Margrethe of Denmark turns 84
Your new life after the change of throne
Margrethe seems to like life in retirement. When she attends appointments, like here shortly after the change of throne, she appears to be in a good mood.
© IMAGO/PPE
Queen Margrethe celebrates her 84th birthday on April 16th. It is her first special day since she gave up the throne on January 14th.
That was already the case in mid-February when Frederik and Mary spent a week-long skiing holiday in Switzerland with their four children, Crown Prince Christian (18), Princess Isabella (16) and the twins Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine (13). And around five weeks later, the abdicated monarch was back in action over Easter. So the Danes don’t have to completely give up their beloved queen, who has retained her title.
However, she takes it easy on her birthday: how the palace announced, she will celebrate “privately at Fredensborg Castle.” The Danish military band, the Royal Life Guards Band, is scheduled to give a small concert in the palace courtyard in connection with the changing of the guard at Fredensborg Palace.
She is now living out her creative side to the fullest
The queen, affectionately called “Daisy” by her family, is considered one of the coolest royals in Europe, who always had a glow in her mouth for decades and made no secret of the fact that she would also have liked to become an artist. In addition to her royal office, she has always been creative. She paints, crafts and designs with enthusiasm. Margrethe II once said: “There are scraps of paper lying around everywhere I go.” She illustrated the Danish edition of “Lord of the Rings” at the end of the 1970s. And as a costume and make-up designer, she has worked on numerous theater productions.
She now has more time for this passion – and is using it. In March, the Tivoli amusement park in Copenhagen announced that Margrethe would be taking part in the new ballet performance of the fairy tale “Cooby Hans” by Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875). The premiere is scheduled to be celebrated on June 22nd in the pantomime theater. “There are so many possibilities in the fairy tale about Tölpel-Hans, a person you just have to like, and that gives us many possibilities on stage,” Margrethe is quoted as saying in the press release. The start of her retirement was sweetened by the Danish “Oscar”: at the beginning of February she received the “Robert” film award for the best costume design. This honored her work on the Netflix film “Ehrengard: The Story of a Seduction”.
Sitting appointments
As active as the Dane still is, she physically feels her age. “Time is taking its toll and the number of ‘aches and pains’ is increasing,” she said in her New Year’s address as she unexpectedly announced her resignation to her people. “You can’t do as much as you used to.” In February 2023, Margrethe II underwent extensive back surgery. “The operation inevitably gave rise to reflection on the future – whether now would be the right time to pass on responsibility to the next generation,” the Queen emphasized on January 31. “I have decided that now is the right time.”
Just two weeks later, on the very day she became queen in 1972, she handed over the office to Frederik. The pictures of her signing the abdication certificate and then leaving the room on a cane will probably go down in history. In view of the physical aches and pains, her appearance at the annual dinner for badge of honor recipients from the army, navy, air force and rescue services on March 11th was different than before. While Frederik and Mary received the guests standing, the former regent shook the many hands in the Christian VII Palace at Amalienborg Palace while sitting, like the royal family on his Instagram page showed.
The “Volcano Queen” no longer steams
The 84-year-old has even given up her beloved cigarettes for the sake of her health. For more than 60 years, “Daisy” was a passionate smoker, which earned her the nicknames Smoke Queen and Volcano Queen. Even when she first met her husband, Prince Henrik (1934-2018), she was said to have been surrounded by a cloud of smoke. In the summer of 2023, the palace confirmed that she had stopped smoking since her back surgery. A sensation – almost as big as her resignation.