Frustrated monarch falls
OBITUARY PRINCE HENRICK OF DENMARK
PRINCE Henrik, the French- born husband of Danish monarch Queen Margrethe, who publicly vented his frustration at not being the social equal of his wife or their son in line to become Denmark’s king, died late Tuesday. He was 83.
He was diagnosed with dementia last year and his health had worsened recently. Henrik was transferred earlier in the day from a Copenhagen hospital to the family’s residence north of the capital, “where he wishes to spend his last moments”, the royal palace said. He died at 11.18pm in his sleep with the queen and their two sons at his side.
Born on June 11, 1934, in southwestern France to a count and countess, Henri Marie Jean Andre de Laborde de Monpezat married Denmark’s future queen in 1967.
Henri became Henrik and converted to Denmark’s state Lutheran Church. However, he found it difficult to fit in with Denmark’s egalitarian lifestyle. He was titled prince consort – the husband of a reigning queen but not a king – and he wasn’t in the line of succession, with his oldest son Frederik being the heir.
Shortly after the royal marriage, media criticised Henrik because he had openly aired his views that spanking was good for children. In the mid- 1980s, Henrik publicly said he wanted a pay cheque instead of relying on the queen, who gets annual allowances.
The law was eventually changed to give him roughly 10 per cent of the annual allocation Parliament makes to royals each year.
In a 2002 interview, Henrik again stunned Danes by saying he felt he had been pushed aside in his own home, not only by his wife but also by his son. This followed the annual royal New Year’s reception for foreign diplomats, where Frederik had been host because his mother was unavailable due to a broken rib. “For many years I have been No. 2,” Henrik said. “I have been satisfied with that role, but after so many years in Denmark I don’t suddenly want to become No. 3 and become some kind of wearisome attachment.”
Henrik lived his first five years in French Indochina. He graduated from universities in Paris, learnt Mandarin and Vietnamese and spent a year at the Hong Kong University.
After his move to Denmark, Henrik, a keen pianist, was active in different organisations and wrote poetry, memoirs and books, including a coffee table book on French gastronomy.
Margrethe and Henrik also owned a chateau in southwestern France where they retreated every summer.
As a member of Denmark’s royal family, he held honorary ranks of general in the Danish army and air force, and was an admiral in the navy.
In September 2017, the palace announced that Henrik had dementia and “the extent of the cognitive failure is greater than expected”. In January, he was admitted to a hospital with a lung infection. On Friday, his condition worsened and Crown Prince Frederik rushed home from the Winter Games in South Korea. He is survived by his wife, sons Crown Prince Frederik and Prince Joachim, and eight grandchildren.
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