Denmark, Christmas in the balance of Margrethe II

Every year at the end of November the Danish royal family announces its plans for the Christmas holidays with a press release, and this year was no exception. “Starting from December 20,” he said The Royal House, «The queen Margrethe II will stay at the castle of Marselisborg and will celebrate the eve with the family of the crown prince ». A tradition that dates back to 1972, the year of Margrethe II’s accession to the throne, who over the years “has traditionally celebrated Easter and often Christmas at Aarhus Castle”.

All this, however, took place before having to deal with the due precautions related to the increase in cases of Covid-19, and with the contagion of Princess Mary herself, which tested positive on 15 December. This was communicated by the royal house itself, announcing that the princess would remain in solitary confinement in Amalienborg “until it was again safe to put an end to it according to the applicable guidelines”. And while no one else in the family has tested positive, the princess’s Christmas is definitely ruined.

On the site of the Royal House, the Queen’s transfer to Marseliborg Castle, returning to Amalienborg on the 30th, is confirmed, but her stay promises to be rather lonely. Also because, except for last minute changes, the principe Joachim, his wife there Princess Marie, and their two sons, Henrik e Athena, they will not keep her company: for the holidays they are expected in France, by their maternal grandparents. And the other two grandchildren too, Nikolai e Felix, born from Joachim’s first marriage, will spend Christmas with their mother Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg and not at the castle of Marseliborg.

Official events were also canceled, including the New Year’s banquet, a traditional appointment with the highest authorities of politics and the army, but Her Majesty does not intend to deprive herself, her family or her subjects of the spirit of Christmas, and despite the restrictions, she has found the way to bring the magic of the holidays to life, at least virtually. And so, while in Copenhagen the reruns of the show are staged The Snow Queen, for which she designed costumes and sets herself, the social channels of the royal house, in December, were transformed into a digital advent calendar behind whose windows you discover a story in installments every day. The protagonists are the elves that Margrethe herself created by hand, and which she shows in an opening video released earlier this month.

To interrupt the chain of fairy tales, only the announcement of the entry into the family of two new members: the puppies of the “royal dog” Grace, which made their social debut on December 19, with a photo taken by prince Vincent, son of hereditary princes Frederik and Mary. Probably, for children of The Royal House, the best Christmas present.