the unconditional love of the Danes for their monarchy

He officially took over from his mother, Margrethe II, who chose to abdicate. The event was attended on Sunday by a huge crowd. If there is a country where the monarchy is doing well, and even very well, it is Denmark.

Frederik When the latter came to the throne in 1972, less than one in two Danes supported the monarchy. Some 52 years later, while most have known – like the British – only one queen during their life, 80% of them approve of her. In Denmark, the monarch signs the laws and presides over the constitution of the government but for the rest his powers remain very symbolic.

The particularity of the Danish monarchy is to be without pomp. Yet it is, like the British monarchy, one of the most ancient in the world, it dates back to the Viking Age!

The Bluetooth king

For the anecdote, the first king, in the 10th century, had as son and successor Harald Gormsson, known as “Harald Blåtand” (“Harald blue tooth” in French) because he had a rotten tooth whose color had changed to black. Grey blue. But in English, “Harald blue tooth” translates to “Harald Bluetooth”. He is the one who gave his name to wireless technology. And to the symbol we know today, which is inspired by its initials in the runic alphabet, H (ᚼ) and B (ᛒ).

In 958, King Harald unified the kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and different tribes who until then had spent their time fighting each other. However, unifying opposing systems is precisely the objective of Bluetooth technology, which allows the intercommunication of different normally incompatible devices. The idea originated in the head of an Intel engineer, Jim Kardarch, in 1996. At the time, IBM, Intel, Ericsson, Nokia and Toshiba were participating in a large-scale project to develop radio technology short range enabling communication between different devices and industries.

A monarchy of sobriety

In any case, the Danish monarchy has never been disconnected from the real world. The day, Sunday, had nothing to do with the enthronement of Charles III. The ceremony did not last long, there was no parade, no prestigious guests, the sovereign did not even wear the crown, he did not ascend the throne. He simply appeared on the palace balcony in full regalia and the Prime Minister proclaimed him sovereign. And after having greeted the crowd at length, the sovereign, moved but smiling, said a few very simple words.

“My hope is to be the king of unity. It is a responsibility that I assume with respect, pride, and a lot of happiness.“. On the balcony, he exchanges a kiss with his wife, Mary, dressed in a discreet white dress. A lawyer by training and Australian by origin, she becomes the first queen of Denmark not to come from the nobility. They met in 2000 in a bar in Sydney during the Olympics.

Children in public school

The new queen is also very popular. The latest poll taken after the announcement of Margrethe’s abdication indicates that 82% of Danes expect Frederik to perform his new role well or very well, while 86% of them agree. opinion regarding Mary.

The royal couple wants to stay close to their subjects. They both embody a relaxed monarchy without losing the dignity of the office. Frederik gives little importance to formalities and titles, he is a great sportsman, a fan of motorsport, he loves taking part in football matches, which makes him even more accessible than his mother. He is also an active defender of the climate cause.

The couple intends to live an almost ordinary life. Their eldest, now 18 years old, is the first of the heirs to the crown to have gone to nursery. And – this is perhaps an example to submit to our Minister of Education – their four children were mainly educated in the public sector.