The diary of the Danish Royal Family has been altered with all planned engagements between now and the start of April listed as ‘cancelled’. The agenda changed on Thursday, soon after the country’s government announced that all schools and universities would close for two weeks while many people would be asked to work from home.
The Danish Royal agenda was relatively light with most of the planned engagements involved Queen Margrethe’s sister, Princess Benedikte, who is acting as regent at the moment. However, the Danish Queen was set to attend the traditional torchlight event at Fredensborg on Thursday but that event is now off.
Margrethe had no listed engagements after that until April while the Crown Prince and Princess were expected to focus on being with their children who were studying in Switzerland. However, Frederik and Mary confirmed on March 12th that they and their sons and daughters had returned to Denmark permanently because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Given the new government restrictions, which include a ban on indoor gatherings involving more than 100 people, carrying out some of the events planned would have been impossible, anyway. Royal museums, including that at Amalienborg, are also now closed to the public as a consequence of the coronavirus measures.
The Danish Royal Family’s agenda remains in place from April 2nd when Queen Margrethe is set to attend the opening of an exhibition. However, the spread of coronavirus may impact on that nearer the time while questions are being raised as to whether the planned celebrations for Margrethe’s 80th birthday in April will have to be postponed.
