Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik

An update on news about the Regent Couple Queen Margrethe and Henrik, The Prince Consort. Last week they visited Bornholm to mark a special time in its history.

Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik in Bornholm last Wednesday.

Belated Bornholm liberation celebrated

Bornholm waited 11 extra months after the end of the Second World War for foreign troops to leave their soil. Islanders marked the 60th anniversary on Wednesday.
The Queen and Prince Consort travelled to Bornholm Wednesday to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from the Baltic island.
The Russian ambassador and the minister of foreign affairs, Per Stig Møller, joined the royals in the island's largest city, Rønne, to commemorate the Soviet pull-out.
While the rest of Denmark celebrated the end of the Second World War on 5 May 1945, Bornholm lived in uncertainty, said minister of foreign affairs, Per Stig Møller.
The islanders suffered five extra days of German occupation and a Soviet air raid that killed 10 locals, before the Third Reich's troops finally surrendered to the Red Army.
Stalin's troops replaced Hitler's, remaining nearly a year before returning home. The chaotic reshuffling of alliances after the war's end led many Danes to fear that the island would fall under Soviet control.
'For these 11 months, Bornholm felt as if it was left behind in the shadow of the bombardment and turned over to a foreign power whose intentions were not known,' said Møller.
When the Soviet troops arrived in Bornholm it was a military surprise, he said, but when they left peacefully, it was a political surprise. From The Copenhagen Post



Jyllands-Posten
The Copenhagen Post
B.T.



bornholminfo.dk
about Bornholm's history
Bornholm and World War II
Bornholm map


Meanwhile on a more personal front, Prince Henrik spent a night in hospital last Monday after a cyst was found during a routine check up and a minor operation was needed to remove it. Billed-Bladet reports that the cyst was not cancerous and 71 year-old Prince Henrik returned to Amalienborg from his secret (well, at the time) stay at Rigshospitalet last Tuesday morning. Prince Henrik is said to be well, and of course he accompanied the Queen to Bornholm on Wednesday.

The Queen has also had some health troubles. She has been suffering recurrent pain in her knees because she suffers from osteoarthritis. For this reason she has been forced to be seated at a number of official engagements in recent times and occasionally she has even had to cancel. Most recently Her og Nu (Danish weekly not online) reported that when the Royal Family was waiting inside Kastrup Airport to greet the Bulgarian President and his wife, the Queen was in some discomfort. Frederik was the first to see her suffering and quickly got a chair for her to rest on while they were waiting for the plane to land. Mary had been chatting to Princess Benedikte while they were waiting, but immediately excused herself and went to Queen Margrethe's side to keep her company rather than leave her sitting on her own amidst all the people waiting to greet the Bulgarian official party. The Queen gave Mary a big smile and they chatted amicably while they waited. Because of the Queen's condition, it was the first time ever that Prince Henrik accompanied President Parvanov to inspect the honour guard in place of the Queen.

And, on yet another note, Queen Margrethe will celebrate her 66th birthday next week, on April 16. Margrethe was born in 1940 at Amalienborg in Copenhagen. This year the Royal Family (including Frederik, Mary and Christian) will spend the Queen's birthday and Easter at Marselisborg Palace in Århus. Here is a little preview of Marselisborg, its gardens and parklands, including some of the sculptures in the gardens: