April 17th, 2015

Share

“Who are you wearing?” (photo: Aalborg Stift)

Hillary Clinton has announced she will be running for president of the US if nominated at the Democratic Convention. Her presidential campaign budget will be about $2.5 billion. She expects to raise that money from a lot of deep pockets.

Safest ticket going
Fortunately we do not have to do this in Denmark. Our Queen Margrethe II is celebrating her 75th birthday and would surely be re-elected if she ever had to run – without any campaign-spending. We just love her so.

Over the course of her lifetime, Denmark has seen a lot of change as a society underpinned by farming, then industrialisation, and now services and information.

Her reign has witnessed a general movement from rural to urban areas – especially the big cities – giving the rise to the so-called ‘udkant’ (marginalised) where homes are vacated and removed. The capital is no longer Copenhagen, but the metropolis of Greater Copenhagen, including in its population of 2.6 million some 665,000 Swedes and internationals living in southern Sweden.

A royal of her times
Her majesty has been a queen of her time. She received a high school diploma – the first in the Royal Family. She went to university, lived in a campus with other students and obtained degrees in political science and archeology. It included studies abroad where she identified a suitable husband.

After all, the Royal Family has a long track record in marrying foreigners, so it is French, Swedish, German and British blood running through her veins. That’s not a bad background when you’re the head of state in a society that is now more international than ever – unofficially with English as a second language. And don’t forget her French, which she converses on a daily basis with the prince consort.

Artfully done, your majesty!
The fine arts have featured heavily in her life. Her majesty has obtained respect as a painter, theatre designer and creator of garments for church dignitaries.

And the arts also feature strongly in her family and will continue to do so. While her father was a respected conductor of the Royal Chapel Orchestra, her husband is a wine producer in France and a refined chef and a poet. And let’s not forget that he once performed as a pianist at one of his father-in-law’s concerts. Meanwhile, the Swedish branch of the family includes painters, composers and designers.

We congratulate her majesty respectfully on her excellent performance of the difficult task of being an institution from the past who blends in gracefully with the democracy of today and the future. We wish her many happy returns and we will spend the campaign money on something else. We do see a general election coming up soon, with both the blues and reds on spending sprees, but this week it is another story.