Queen Margrethe discusses Designs for ‘Swineherd’ Ballet

On July 15th, Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II attended a press conference at the Pantomime Theatre in the Tivoli amusement park to discuss the costumes and scenography she designed for the ballet ‘The Swineherd’.

During the press conference, which took place after a dress rehearsal of the ballet, Queen Margrethe said that she took inspiration from royal caricatures when designing the costumes. Using colours like acid green, pink and purple; Margrethe told how she was inspired “rather more from outsiders’ comments about my world than from my own.”

The Queen also told how as a young school-girl, she played the prince in her school theatre’s version of ‘The Swineherd’. “For the one thing I certainly would not be was the pink princess,” Margrethe II said with a big grin. She also told how important the works of Hans Christian Andersen are to her, reading several to her two eldest grandchildren, Princes Nikolai and Felix.

This ballet is the fourth Pantomime Theatre performance since 2001 that Queen Margrethe has been the scenographer for. The ballet features dancers from Denmark, neighbouring Norway and Finland, Spain and Portugal, France, England and the United States. It had its first show at Tivoli on July 16th, and will run until September 20th.

‘The Swineherd’ is a fairytale written by the famous Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. The story revolves around a poor prince who dresses as a swineherd to woo the Emperor’s daughter.

Click here to read more about the press conference in the Queen’s current events thread.

Filed under Denmark
Tagged Hans Christian Andersen, Margrethe II of Denmark, Press Conference, Scenography.