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

[Muhler]

Summary of article in Billed Bladet #42, 2018.
Written by Trine Larsen. (Who IMO clearly is the best royal reporter at BB.)

QMII was out and about last Friday.
She presented Queen Ingrid's Research Award at Amalienborg to the Arthritis Association. - Something QMII herself is painfully aware of.

And not far from Amalienborg, in the small Churchill Park at the Citadel, she unveiled a bust of Thomas Dinesen, brother of the author Karen Blixen.
He fought with the Canadian Black Watch (*) during WWI and was decorated with the Victoria Cross. He received it after distinguishing himself at the Allied offensive at Amiens in August 1918.
Present were the ambassadors for France, Canada and UK, as well as various veterans associations and not least representatives of the Canadian Black Watch regiment.

It is of course called the Churchill park for a reason. It's located next to the English Church and there are a number of monuments to fallen Allied soldiers in the park.

IIRC Thomas and Karen Blixen's father, Isak Dinesen wrote a charming account about his travel through what was still somewhat the Wild West in USA towards the end of the 1800's. His mastery of English (and American culture) wasn't perfect, which of course makes it more authentic and charming.
He referred at some point to a Mr. Platte (actually Mr. Platt) whom he had visited.
To Danish ears it sounds perfectly reasonably to spell and pronounce Platt as as Platte, with an audible e at the end.

(*) You learn something every day! I didn't know there was a Canadian regiment called The Black Watch. I knew about the Scottish regiment of course and also that Canada has several highland regiments, but not that they use the same names.

Anyway, here are the scans of BB #42, 2018.
https://app.box.com/s/qev7niejez7od2290qvp3v553jc6k55c

[gerry]

Originally Posted by Muhler

Summary of article in Billed Bladet #42, 2018.
Written by Trine Larsen. (Who IMO clearly is the best royal reporter at BB.)

QMII was out and about last Friday.
She presented Queen Ingrid's Research Award at Amalienborg to the Arthritis Association. - Something QMII herself is painfully aware of.

And not far from Amalienborg, in the small Churchill Park at the Citadel, she unveiled a bust of Thomas Dinesen, brother of the author Karen Blixen.
He fought with the Canadian Black Watch (*) during WWI and was decorated with the Victoria Cross. He received it after distinguishing himself at the Allied offensive at Amiens in August 1918.
Present were the ambassadors for France, Canada and UK, as well as various veterans associations and not least representatives of the Canadian Black Watch regiment.

It is of course called the Churchill park for a reason. It's located next to the English Church and there are a number of monuments to fallen Allied soldiers in the park.

IIRC Thomas and Karen Blixen's father, Isak Dinesen wrote a charming account about his travel through what was still somewhat the Wild West in USA towards the end of the 1800's. His mastery of English (and American culture) wasn't perfect, which of course makes it more authentic and charming.
He referred at some point to a Mr. Platte (actually Mr. Platt) whom he had visited.
To Danish ears it sounds perfectly reasonably to spell and pronounce Platt as as Platte, with an audible e at the end.

(*) You learn something every day! I didn't know there was a Canadian regiment called The Black Watch. I knew about the Scottish regiment of course and also that Canada has several highland regiments, but not that they use the same names.

Anyway, here are the scans of BB #42, 2018.
https://app.box.com/s/qev7niejez7od2290qvp3v553jc6k55c

Thank you Muhler for the opportunity to share about the Black Watch Regiment of Canada; I however did not know that the brother of Karen Blixen was a member! Here is their website: The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada
they are currently preparing a visit to Mons in Belgium to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1918 armistice. I think Denmark was neutral during WW1; perhaps this is why the young Dinesen joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force as did so many other idealistic young men who wanted to see action with often tragic results. Lovely of HM Queen Margrethe to unveil the statue; I believe her grandmother was Princess Margaret of Connaught, the daughter of the Duke of Connaught and tenth governor general of Canada who helped raise several Canadian regiments to fight in the 1914-1918 conflict. Princess Margaret's younger sister, Princess Patricia of Connaught, gave her name to the Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry, a regiment which has seen many battles and fought with distinction https://ppcli.com/
Lovely how our two countries, Denmark and Canada, have such close family ties.

[Muhler]

Thanks for an interesting read, Gerry.

I did a little digging. The Dinesen males have a distinguished track record for valor on the battlefields.

Thomas Dinesen earned the Victoria Cross on the Western Front during WWI. He also earned the Croix de Guerre. - As a private! Ending the war as lieutenant.

His father, Wilhelm Dinesen, fought in three battles during the Second Schleswigan War. And it seems he harbored a considerable animosity towards Germany in general and Prussia in particular, because he volunteered for the French army during the Franco-Prussian War. Appointed captain, he arrived in time to see the end of the war in a number of skirmishes, as well as experiencing the Paris Commune in 1871 first hand.
And if that wasn't enough he went to the Wild West in the 1873, where things were pretty dramatic, as you no doubt know! (It wasn't Isak Dinesen, as I wrote I my previous post.) He worked various jobs and lived with a tribe for some period and met a number of interesting people. As well as saw a victim of a native raid, who had been scalped.
And as if that wasn't enough he embedded himself with the Turkish army during the Russian-Turkish war in 1877.
Ending up hanging himself in 1895.
- Talk about a man who lived in the fast lane!

Thomas Dinesen's grandfather, Adolph Wilhelm Dinesen, distinguished himself in several battles during the First Schleswigan War.
But before that he took part in the French conquest of Algeria in the 1830's, earning the Légion d'honneur de Chevallier.
He signed up for general staff duty during the Second Schleswigan War.

- A very interesting family!

[eya]

Queen Margrethe present Ebbe Munck's Honorary Prize 2018 in Christiansborg Castle today 5 November

https://www.facebook.com/detdanskeko...A&__tn__=-UC-R

[iceflower]

Here are some more photos of today's prize ceremony:


** BB: Dronningen overrakte fornem pris ** translation **


** avisen.dk gallery: Se billederne: Dronningen giver hæderspris til professor **

[iceflower]

Queen Margrethe will visit Iceland on December 1, marking the 100th anniversary of Iceland's sovereignty.

Queen Margrethe will view an exhibition about the history of the creation of the Icelandic flag, she will visit the National Gallery, Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Institute of Foreign Languages, a research centre at the University of Iceland, and she will attend a gala evening at the opera in Reykjavik:


** kongehuset: Hendes Majestæt Dronningen besøger Island **

[iceflower]

.

Today, November 11, Queen Margrethe attended a centenary service in Aaarhus marking the end of World War I:


** Pic 1 ** Pic 2 ** Pic 3 ** Pic 4 ** avisen.dk mixed gallery **


** BB: Dronning Margrethe mindedes de faldne ved 1. Verdensk **


** kongehuset gallery: Markering af 100-året for 1. Verdenskrigs afslutning **

[Muhler]

Thanks, Iceflower

Yes, for whatever reason it was decided to place this memorial in Aarhus, which is nowhere near Southern Jutland.
But here are some more pics from the memorial:
https://www.graenseforeningen.dk/sit...g%20Afsked.JPG
http://fo2grafikeren.dk/wp-content/u...arhus_1956.jpg
http://fo2grafikeren.dk/wp-content/u...arhus_1976.jpg
https://media2.trover.com/T/50005960...w_large_4x.jpg
http://fo2grafikeren.dk/wp-content/u...arhus_1962.jpg
https://static.a-n.co.uk/wp-content/.../circles-4.jpg
http://fo2grafikeren.dk/wp-content/u...arhus_1957.jpg
https://www.graenseforeningen.dk/sit...g%20Digtet.JPG
https://www2.forsvaret.dk/omos/organ...2016%20043.JPG
https://amfoto.dk/wp-content/uploads...n-IMG_9322.jpg
https://finespind.dk/images/artikelb...deparken-1.jpg
The Remembrance Park with the circular memorial is placed right in front of Marselisborg

ADDED:

Coverage from Jyllands Posten: https://jyllands-posten.dk/internati...igs-afslutning
QMII looks tired.

ADDED:
This photo is interesting.

https://media.avisen.dk/GetImage.ash...8891&sizeid=49

We see four reenactors.
From left to right, we see first a French soldier, in the early WWI uniform, that was very colorful. And that was on purpose. The French military doctrine at the time relied on "elan". I.a. an aggressive spirit (that by the nationalists were defined as typically French.) And the purpose of that was to instill in the French soldiers and officers a willingness to attack. That was inspired by the aggressive tactics of the predominantly Prussian army during the Franco-Prussian war - without regards to the truly horrendous casualties the Prussians suffered, despite winning that war.
So in the beginning of WWI the French army was very aggressive and on the attack when possible, almost regardless of the tactical situation. And with the soldiers wearing spectacular uniforms the casualties were horrific! IIRC 50.000 killed on average during the first months of the war. - And that was reinforced by the fact that the war at this stage was still very "fluent" with a lot of movement and "encounter battles".
An encounter battle is when two armies meet each other without having prepared their positions, and as a result both sides feed in more and more reinforcements leading to a bloodbath. That happens even today on the rare occasions such a unexpected encounter takes place.
On "normal" circumstances, both sides are more or less prepared and modify their tactics for the upcoming fight, with the aim of coming out on top while keeping your own casualties down.
In an encounter battle, no one are prepared and no one really know what is happening. There were quite a few of that in the beginning of WWI!

But the French learned, the hard way... So their uniforms were soon changed into sky-blue uniforms, because the emphasis was still on attack and aggressiveness, but the blue uniforms would mean the soldiers would be less easy to spot, with the blue background of the sky behind them...
In the trenches and in the mud, that was not the case! And anyone standing up for any length of time would soon be a casualty.
But at least they also introduced a helmet. And wicklers, inspired by the British army. Leather strips wrapped around the shin were much better suited for mud and trench warfare, than boots and much easier to clean. So even the Germans adopted wicklers eventually.
The soldier on the far right is such a French soldier. The uniform and helmet is different from the standard French post 1914 uniform, so either it's an early version, or a very late version. He is here armed with a Lebel carbine. The French soldiers during WWI were armed with the full length Lebel rifle.
But I imagine full length replicas of rifles are too difficult to obtain for reenactors.

The German officer is wearing the winter coat of a rear-warrior. Complete with the pickle-haube on his head. The spike was actually designed to deflect sabre blows from cavalry, but later on became a pure and distinctive adornment.

The German soldier is wearing the pre-1916 summer uniform. He is armed with the Mauser K98 carbine, rather than the full length rifle, which would have been more correct. Typical for field service, his pickle-haube is covered to keep it less conspicuous, especially from the sun being reflected in the helmet but also simply to keep it clean. The number refers to the number of his battalion not his regiment.
His boots are not particularly well fitting, but practical. Except in the sticking mud of Flanders, where a constant complaint of German soldiers was that their boots constantly got stuck in the mud.

I must confess I know to little about nurses uniforms to comment on her.

[Ista]

Thank you for the very interesting details about the uniforms, that was fascinating.

[eya]

Thank Muhler for all the informations!

And a video from today

https://www.facebook.com/detdanskeko...552522520/?t=0

[Muhler]

The court informs that QMII has undergone laser treatment to both her eyes, for cataracts.
The procedure went well and without side effects.

Hendes Majestæt Dronningen behandlet for grå stær | Kongehuset

[iceflower]

.

Queen Margrethe attended the University of Copenhagen's annual festival this afternoon, November 16:


** BB: Dronning Margrethe til fest på universitetet ** video **

[eya]

The Queen today watched the anniversary party at the Royal Livgarde in the barracks in Copenhagen.

Overrækkelse af "Dronningens Ur� | Kongehuset

https://www.facebook.com/detdanskeko...Q&__tn__=-UC-R

https://www.belgaimage.be/#/gallery/6369201

[iceflower]

Here's a video of the event:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6357SS8hGk

[eya]

The program of the one day visit on 1 December of the Queen in Iceland

Program for visit to Iceland | The Danish Monarchy - Front Page

[M. Payton]

A very full and busy day for Queen Daisy, so wanting to see pictures of the gala.

[Muhler]

Here is a funny anecdote from 2004. The Olympics in Athens.

https://www.bt.dk/haandbold/haandbol...ar-saa-pinligt

Rikke Hørlykke represented DK in handball and she shared a room with fellow team mate, Mette Vestergaard.
At some point QMII was to meet the Danish athletes backstage, but our two roommates had opted to stay in their rooms.

Then all of a sudden there was a knock on their door.
"We had stayed in the apartment because we weren't that royalist minded.
When I open the door I'm actually standing there in a sports-bra, shorts and bare belly. Then it's chef de mission and Queen who is standing outside the door."

QMII had wished to see how the athletes live and since Rikke Hørlykke and Mette Vestergaard were at home, so to speak, that was likely the reason why their apartment was chosen.
QMII was of course allowed inside, buuuut...

"We hadn't been warned, so there was everything from smelly sports-bras and socks to all the kinds of untidiness that is a part of a final round, all over the apartment."
That included posters of (very naked!) men on the walls as well.

"She was really calm/unperturbed about it. It was a quirky experience."

- You can say QMII got an authentic experience.
I don't think she's stranger to mess though. Not with two sons.

[iceflower]

.

Queen Margrethe received Hungary's Parliamentary Chairman László Kövér today, November 30:


** kongehuset: Modtagelse af Ungarns parlamentsformand **

[polyesco]

Originally Posted by eya

The program of the one day visit on 1 December of the Queen in Iceland

Program for visit to Iceland | The Danish Monarchy - Front Page

On the occasion of H.M. The Queen's visit to Iceland on December 1, 2018 shown below a selection of pictures from previous royal visits.
Besøg i Island gennem tiden | Kongehuset

[iceflower]

.

Billedbladet reports that Queen Margrethe had a windy arrival in Iceland this morning:


** BB: Dronning Margrethe i blæsevejr i Island ** translation **