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Denmark

Queen Margrethe Brings Family to Opening Night of The Nutcracker

Queen Margrethe of Denmark brought the family with her to the opening night of The Nutcracker, which she designed the sets and costumes, on 1 December.

Crown Prince Frederik, his wife, Crown Princess Mary, and their four children, Prince Christian, Princess Isabella, Prince Vincent, and Princess Josephine were all in attendance for the revival of Tchaikovsky’s classic Christmas ballet at the Tivoli Concert Hall in Copenhagen.

After the show, Queen Margrethe joined the cast, choreographer, and lighting designer onstage and received uproarious applause.

Countess Alexandra, Prince Felix, Prince Henrik, and Queen Anne-Marie of Greece – the Queen’s youngest sister – were also in attendance.

Peter Bo Bendixen, the choreographer and Tivoli’s artistic director, remarked on the Queen’s contributions during the rehearsal period, telling an interviewer, “Thanks to the Queen’s eye for those little extra details in both set design and costumes, there’s a whole world for audiences to discover. This is the third time ‘The Nutcracker’ has been staged at Tivoli, and we’ve added new touches to make this performance very special.”

“She’s made it very clear that she wants to be treated as our costume designer and that’s all,” Kathleen Videria said in an interview during rehearsals. Videria plays the lead role, Clara, in the production.

Queen Margrethe designed the sets and costumes for a 2012 production of ‘The Nutcracker’ at Tivoli Gardens and tweaked them for the 2016 run.

“I’m very excited and full of positive anticipation, I would say,” Queen Margrethe said in an interview in the rehearsal period. “I can see that it is shaping well and that everybody’s enthusiastic, I think. I’m looking very much forward to the opening night.”

Queen Margrethe has been noted for her artistic endeavours over the years. She has painted backdrops for plays, television shows, and fairy tale re-enactments of Hans Christian Anderson stories.

She also illustrated the Danish translation of The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien in the 1970s under the pseudonym Ingahild Grathmer. It has been rumoured that she helped with its translation as well.

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.

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