arose.
Although the most well-known, that Dannebrog must never fly in darkness, is probably late medieval. It's a celebration of the Devil to fly Dannebrog in darkness. The same thing goes with Dannebrog must never hang with the T of the cross hanging upside down, that is also a celebration of the Devil.
But another strictly adhered to ritual, that Dannebrog must never touch the ground probably predates the flag itself.
The ritual of discarding a worn out Dannebrog by burning it on a clean fire, was common practice in military units in the 1400's.
The same thing applies to Dannebrog must always go to the top before being lowered to half mast. And when flying from half mast the flag must always go to the top before being lowered.

Today there is an official Dannebrog. Rigsflaget = The Flag of the Realm. That is raised every morning, to the sound of a gun-salute, at Battery Sixtus, in the navy base in Copenhagen. Visible BTW from Amalienborg.

[eya]

Thanks Muhler!!! for the informations!

Queen Margrethe arrives soon to Estonia!

https://www.instagram.com/p/ByuFj0oA7wB/

http://kongehuset.dk/foto-video/offi...-estland-dag-1

Gallery

https://www.rexfeatures.com/set/10311083

Videos

https://www.facebook.com/detdanskeko...055594484/?t=3

https://www.facebook.com/detdanskeko...581669799/?t=5

Article

https://www.billedbladet.dk/kongelig...ngen-i-estland

[Muhler]

You are welcome, Eya. And QMII will get a rose garden dedicated to her in Talinn: https://jyllands-posten.dk/premium/t...ave-i-tallinn/

[iceflower]

Here are two videos of the first day in Tallinn:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tci8gaEfnuY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFRG0KxKYZY

[Muhler]

Thanks, Eya. And here is a BB video of the service: https://www.billedbladet.dk/kongelig...ingen-i-tallin

[iceflower]

.

Here's a gallery of both days in Estonia and a video of the Queen's departure:


** belga gallery **

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IH1oNhs8io

[Muhler]

Thanks, Iceflower.

Returning home (and presumably arriving) with DRF One. One of the Air Force Challengers. A couple of which are very much used for VIP transport.
Which also explains why Dannebrog sailed un-escorted to Estonia.
Normally a warship escort her when leaving Danish territorial water, certainly with DRF members aboard. - Or when sailing in the North Atlantic, where an escort is a very sensible precaution!

[gerry]

Originally Posted by Muhler

Thanks, Iceflower.

Returning home (and presumably arriving) with DRF One. One of the Air Force Challengers. A couple of which are very much used for VIP transport.
Which also explains why Dannebrog sailed un-escorted to Estonia.
Normally a warship escort her when leaving Danish territorial water, certainly with DRF members aboard. - Or when sailing in the North Atlantic, where an escort is a very sensible precaution!

thanks for pointing out yet another connection between Canada and Denmark: Challenger is designed, produced and built by Bombardier, a multinational based in Quebec.
https://businessaircraft.bombardier.com/en/about-us

[iceflower]

Queen Margrethe visited 2nd Brigade's exercise in Oksbøl today, June 18:


** Pic 1 ** Pic 2 ** Pic 3 **


And this evening Queen Margrethe attended the Royal Theatre's ballet performance "Royal Summer Ball" at Fredensborg Palace Garden:



** kongehuset gallery: Sommerballet i Fredensborg Slotshave **


** sn.dk gallery: Billeder: Balletdansere imponerede dronningen i smuk slotshave **

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVhXWQRA_IY

[iceflower]

.

Queen Margrethe travelled to Aarhus with the Royal Yacht Dannebrog today, June 25, to take up residence at at the family's summer residence Marselisborg Castle.


** kendte.dk gallery ** kongehuset gallery **


** aarhus.lokalavisen gallery: Se de skønne billeder: Dronning Margrethe ankommer til Aarhus med Dannebrog **