On April 16, Queen Margrethe turns 80 years old. The Danish Queen had planned to celebrate the day with pomp and splendour as usual. Carriage rides, a reception at Copenhagen City Hall and a private dinner and dance at Fredensborg Castle were set and and royals from all over the world was expected to attend.
It was announced earlier in March that Queen Margrethe of Denmark`s grand birthday celebration had been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Now the Danish people have taken the matter into their own hands. They want the Queen to be celebrated. If the people cannot come together to celebrate, they now encourage all Danes to celebrate the Queen at a safe distance.
More than 165.000 Danes are now reporting that they are ready to celebrate the Queen from their homes. The Facebook group “Denmark sings for the Queen” has gathered more than 165.000 members since it was created on Saturday 21 March. According to the founder of the group, Kim Bruhn, more than 80,000 signed up within the first 24 hours of the establishment of the group. The group urges Danes to sing on the streets, roads, balconies, out the window, or whereever they are on April 16 at noon and obviously while observing all the safety rules currently in place around the world to try and stop the spread of Covid-19.
The description of the group states: “The Queen is 80 years old! Would you like to sing for her? Thursday, April 16, 2020 at noon we sing – on balconies, out the window, in gardens, workplaces – where we are. When Coronavirus has closed the official party – we have to mark the day ourselves! Raise the flag, waving the flag – share the day with family, children, and grandchildren at the proper Corona-safe distance.”
Originally, the Queen planned to show up at the castle balcony at Fredensborg Castle on the morning of April 16, when the Danes could catch the first glimpse of her on her birthday. Later in the day, the queen would step out onto the balcony with the rest of the royal family at Amalienborg, but it is all cancelled.
On March 17, the Queen delivered a televised speech to the nation about coronavirus. She called on the Danes to follow the guidelines of the authorities. Her Majesty then said: “we can create new hope in a difficult time”.
