Husband of Danish monarch dies at 83
Prince Henrik, the Frenchborn 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 was hospitalized late last month with a lung infection. Earlier in the day, Henrik was moved from a Copenhagen hospital to the family’s residence north of the capital, where the royal palace said he wished “to spend his last moments.”
A later statement said Henrik died at 11:18 p.m. in his sleep and that the queen and their two sons were at his side.
“The royal family has lost an anchor,” Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen said in a statement, who said Henrik “kept his good spirits till the end.”
King Carl XVI Gustaf in neighbouring Sweden expressed his condolences on Instagram, adding “we will remember Prince Henrik with great warmth.”
Flags were at half-mast on public and private buildings across Copenhagen, including the city’s famed downtown amusement park Tivoli. National radio channels changed their morning programs to broadcast more austere music interrupted by anecdotes about Henrik’s life.
The royal household on Wednesday announced a month of mourning during which royals will wear dark clothing and not participate in social events. It also said military staff would wear black arm bands.
Hundreds of Danes wrote on the royal household’s Facebook page, to express their condolences.
The Danish royal family has no political authority, but is one of the world’s oldest kingdoms and prides itself on stability.
Henrik, however, caused a scandal last August by announcing that when he died he didn’t want to be buried next to Margrethe in the cathedral where the remains of Danish royals have gone for centuries.
The queen already had a specially designed sarcophagus waiting for the couple.