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Denmark

A peek behind the scenes ahead of the Danish Royal Family’s Christmas stay

The Danish Royal Advent calendar has shared behind the scenes preparations at Marselisborg Palace ahead of Queen Margrethe and her family’s arrivals later this week.

On December 19th 2023, the advent calendar shared photographs of Queen Margrethe’s assistant at Marselisborg polishing the silverware, dusting the Danish Queen’s study and the dining room, and preparing the garden room for the Royal Family.

Queen Margrethe’s assistant’s duties normally include “cleaning and planning work tasks to flower decorations,” according to the advent calendar.

The royal stay at Marselisborg Palace has been featured in the royal advent calendar before. On 12 December, Queen Margrethe’s ‘huntsman’ was featured for his role in helping move the Queen’s possessions to Aarhus and prepare the castle for the Royal Family’s stay.

The title of ‘huntsman’ dates back to olden days and the person performed the duties of a personal body guard. The huntsman would accompany the king on royal hunts and wore a dark green uniform that it still worn today, though hunting is no longer a part of their duties.

Queen Margrethe will arrive at Marselisborg Palace on December 20th 2023 for the holiday period. There, she will spend Christmas Eve with Crown Prince Frederik, Crown Princess Mary, Prince Christian, Princess Isabella, Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine; and Prince Joachim, Princess Marie, Count Henri and Countess Athena.

The Danish Royal Court previously announced that Count Nikolai will spend Christmas abroad. He has been studying in Australia for the past couple of months. Count Felix will join his father and grandmother on Christmas Day.

This is the eighth year of the Danish royal advent calendar, and the second time that it has given behind the scenes snippets of Christmas preparation within the household.

A new window is opened every morning until Christmas Eve on the Danish Royal Family’s website.

About author

Jess Ilse is the Assistant Editor at Royal Central. She specialises in the British, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish Royal Families and has been following royalty since Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee. Jess has provided commentary for media outlets in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Jess works in communications and her debut novel THE MAJESTIC SISTERS will publish in Fall 2024.