Although I sympathize with the idea of male consorts of reigning queens being called kings, I don't understand PH's rationale. He says that he can't be buried beside his wife because he is not really considered a member of the RF and is not "equal" to her. However, being buried by Margrethe's side at a site where former kings and queen consorts are buried apppears to me to be precisely a way to signify that his status or rank is equivalent to the status or rank that a female consort would have.
Very good point.
PH cannot wish for a more distinguished place to be laid to rest. All Danish monarchs and practically all the queens for the past 500-600 years or so, have been laid to rest at Roskilde Cathedral.
PH couldn't possibly be more included in the DRF! And it's not like his tomb is placed next to the wastebasket in the parking lot.
So his argument about not feeling a part of the DRF is at best pretty difficult to understand.
There is BTW a peculiar tradition regarding Danish kings. If they were killed in battle or assassinated they were always buried locally, but if they died from old age or illness they were brought back to wherever they wished to be buried. Except for one who died during a pilgrimage. I believe he is buried in Cyprus.
It's unknown why that was the case.
Anyway the last Danish king to be assassinated was Erik Klipping back in 1286. He was laid to rest at Viborg Cathedral, which was the nearest cathedral to where he was killed. And there he remains to this day.
- That murder still fascinates, because it's still an open question as to who was really behind the murder.
I think many people living in monarchies agree with that sentiment in principle but are willing to leave things as is as long as the royals in question don't step out of line. It's like the appendix - you don't need it but you're probably not going to go through the trouble of having it out unless it gets infected.
Does even the most devoted monarchist think royalty is superior to the rest of us in this day and age? Especially now that the next generation of monarchs are by and large at most half royal and at least half regular middle class commoners. IMO royalty comprises a group of people with interesting family backgrounds who have a unique but not irreplaceable role to play in society. The system can work very well as long as everyone is able to easily ignore the fact that it doesn't make much sense in modern times.
I disagree with you. It makes a lot of sense, also in modern context.
The DRF has been around since before Denmark became a nation.
There has never been a period in Danish history when Denmark wasn't a monarchy, there have been periods without a king, but never without a monarchy.
QMII, as you know can trace her lineage, directly back to the first official king of Denmark, Gorm the Old. That's a lot of family-history!
The DRF is such an ingrained part of Danish history, culture and mindset, that even the most hardcore anti-royalist can't ignore it.
The DRF are not distant living symbols of my country. DK is such a small country that there is a very good chance that I will encounter them both on the job and in private. That means there is a direct link between me as a citizen and the DRF.
The DRF are not superior as humans, they are superior as living symbols of my country. They are living role-models. They are the foremost representatives of my country.
And their lives are not so alien to me, that I cannot reflect myself in what ups and downs they go through as well as the good and bad sides of the individual member's characters.
So I choose to treat them with respect (PH is on the verge of losing my respect though), partly because they are living symbols of my country and partly becauseI think they have earned my respect.
I bow my head to the members of the DRF, not because I have to, but because I want to.
While I dislike what he has chosen, it is HIS CHOICE, however confused it seems to us. I think we can all agree it's not ideal, but I think dissecting it all borders on throwing stones. I feel a bit like the thread is knocking someone when they are down - and what is the point in that? So that we can feel superior to him?
Well it seems we do feel superior, and if we actually are superior, we should move on. In the same way the Queen seems to be handling it. Classy. JMO.
It's not PH's choice to be buried elsewhere I find infuriating. It's that he is snubbing his wife, my Queen, I find despicable.
Practically all Danish couples who choose to be buried, are buried together. It's quite rare for married couples to be buried separately, and if that happens it's usually for practical reasons, like their families living in different parts of the country. There is a strong traditional symbolism in being buried together, for those who choose to. - That will also explain some of the reaction from the public.
But it is first and foremost PH being seen as deliberately wounding and insulting his wife - for a reason I dare say most Danes simply cannot understand.
We, I, cannot understand that a question of title, a title that makes no practical difference to PH anyway, is so important that PH is willing to embarrass someone who ought to be one of the most dearest and precious persons in his life, his wife for 50 years.
And to be more abstract or perhaps subconscious if you prefer, PH is deliberately embarrassing and hurting the first family of our tribe. The living symbols of our tribe. If you snub the symbols of my tribe, you snub me. So yes, people are pretty annoyed with PH.
It's not that we don't talk about anything else, we do, but when we talk about PH these days, he is finding very little sympathy. And should QMII decide to placate him by giving him the title of king-consort, or letting him be addressed majesty, there would be a public uproar!
