Was Queen Margrethe wrong to not let Henrik lead the New Year's banquet when she was ill and thus have her son, the Crown Prince, take her place? Absolutely. She as Queen Regent could have chosen to, but she didn't. However, if Henrik had been told before marriage that this is the convention of the Danish court, he could have walked away.
Margrethe wasn’t wrong to not let Henrik host the New Year’s banquet, the protocol is that the heir hosts when the monarch is unable to. Even if Henrik had had the title of king Frederik would have hosted.
It turns out I misconceived what Prince Henrik did and said in 2002. It is possible I am not alone in my misconceptions, and so would like to share what I discovered. (Please note: In this post, I am not discussing my personal opinions, only describing what happened and what Henrik stated.)
A summary:
1. Prince Henrik hosted the New Year’s Courts in 2002. Crown Prince Frederik acted as regent.
2. Prince Henrik made no complaint about the precedence his
wife accorded to him. She ranked him as “number two” (below Queen Margrethe II, but above Crown Prince Frederik).
3. Prince Henrik’s complaint was about the precedence that
the media and some of the general public accorded to him. In his eyes, the media and some Danes treated him like “number three”.
Henrik’s precedence
Prince Henrik (then officially styled “HRH the Prince”) was
not ranked number three behind Crown Prince Frederik in 2002. The royal house’s official order of precedence was simply unpublished at the time, so the press and public could not know it.
Because of Prince Henrik’s complaint, Queen Margrethe II decided to publish the royal house’s order of precedence for all to see. It listed HRH the Prince as number two, ahead of HRH the Crown Prince at number three.
Læs mere her.
www.bt.dk
Henrik’s role at the New Year’s Courts in January 2002
Queen Margrethe II was unable to attend the New Year’s Courts in 2002 due to a rib injury.
Consequently, the Queen decided Prince Henrik would host the New Year’s Courts, while Crown Prince Frederik would stand in for her as acting head of state (we English speakers would say Frederik was serving as regent). Her instructions were followed.
At the New Year’s Court for diplomats, Crown Prince Frederik (the acting head of state) delivered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ speech to the foreign diplomatic corps.
But at the New Year’s Court for state employees, Prince Henrik (the host) gave a speech to the Society of Sciences delegation, and the Prince and Crown Prince took turns addressing the various guests, sometimes jointly.
These events were confirmed by the then Marshal of the Court, Søren Haslund-Christensen.
Danmark | Politikens undersøgende journalistik og nyt om politik, ret, sundhed, uddannelse, forbrug, økonomi og aktuelle temaer.
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Henrik’s interview of February 2002
In February 2002, the Prince took a leave of absence and went to France to “consider my life”. There he gave an exclusive interview to B.T.’s royal reporter, Bodil Cath.
The Prince clearly indicated to Ms. Cath that he was not angry with his wife or son, but he was angry with the Danish news media and some of the Danish public.
The Prince accused the Danish media of falsely reporting that Henrik was “number three” at the New Year’s Courts and falsely reporting that Crown Prince Frederik was the host. More broadly, Henrik accused the Danish media and some of the Danish public of downgrading his importance and disrespecting him.
For an edited version of the full interview, see here:
»Enhver familiefar vil være vært i sit eget hus.«
www.bt.dk
Just a few selected quotes, roughly translated, from the very long interview:
“I can feel that around me, people are very loyal and they think things are wonderful. But I also feel that a circle and a certain part of the press don’t think I’m good enough.”
“It’s how people see me that’s preoccupying me. It isn’t how I do my job and do my duties. It’s how I’m perceived!”
“I have no doubt that the Danish people like me. I think they do. But it’s the image people have of me that I have doubts about.”
Bodil Cath: “I’m sorry if I or my colleagues wrote something that Your Royal Highness feels is degrading. I don’t think that was intentional.”
Henrik: “I don’t know who did it. But it’s been the result.”
“You can’t just change up the ranking order in a hierarchy because someone thinks it’s slick or maybe to sell more newspapers.”
“People here and the press have tried to say it was the Crown Prince who was the host. The Crown Prince was not the host at the New Year’s Courts [...] I don’t want to go along with these kinds of [wrong statements].”
Bodil Cath: “Can’t it be ignorance, and the press which didn’t give it any thought, that have escalated things?”
Henrik: “Maybe? But after 30 years, you can’t tell me you don’t know […] Can you imagine people doing it to Queen Ingrid? […] Why then suddenly this after 30 years? They shouldn’t claim ignorance. [Henrik laughs.]”
“Since I’m married to the monarch, I expect people to give me a seat next to her. There are many people who think I’m not in the same position that for example Queen Ingrid was. […] I’ve never tried to be number one. […] But I can’t understand why people want to push me out of my place.”
“People never imagine that Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria should come before Queen Silvia. In their time, people never thought my wife, the Heiress to the Throne, should come before Queen Ingrid.”
“I’ve tried to do everything I could for my country. I’m happy to live in Denmark. I love Denmark very much. Why degrade me all the time? Disappoint me all the time?”
“If people haven’t been able to change [their assessment of me] for 30 years […] I think it’s too late. Maybe it’s also less important. I thought I was a rhino with a thick, thick skin, as I said many years ago. But it turns out the skin isn’t thick enough.”
“[The Crown Prince] is such a nice boy. It's not his fault. […] I'm not jealous of my son. That boy is very precious to me. […] He doesn't want to take my place or disappoint me.”
“This [stay in France] has nothing, absolutely nothing to do with the Queen and me. There is emotionally nothing wrong between the Queen and me.”
