Queen Margrethe II: Denmark's monarch for a modern age

Scandinavian Review, Autumn 1999 by Thygesen, Peter

In 1988 the Queen began to exhibit her work under her own name. Her artistic creations have been shown in Koge, Ebeltoft, Holte, Copenhagen, Herning, Elsinore and Arhus in Denmark, as well as in Stockholm (Sweden), Reykjavik (Iceland), Flensburg (Germany) and lately in Oslo (Norway). Everywhere the public has crowded in to see them.

Earlier Her Majesty created costumes for the filmed version of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale, "The Shepherdess and The Chimney Sweep," shown on Danish televison. The Queen's next major artistic project was the scenography for the production of August Bournonville's 1854 ballet Et Folkesagn (A Folk Tale) performed at The Royal Theatre in Copenhagen in 1991. In both cases the Queen not only supplied production sketches but went to work at the theater daily, joining the professional teams as a key participant.

The Queen was also heavily involved in the revival of Et Folkesagn at the end of August 1999, when it started its latest run at the Royal Theatre. The task was to create over one hundred costumes in addition to stage decorations for this three-act production. At the Royal Theatre the Queen was praised for her sense of color, confident style, and ability to involve herself in this enormous mission. In an interview with this writer, Queen Margrethe stated:

It has really taken a very big chunk of my time, but it is wonderful to do. This is not a project that I should do often during my lifetime, even though I guess I would be a better artist the more I tried. But this is still not my main occuptation.

The Queen also explained why, in recent years, she has spent so much more time at her artistic pursuits:

I get strength to do my 'job' as head of state by permitting myself to express myself through the arts. I think I can also demonstrate that this has made my life as Queen easier for me. Without being able to express myself in a creative way and use the fantasy I have always had, I would probably have felt that it was hard to 'reload the batteries.'

Although Queen Margrethe II is very much occupied by the artistic dimension of her life, she never leaves any doubt that she is first and foremost The Head of State in The Kingdom of Denmark.

Peter Thygesen is a cultural and royal reporter for Politiken, one of Copenhagen's leading daily newspapers.