On Tuesday, Queen Margrethe officially boarded the royal ship Dannebrog in the Port of Copenhagen at the naval base of Nyholm for the start of the 2021 sailing season. Upon arrival at Nyholm, Her Majesty was presented with flowers and was received by the Queen’s personal captain, who is also commander of the royal ship Dannebrog.
On the occasion of boarding, there was a 21-gun salute from the Army Battery Sixtus at the naval base after being transported to the boat by the royal yacht’s small boat. It was a rainy day and a little extra slippery, but the Queen got a helping hand from her officers while she boarded the yacht. Many people turned up to see the Queen, and she smiled and waved to those present.
The official boarding marks the start of a new sailing season, which this year will lead Her Majesty to a Reunion Celebration in Southern Jutland, on trips to the Faroe Islands and Greenland and on a summer trip to the municipalities of Thisted, Esbjerg and Fanø. The annual summer cruises with the royal yacht are an extension of an long tradition, which dates back to King Christian X – the first king who made annual cruises in Danish waters a regular part of his programme.
The tradition of using the royal yacht was continued by Frederik IX and later by Queen Margrethe, who both emphasised the use of the ship in all parts of the kingdom: Denmark, the Faroe Islands and Greenland.
The current royal yacht was taken into use in May 1932. It has been a regular part of the Danish Royal Family’s activities during the summer for almost 90 years. The only interruptions have been during the German occupation in 1940-45, when the ship was docked in the Port of Copenhagen and last year, when the ship was not at sea due to the situation regarding COVID-19.
