The Unofficial British Royal Family Pages

Wednesday 26 May 2004

Royal and Family

Like thousands of other Aussies, I stayed up very late on Friday 14^th May. I watched with interest and, I suppose, pride as one of our own walked down the aisle of Copenhagen's Cathedral of Our Lady for what turned out to be one of the romantic weddings I've seen, royal or common.    

It wasn't just the totally smitten Crown Prince or the dignified and pretty bride; it was the feeling of love that seemed to emanate from everywhere in the church.   From the couple, from the Priest's poignant words, from the Queen and Prince Consort, who greeted their boys at the altar with kisses and to the Queen and Prince’s kiss and embrace of the newlyweds on the balcony of Amalienborg. At times during the service the Queen and Prince Henrik held hands themselves.          

During the fortnight lead-up to the wedding, thousands gathered wherever Mary and Frederik went.  At these public engagements, the cheers were extraordinary and even Australian reporters, usually cynics when it comes to royalty, commented on the heartfelt enthusiasm of the Danes and the integral part which the royal family plays in Danish life.   

One can't help wondering, what makes them so different to our own royal family?  No one can say the wedding of Charles and Diana was not a spectacular or a moving event.  Just as for Denmark, Britain and the Commonwealth had been waiting for the day ever since ‘our’ Prince was born.  And while, as it turned out, Diana should have kept walking down the aisle of St Paul's and out the back door, at the time it filled most of us with hope for tomorrow and belief that good things did happen in our world.   Like the Danish wedding, it also offered a chance for us to sit glued to the television watching something other than misery, carnage and war, things that occupy our days most of the time in one way or other and, sadly, always have. 

We know what happened to the House of Windsor, the marriage disasters and the conflicts that could have been handled better. None are insignificant. It takes time to regain public faith, but for this to happen, there must at least be some public showing that all is well within the family.  I couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for this once revered House, as I watched the Danes carry out such a perfect public relations coup.   

But what makes the Windsors so different to their popular Nordic cousins?   I wonder if there are not several reasons for the differences.  There is a common misconception that the Courts of Denmark, Sweden and Norway are less stiff than that of the British.  This is not true.   Each still runs according to tradition, with similar Court positions and etiquette. The Danish Court is no exception and life in it, is just as regimented, in one way or other, as the British Court.   \

Queen Margarethe, or Daisy, as she is affectionately referred to, is no less the monarch than our own Queen. The difference is that Margarethe possesses a gregarious, extraverted personality, while Elizabeth’s is naturally reserved and up until recently has remained coolly detached.  Elizabeth is also of a different generation and era.  When the Queen first began her reign, monarchs were expected to be somewhat detached, grand and distant figures, especially the British monarch. Today, where society is far less regimented we expect less formality.  

This change in the public expectation of how a monarch should be seen came many years after the beginning of her reign.  For a woman uncomfortable with expressions of emotion in public, the Queen has perhaps changed more over recent years than any other member of her family.  Gone is the woman with the almost icy public fa�ade and, in her place, is a grandmotherly type with a natural smile and a far more relaxed persona. 

Would we have witnessed the tears she let go during the memorial service for America’s blackest day in recent times, twenty or forty years ago?   I think not.  Whether this change has to do with a conscious effort or is a result of someone who has lived a long time and has grown more comfortable in who she is, I don’t know.   The Queen is, however, mindful of her role and no doubt keen to see the monarchy survive. 

While the Wales and York scandals damaged the public image of the House of Windsor significantly, the Danish royal family is not without its scandals.  In the past, members of the family have renounced their rights in order to marry partners deemed unsuitable and Prince Henrik, the Prince Consort, has not always had an easy time in his role.  Yet, the family’s popularity has not waned, even though they are constantly gossiped about in the Danish media.  The reason, quite simply, is that there is not a ‘battle royal’ going on in the Danish press, as there is in the British press with the Windsors.   

In Britain, tabloids and media barons prey on the Windsors mercilessly.   While certain Windsor family members have made some incredible mistakes, the relentless bashing from the press offers little room for the family to regroup and even less for forgiveness.  The tabloids are out for blood and those papers with republican owners are obviously out for much more. 

I then wonder about the personalities of the peoples.  For those of us in Britain and the Commonwealth, we’ve grown up with the grandest royal family in the Western World.  For a long time, we’ve expected them to live up to that.  Even now, no one else can do pomp like the British.  Compared to the Danish wedding, what Charles and Diana’s wedding tragically lacked in love, it made up for in pomp and grandeur.  That is nothing to be proud of, but maybe the more understated grandeur of the Danish royal family allows them to be less distanced from their people.  It’s one less barrier to worry about. 

Talk has already started as to what form the British royal family will take in the future. Foremost appears to be a reduction in the number of royal family members actively involved in public life and who will be entitled to the title of Royal Highness. I am of two minds about this.  This might work well in the Nordic countries with their small populations but it remains to be seen whether it would work as well for Britain with its enormous population and the other millions who still have the British monarch as Head of State in the Commonwealth.  It might result in fewer visits and less people seeing them, which may not work in the monarchy’s interest. 

We also have to ask ourselves if we want the monarch to take commercial flights when travelling, motor to engagements in a Royal Bus, restrict the number of inhabited palaces and see the scrapping of the Royal Train.  Other monarchies have already made some of these decisions; whether or not it has made these royalties any closer to their people is debatable, although good economics pleases most.  In contrast, the Danish Queen is so popular that public grumbling over the cost to keep her is rarely heard, not that she is, by any means, demanding. 

A new generation of the royal family is on its way and much depends on how William and Harry carry out their duties.  If they are smart, which they appear to be, they will realise that and learn from what has gone on in their past, not only the mistakes their parents made but also the qualities that afforded Charles and Diana such popularity early in their marriage. Back in that time, the world fell in love with the couple in love, the Prince who had finally found a bride, and one that the people quickly came to adore.   

We will never see Charles and Diana greet their sons up by the altar at one of the boys’ weddings but there is hope that William and Harry will find happiness in and love in their lives.  Their people don’t want much.  They might gripe about money and whinge over this and that, but at the end of the day, most of us just want to believe in something good.  That’s what the Danes have done well, they might be royal but they’re very much a family.

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- Gioffredo