Anniversary of Margrethe II's ascension to the throne

As well as today's other Royal Danish news with the twins, today is the 39th anniversary since Queen Margrethe ascended the throne, following the death of her beloved father Frederik IX.

Frederik & Mary celebrate 5th wedding anniversary

Today Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary. Mary has been at the official opening of the 2nd Nordic Aphasia Conference as its patron at the University of Copenhagen. It may be a normal working day, but Mary appears to have decided a change is as good as a holiday by changing the colour of her hair. The anniversary will be celebrated quietly and privately according to court spokeswoman Lene Balleby. Mary thanked Frank Humle, head of Centre for Brain Damage, for his good wishes as she arrived at the conference and wouldn't be drawn by media questions as she left after attending a lecture. "Five happy years of marriage is gift enough" was all she would say, according to Billed Bladet (photo Jesper Sunesen/BilledBladet).

DRWs pre-wedding feature
DRWs Happy Anniversary wedding feature

B.T. 'Mary og Frede fejrer træbryllup' - Mary and Frede celebrate fifth wedding anniversary
May 14th 2009 | by Marianne Singer
It's a big day, but not so big that you can't also squeeze in a single task on the way.
Mary is a diligent Crown Princess and just as she did last year, she has an event to attend on her wedding anniversary.
The event is the official opening of 2nd Nordic Aphasia Conference at the University of Copenhagen.
But probably there is still time for some cosy togetherness with the family and a romantic momenτ with her husband during the day.
Last year the Crown Princess hurried home from her working visit to the UN in Geneva in time to be together with Frederik late in the evening [of their anniversary].
It is also a [significant] anniversary as a Crown Princess because this year it's the fifth wedding annivarsary that the royal pair celebrate.
It's a wedding annivarsary which isn't as well known as a copper, silver or golden anniversary, but it means that the couple have now lived side by side for five years.
At the same time Mary can also celebrate her five year jubilee as a Crown Princess, so in this way the date is an important red-letter day.
For both Frederik and Mary there have been huge shifts in their life in that period.
From May 14th 2004, when Mary said 'yes' to the Crown Prince, she has had to be prepared to live a public life with many commitments, the couple have become husband and wife, settled themselves in Chancellery House, and most especially, have had two children, Christian, 3, and Isabella, 2.
But while the couple often have enough to do with two small active toddlers and are [regularly] out on official tasks, they have also shown time and again that they are still a couple in love.
There are still are easy touches, amorous glances, attentive comments to each other and hand holding when the couple are out.
It isn't difficult to find photos of the Crown Prince Couple where they are in close touch with each other.
And Mary has often shown that Frederik is someone absolutely special for her, such as last year in May when she arranged Frederik's 40th birthday party in the Orangery at Fredensborg Palace, and the Crown Princess sang for her husband in front of all the guests.

The Sydney Morning Herald - a nod to some of the rubbish generated by someone peddling a book.
An editorial in Jyllands Posten criticised the author in question saying she is wrong has spent too long in Greece and lost touch with Denmark.

Billed Bladet's anniversary gallery - 29 photos from wedding to present
B.T.'s anniversary gallery - photos 1-8 are pre-wedding from 2002, 10-32 are engagement in October 2003 to present
Se og HØR gallery
News.com.au Mary and Frederik gallery
Zimbio gallery - 214 wedding photos!

Find lots of material on You Tube:
TV2 engagement interview
Sanne Salomonsen Rock'n' Royal 2004 - Welcome to Mary
Frederik & Mary wedding vows
The balcony scene
Frederik's speech to his bride
Frederik & Mary wedding waltz

New photos to mark Frederik's & Mary's 5th wedding anniversary

To mark the fifth wedding anniversary of Frederik and Mary on Thursday, May 14, 2009, the royal court has released some new official photos of Frederik and Mary, and one with Christian and Isabella, taken by Steen Evald.



Photos © Steen Evald/Kronprinsparret.dk

Kronprinsparret.dk - download for private use
Steen Evald.com

Frederik's & Mary's 4th anniversary

Photo, right, Berlingske Tidende/Linda Henriksen

Frederik and Mary are reported to have celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary at French-influenced Japanese restaurant Umami in Copenhagen last night after Mary returned from Geneva. The restaurant was hosting a masterclass from world-renowned Tetsuya Wakuda as a charity gala to support young up-and-coming chefs studying abroad.

Tetsuya Wakuda still in top ten restaurants list - there are many ways top chefs and restaurants are ranked, but the highly respected Tetsuya is usually among them.
TV2 news clip - shows Tetsuya appreciating some Danish design, among other things, and he mentions that Mary once worked for one of his Tasmanian friends: "small world". According to the report he will also give a lecture on design and food to some of Denmark's top chefs.

Happy anniversary Mary & Frederik!

Today is the third wedding anniversary for Mary and Frederik, so happy anniversary to them! To see our anniversary post with more wedding photos last year, click here.

Margrethe's 35th anniversary as queen today

To become a king or a queen a parent must die. This is the harsh paradox of ascending a throne. On this day 35 years ago Queen Margrethe's beloved father Frederik IX died. He was known as "the sailor king" and he was a smoker to the last. Queen Margrethe was proclaimed Denmark's queen just 20 hours after the death of her father. Frederik IX is buried at Roskilde Cathedral, not in the royal crypt indoors, but outdoors at his request, forever taking the airs of Denmark and its surrounding waters, metaphorically speaking. Queen Ingrid, is now buried with him. The Danes gave up the pomp and circumstance of formal coronations a long time ago and the practice is the new monarch is proclaimed. King Frederik was proclaimed king from the balcony at Christiansborg Palace after the death of Christian X. Not long after delivering his New Year's address to the nation on 31 December 1971, King Frederik fell ill and died shortly after on 14 January, 1972. He died of lung cancer.

In 1996 Queen Ingrid reflected on Crown Prince Frederik (it is well known they were close). She had a unique perspective on the Danish crown prince she married in May 1935 and also her grandson, about whom she is speaking: "I believe that one of the most difficult things in life is to be a crown prince. It's a weird thing - but that's how it is - you have to sit down and wait for your father or mother to die. This is in fact very strange. But we are used to it [ie: royalty]. We have been raised in that knowledge, and I don't think one thinks about it too much. But it is difficult to be in this position. It's an important position, and yet not no 1." (Many thanks Frederik IX for translation of an excerpt from Ninka's En familie og dens Dronning, 1996)




1. Margrethe is proclaimed queen 20 hours after her father's death 2. Queen Ingrid, Queen Margrethe, Prince Henrik, Princess Benedikte and Queen Anne-Marie lead the mourners at the funeral of Frederik IX 3. Queen Margrethe's first New Year address 4. In 1984 the Queen's special brand of speaking, with intelligence and humour, had become noteworthy 5. & 6. the Queen and Prince Henrik in the Faeroe Islands 7. Flowers for the Queen! 8. Queen, mother and grandmother - with first grandchild, Nikolai, on the balcony at Amalienborg for her birthday 9. with the heirs who follow her, Frederik and third grandchild Christian 10. Frederik leads the congratulatory "hurrah" from the balcony of Amalienborg for the 25th wedding anniversary of his parents.

Queen Margrethe
Queen Margrethe II: Denmark's Monarch for a Modern Age by Peter Thygesen, a Politiken journalist


A look back at Frederik IX, the Sailor King (1899 -1972)




1. Frederik as a baby (fetching bonnet!) 2. With brother Prince Knud 3. With brother Knud and mother Queen Alexandrine (the current Princess Alexandra wears the tiara known as the Alexandrine tiara) 4. As a young boy 5. & 6. As a young naval officer, like the current Crown Prince Frederik, he married later rather than younger and Queen Ingrid was always confident grandson Frederik would find the 'right girl' but she never met Mary, she became ill and died just after Frederik met Mary (they met September, Queen Ingrid died in November 2000) 7. Frederik was fond of a tattoo or two or three! 8. Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Ingrid with King Christian X (we will find an opportunity to tell his story sometime) 9. Christian X died 20 April 1947 and Frederik was proclaimed king (10. 11. 12. & 13. at Christiansborg Slot) 14. & 15. Frederik and Ingrid, the new king and queen, still in mourning 16. to 31. King Frederik at work and with his growing family. It is said Frederik and Ingrid were a great pair, complemented each other and created a very happy family life for the 'first family' of Denmark 32. A three generation photo of an ill-looking King Frederik, Princess Margrethe and Prince Frederik 33. The death of King Frederik on 14 January 1972 - Prince Henrik, Prince Richard and King Konstantine follow the king's coffin to Christiansborg in a procession from Amalaienborg. Queen Ingrid, Queen Margrethe, Princess Benedikte and Queen Anne-Marie all stood on the stairs to the church (where Christian was christened) as the coffin was carried inside 34. In castrum dolorus inside the church 35. & 36. The funeral of Frederik IX, Queen Margrethe had Frederik and Joachim with her 37. Queen Ingrid 38. Princes Frederik, Joachim and Gustav at the funeral 39. The grave of Frederik IX and now also Queen Ingrid, outside at Roskilde Cathedral.

Some links about Frederik IX:
The Danish Monarchy - Frederik IX
Danish Royalty
The proclamation of King Frederik IX from the State and University Library, University of Aarhus (photos from this link too)
A well known Dane's old tattoos
Danish royal crypts in Roskilde Cathedral
Many thanks to Brigitte Gastel Lloyd for some photos from Worldroots.com