On Tuesday, history was written in Denmark when Queen Margrethe conducted the Council of State digitally for the first time. From the Council of State Hall at Christiansborg Palace in downtown Copenhagen, the Queen conducted the meeting Tuesday morning. At her side was Crown Prince Frederik. As in Norway and Sweden, it is also common in Denmark that the heir to the throne is a regular participant in the Council of State.
At Tuesday’s Council of State, more than 250 cases and 52 new laws were processed. The Danish Royal Court shared photos from the historic session on Facebook and Instagram, showing mother and son while talking to the Danish government via a large screen. Crown Prince Frederik brought his iPad with him while Queen Margrethe took her notes by hand.
Many people noticed a particular photo that was shared on Instagram. The picture showed Queen Margrethe’s writing tools which consisted of a writing set in silver and a red book marked “Council of State”. The last thing in the picture is a fairly ordinary, green marker, which, according to the Danish press, is supposed to be the Danish queen’s favourite writing tool. This fairly common pen is only used in work contexts. If the Queen is out on a public visit and will write in a guest book, she always has a gold ballpoint pen with her.
The Council of State is made up of all ministers in the government and is the government’s body where all laws and important government measures are dealt with. The main content of the meetings is to ratify the bills passed by the Parliament, as well as to present the bills to the Queen that the government intends to present in the future. Denmark is a bit late compared to the other Scandinavian monarchies. King Harald of Norway and King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden have both carried out digital Council of State meetings through large parts of the pandemic.
