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50 years on the Danish throne: Queen Margrethe II.
Photo: Martin Sylvest / dpa
After being postponed twice, the party can finally start: Queen Margrethe II celebrated her 50th jubilee on the throne together with countless compatriots.
During a horse-drawn carriage ride through Copenhagen, thousands of Danes and tourists cheered the world's longest-serving monarch.
The 82-year-old then appeared in a pink suit and beamed alongside Mayor Sophie Hæstorp Andersen on the town hall balcony.
While Andersen asked the crowd in front of the building to cheer, the jubilarian waved to the crowd.
Creative, interested in art and unconventional
Margrethe inherited the throne after the death of her father Frederik IX.
inherited on January 14, 1972.
In addition to the EU country Denmark, their kingdom also includes Greenland and the Faroe Islands.
The regent, who often smokes, is popular with the people, and her New Year's speeches have cult status, such as "Dinner for One" in Germany.
She is extremely creative and interested in art, is considered pragmatic and sometimes a bit unconventional.
Since the death of Queen Elizabeth II, whose third cousin she was, Margrethe has been the longest-serving regent on earth.
The carriage with Margrethe left Amalienborg Palace for the town hall on time.
At a subsequent gala dinner, Mayor Andersen recognized the art-loving queen as a great inspiration for many people.
"For 50 years, you've led the way through good times and bad," Andersen said.
Margrethe is a strong role model for all Danes and the best representative a country can have.
"We are immensely proud that you are our queen," she said.
"Shocked" by the decision
The town hall reception also marked the first joint official appointment that Margrethe and her sons Crown Prince Frederik and Prince Joachim attended together since a dispute over the titles of Joachim's children.
At the end of September, Queen Margrethe II had deprived four of her eight grandchildren of that.
The official reason given by the royal palace was that this should enable the four children of Margrethe's youngest son Joachim to lead a more normal life.
Prince Joachim has four children from two marriages who are between ten and 23 years old.
From January 1, 2023, they may only use the title Count or Countess of Monpezat.
The title Prince or Princess of Denmark is dropped.
The mother of Prince Joachim's eldest two sons, Countess Alexandra, was "shocked" by the decision to the Danish media.
The children could not understand why their identity was being taken away from them, she said, according to media reports.
Margrethe II said she regretted having caused her grandchildren pain, but she stuck to her decision.
The joint celebrations could now indicate that the dispute has been settled.
"An essential part of the job of a modern European royal family is to unite the nation," historian Lars Hovbakke Sörensen told AFP.
Therefore, the royal family must "demonstrate the ability to unite in public".
The Queen's death banned large celebrations
The celebrations for the throne jubilee had to be postponed several times.
They were originally supposed to take place in January, but Corona - back then with the advent of the Omicron variant - thwarted larger celebrations.
All of this should be made up for in September.
But then the Queen died a few days before.
Decency forbade great celebrations, Margrethe celebrated with the utmost restraint: A gala event including a minute's silence was held in Copenhagen's Royal Theater, as were several other official events.
The big celebration with the people had to wait.
Until now: Countless people paid their respects on Saturday despite the modest November weather, quite a few proudly waving red and white Denmark flags.
jpa/dpa/afp