Denmark: Margrethe II celebrates her 50th anniversary of the throne

The celebrations for the 50th anniversary of Margrethe II’s throne have already had to be canceled twice. Corona and the death of Queen Elizabeth were the reasons. Now the time has come: The 82-year-old can be celebrated by the people.

Queen Margrethe has been Denmark’s head of state for 50 years – now almost 51 years. She is popular, close to the people, an artist and a chain smoker. And Queen Margrethe was and is the first woman to lead Denmark – a great head start, she thinks.

“There was no such thing as, ‘The old king always did it that way’ or ‘The old king would never have done that’. Now that it was a woman, you knew it was going to be a little bit different. And it was a support for me,” said the Queen.

Calm and quick-witted

The young queen’s early years were not always easy. The then 31-year-old was considered shy and insecure, which nobody talks about anymore. On the contrary, she is considered relaxed and quick-witted. Her son Frederik recently emphasized this again.

“As a woman at the wheel, you met the world with interest, openness and a firm gaze. From heads of state to kings to artists,” said the Crown Prince at a gala dinner in honor of the Queen. “Even when you met the King in person many years ago, Mr. Elvis Presley, you did it in your usual unimpressed style.”

The people are happy

Around noon, thousands of Danes will line the streets and wave red and white flags as Queen Margrethe drives by in a horse-drawn carriage. Later she stands on the balcony of the castle and shows herself to the people again.

Most Danes are very satisfied with their monarch. She is a good monarch and also a good artist. When asked about the Queen, a woman says: “She lives a modern monarchy and shows how one can be a Queen while at the same time leading an active normal life.”

Also artistically gifted

In fact, Margrethe has an artistic talent: she designs sets and costumes and illustrated the Danish edition of “Lord of the Rings” under a synonym. But there are also things that she can’t do: “Cooking, I can still do that to some extent,” says Queen Margrethe self-critically. “But driving? Absolutely not! I’ve never been really good at that. Let’s put it this way: you would probably survive my food. Certainly not my driving.”

The 82-year-old monarch does not think about retiring at all – there is no such thing as a royal pension. Marianne Singer from the weekly magazine Billed-Bladet expects many more Margrethe years in Denmark.

Royal quarrels

“The queen does not retire, she says so herself, she will stay until she dies,” said the royal family expert. “Should she ever get very ill, then of course you would have to think again. But she is sprightly and still active at 82. So we will see Margrethe on the throne for many years to come.” And that is celebrated today in Denmark.

However, the jubilee has a bad aftertaste: Because for weeks the house blessing has been hanging crooked at the Danish royals because the queen had announced that the children of her son Prince Joachim would be deprived of their prince and princess titles.

He didn’t agree at all and complained loudly in an interview with a tabloid. Today’s celebrations are the first official gathering of the whole family – many Danes will be watching closely.