Denmark gets the Crown treatment!Chain-smoking ‘People’s Monarch’ Margrethe will talk about his life in the series ‘Embracing the Royal Family, for better or for worse’

The Crown may have ended last year, but a new royal drama is already being lined up to fill the void left behind.

A few days after the Queen’s abdication, it was announced that the events of the life of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark would be turned into a television series.

The series, titled The Grace of God, will begin in 1940, the year of Margrethe’s birth, and will be produced by Norway’s Channel TV 2 and Denmark’s Sam Productions.

Margrethe, who took over the throne in 1972, became Europe’s longest-reigning monarch after Queen Elizabeth II died in September 2022, prior to her abdication.

The series revolves around the life of Margrethe, who, for better or worse, embraces the royal family amidst difficult circumstances and political dilemmas, but above all this is a story about a girl and her family. ” reports Soundvenue.

Producer Meta Louise Foldegger Sorensen said the show would reveal a new side of the former king.

“Now is the time to tell an epic story that will give us insights never before available,” she said.

Following in the footsteps of The Crown, the show will also include details of the lives of several other members of the royal family and the court at Amaliaemborg Palace.

There are few details about the new project and no actors have been cast yet, but filming is expected to begin in 2025.

Since 1972, the Queen has managed to maintain a normal life and has become known for being so “normal” that she has been spotted chain-smoking and shopping in supermarkets.

The multi-talented queen was also hired as a set designer for the 2021 Netflix film, a romantic fantasy novel by one of Denmark’s most internationally recognized female authors, Out of Africa’s Karen Blixen. .

Last year, the monarch made headlines when she decided to strip her son Prince Joachim’s four children of their royal titles.

The two have developed a close relationship, bonding over decades during official visits to each other’s countries, most recently when they hosted Margrethe in Windsor in 2000.

Margrethe, now 83, attended Queen Elizabeth’s funeral, but was unable to attend the coronation due to major back surgery in February.

Margrethe was born on April 16, 1940, one week after Nazi Germany invaded Denmark.

This occupation meant that the little princess became a symbol of hope for the Danes.

She ascended the throne on January 15, 1972, after the death of her father.

However, despite being his eldest son, she did not become heir presumptive until 1953, when the Danish constitution was amended to allow women to inherit the throne.

In the subsequent referendum, more than 85% of participants voted to allow women to succeed.

On the day she became monarch, she appeared on the balcony of Denmark’s Christiansborg Palace and swore allegiance to the state.

Wearing a black veil, the regalia of the Order of the Elephants and a gown adorned with the family medals of his father King Frederick IX, the 31-year-old monarch said: “My beloved father, our king.” passed away,” he said.

“The mission my father carried for nearly 25 years now rests on my shoulders. I pray to God to give me the help and strength to carry this heavy legacy. May you be given the same.”

She became the first queen of Denmark since Margrethe I in the early 15th century, and the monarch paved a path that continues to this day.

The queen of popularity not only shops for herself, but also has a successful career as an illustrator and designer, thanks to the fact that until 2015 she was challenging the conventions of lighting up in public places. He is known as the “People’s Prince”.

Margrethe has studied at five universities and is an avid English lover.

She spent a year at North Foreland Lodge Boarding School in Hampshire and then studied prehistoric archeology at Girton College, Cambridge.

The then-princess also studied at the London School of Economics in 1965.

In an interview to commemorate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee last June, Margrethe said that the Queen had “a great deal of respect for her,” not only in the way she “faces her responsibilities and tackles them with dedication, but also in the way she carries them through.” He said that he left a great impression. Smile. ‘

The two were said to have used nicknames for each other, with the queen calling the Danish queen “Daisy” and Margrethe using the name used by her closest family member, “Lilibet.”

Margrethe is also known as “Daisy” or “Aunt Daisy” because the flower of the same name is known as “Margaret” in both Sweden and Denmark.

Both monarchs are also dog lovers, with the Queen famous for her love of corgis, having owned over 30 of them, and King Margrethe’s favorite dog is a dachshund.

Queen Margrethe is related to Her Majesty through Queen Victoria, and Queen Victoria’s third son, Prince Arthur, Duke of Connacht, is Queen Margrethe’s great-grandfather and great-uncle of Her Majesty.

Margrethe’s Glücksburg and Windsor families are also linked through Margrethe’s great-great-grandfather, King Christian IX.

His daughter Alexandra married Queen Victoria’s eldest son Edward VII.

He was the Queen’s great-grandfather and the great-great-grandfather of Charles III.

Her Majesty the Queen first visited Denmark in 1957, when Margrethe’s parents, King Frederick IX and Queen Ingrid, were on the throne.

Her Majesty’s second visit in 1979 brought back memories of the awkward moment when a Danish soldier was thrown from his horse during a parade in Copenhagen, which left Her Majesty smiling.

Margrethe put her hand over her mouth in embarrassment, but she couldn’t help but smile.

Another light cavalryman then struggled to control his horse, which galloped up from behind the party and bounded around the royal carriage.

Thankfully the rest of the visit passed without any further major disruptions.

When Margrethe visited Britain in 1974, the Queen jokingly greeted her and said: “There was a time when news of Danes arriving on our east coast was never good news.” Ta.

During her second visit in 2000, she spoke of her “sympathy” for the young British royal, saying: “It’s much easier to be the Prince of Denmark than the Prince of Wales.” Our young people are left more alone than Britain’s young members of the royal family. ”

Margarete paid a moving tribute to the Queen when she died in September last year, before coming to the UK for her funeral.

She was also close to the Duke of Edinburgh, who expressed his sadness at his death in April 2021 at the age of 99.

Their marriage was turbulent, with Henrik sometimes leaving the country for several weeks after the divorce.

The two met in London when Margrethe was a student.

They married in 1967 and welcomed their first son, Frederick, the current heir to the throne, the following year. Then Prince Joachim arrived in 1969.

Earlier this year, a shocking decision was made to strip Joachim’s children – Prince Nikolai (23), Prince Felix (20), Prince Henrik (13) and Princess Athena (11) of their prince and princess titles from their first marriage. She explained that she had made her family uncomfortable. line.

In October 2022, she apologized for the fact that she had “underestimated” the extent to which Joachim and his family felt “affected” by her decision.

Margrethe said she wanted to downsize the Danish monarchy and reduce the number of working royals, and thought it would be better for her to take action than to leave the burden to her eldest son when he became king.