Queen Margrethe returns to Denmark, will spend the next week aboard royal yacht

Prince Henrik with his wife, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark. Photo: Holger Motzkau via Wikimedia Commons.

After a long summer holiday in France, Queen Margrethe of Denmark returned to Denmark yesterday. As Royal Central told just a few days ago, Prince Henrik has settled at Fredensborg Palace. However, the Queen will not travel to visit her sick husband yet. The Royal Court has now announced that the Queen will stay aboard the royal yacht “Dannebrog” for the next week.
The reason why Her Majesty the Queen moves her residence the next week to Dannebrog is so she can sail to the Danish port of Aarhus to participate when the “Aarhus Festuge” is inaugurated today. Her Majesty will still attend a series of events the next week, while she stays on the royal yacht. She will attend a church service at Fredriksborg Palace on Sunday, and next week, she will hold several audiences and visit more parts of Denmark.



One might ask why the Queen moves to stay on the royal yacht for a week. Some might suspect that this is to get away from her husband who lately has attracted much-unwanted attention with his controversial statements. This is not why the Queen will stay on the ship the next week. This is the result of an organised trip that has been scheduled since February. Every year, the Queen performs a summer journey with the ship where she visits different areas of the country.

The first summer trip of 2017 lasted from 13 to 16 June. During this voyage, Her Majesty visited the Danish coastal towns of Kalundborg and Mariagerfjord. The second trip will take place from 30 August to 1 September. Then, Queen Margrethe will visit the Danish island of Bornholm.

The Danish Royal Yacht Dannebrog



The Dannebrog is often used by the Danish Royal Family on their official travels in Denmark during the summer. This is a tradition that Queen Margrethe took over from her parents, King Frederick and Queen Ingrid. The Royal Family also uses the ship for longer journeys. Queen Margrethe used the ship on her official trip to the Faroe Islands in 2010 and Greenland in 2015. Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary used the ship when they visited Greenland in 2014.

This summer, the ship also had two long voyages to Oslo and Helsinki in connection with the birthday celebrations of King Harald and Queen Sonja, as well as Finland’s 100th anniversary.