Prince Henrik of Denmark
French-born consort of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark who was never happy or comfortable playing the supporting role
PRINCE HENRIK OF DENMARK, who has died aged 83, was the consort of Queen Margrethe II. Though he was thoroughly educated, this placed him in a supporting role, which he filled with variable success, initially with good grace but at other times with bitterness. In later life he resented not being King, on the grounds that Denmark was to the fore in recognising gender equality. It did not suit him to stand in the shadow of his wife, where he was sometimes confined to answering the questions of journalists:
“I share Her Majesty’s view.”
There were three Queens regnant in Europe with male consorts during this time. Prince Philip was the most successful, being the most intelligent, and having been brought up as a minor member of the Greek royal family.
The role of Prince Bernhardt of the Netherlands was taken on by Prince Claus in 1989, when Queen Beatrix succeeded her mother. He suffered at least one serious breakdown, and Prince Henrik had a few tetchy outbursts of his own and sometimes left the Queen attending engagements without him, especially in later years.
He was born on June 11 1934 at Talence, Gironde, in France, near the vineyards of Haut-brion, as Comte Henri Marie Jean André de Laborde de Monpezat. His father was André de Laborde de Monpezat, and his mother Renée Doursenot, who had been married and divorced. His ancestor Jean de Laborde had married Catherine d’arricau, dame de Montpezat in 1648, at which point the names were united.
He had many siblings, several of whom died young and tragically, to his great sorrow. Though his family used the title of comte, there were some who suggested that this was not entirely accurate.
Young Henri spent his first five years in Hanoi, in French Indochina (now Vietnam), where, in 1902, his grandfather had founded the newspaper La Volonté Chinoise and ran a rice and coffee plantation of 15,000 hectares. Henri’s father helped run the businesses from 1928 until 1955.
Young Henri (like his siblings) was privately educated until he was 13. He attended the French Upper Secondary School in Hanoi between 1950 and 1952, and then studied law and political science at the Sorbonne in Paris (where he was entertained by the likes of Marthe Bibesco, Natalie Barney and Violet Trefusis), and simultaneously studied Chinese and Vietnamese at the École Nationale des Langues Orientales.
Though French was his first language, he spoke fluent English and Vietnamese. He completed his studies at the University of Hong Kong in 1957 and in Saigon in 1958. He then undertook military service with the 6th Dragoons, a regiment known for strict discipline, in the French army during the Algerian War, from 1959 to 1962. Like his father, he enjoyed riding and hunting.
Next he served at the French Embassy in London as Third Secretary in the Oriental Affairs Department, under the Ambassador, Geoffroy de Courcel, from 1963 until 1967, his original ambition having been to become an ambassador. The author, Paul Morand, himself a diplomat, advised him that it was wonderful to enter the diplomatic corps so long as he left it as soon as possible.
He lived in an apartment in Bryanston Square and became a friend of Nicholas Eden, 2nd Earl of Avon. In London in 1963 he met his future wife, Crown Princess Margrethe, heir to her father, King Frederik IX of Denmark. They fell in love in 1966, Henri thinking that perhaps his being an unknown person held a certain appeal for her, though he worried that the Danish royal family might not accept him.
Margrethe had always been determined to marry for love. Prince George of Denmark, at the Royal Danish Embassy, was prevailed upon to write a report on the young man, despite hardly knowing him. As Prince Henrik put it, he was not declared “an uncultured savage”.
President de Gaulle received the young couple in Paris and declared that France was proud to be providing a prince to a European monarchy. On June 10 1967 Comte Henri married the Crown Princess at a ceremony in Copenhagen, attended by many crowned heads of Europe and at which Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent, represented Great Britain. On that day the King of Denmark created him a Danish royal highness.
This was part of a larger transformation, since he was obliged to change his entire way of life – his religion, his nationality, his language and his culture. But he did not entirely renounce his origins, writing that he was always Henri, a Frenchman, when he looked in the mirror.
In those early years of marriage, the couple led a relatively carefree existence and enjoyed a rich international social life, dancing, skiing and sightseeing. Their two sons were born during these years – Prince Frederik in 1968 and Prince Joachim in 1969.
Denmark had only had male sovereigns, a King Christian following a King Frederik in turn since 1513. But King Frederik had no sons and the heir to the throne, Prince Knud (the King’s brother), was mentally inadequate. So the succession question was put to the Danish people in 1953, as a result of which the Danish Act of Succession was passed creating Margrethe heir to her father.
This pleased the young Princess, because it meant she would always live in Denmark. Her father died on January 14 1972 and she became Queen.
At his best, Henrik was supportive and full of initiative. He took on the role of Commissioner of the Danish Red Cross, which kept him at his desk for two or three days a week, and he undertook negotiations and international meetings on their behalf.
He was President of Europa Nostra from 1991 to 2007, and Danish President of the World Wildlife Fund. He involved himself in modern industry and agricultural issues and acted as a salesman for Denmark. He led an official Danish export campaign in Saudi Arabia and Iran, and having done his homework thoroughly, his explanations to the Shah reaped fine rewards.
He was a goodwill ambassador to Romania and he was chairman of the Danish National Committee for European Architectural Heritage Year in 1975. He was chancellor of the various Danish Orders of Chivalry.
He was a keen yachtsman and horseman and played tennis most days when he was young. He had a sensitive side, and he enjoyed writing poems, several volumes of which he published in French, winning prizes in Paris, Strasbourg and Toulouse. Most notably, the collection Cantabile (2000) inspired the symphonic suite by Frederik Magle, which was performed by the Danish National Symphony Orchestra at the special concerts to mark the Prince’s 70th and 75th birthdays.
He published various other books, including his memoirs, Destin Oblige, in 1996, and in 1981 he and the Queen collaborated to translate Simone de Beauvoir’s Tous Les Hommes Sont Mortels into Danish.
In 1974 he bought the Château de Caix and the lands around it, near his family’s estate in Cayrou. Here the Danish royal family enjoyed many summers.
Prince Henrik accompanied Queen Margrethe on her overseas state visits. They went to Russia in 1975, staying in the Kremlin, the Queen of Denmark being the first European monarch to visit the Soviet Union, and likewise the first to visit China, as guests of President Mao Tse-tung. They paid state visits to Britain in 1974 and 2000, Prince Henrik receiving the GCVO, and being further created GCMG and GCB on subsequent formal visits between Britain and Denmark.
In later years, Prince Henrik’s girth expanded considerably and he became less supportive of his wife. Over the years, he had spent a lot of time in the Danish royal yacht, Dannebrog , where on one occasion the grand piano slid across the room, pinning the Queen, as a result of which his excursions were sometimes taken without her. He was known to enjoy the convivial life aboard. The Queen gave him a loose rein, and was less concerned by his friendships with ladies (such as Princess Ghislaine de Polignac) than with gentlemen.
He retreated to the Château de Caix in 2002, claiming that at a New Year’s Day reception, his son, the Crown Prince, had been chosen to act as host in the absence of the Queen. Prince Henrik took the line that he did not mind acting as number two, but had now been “pushed aside, degraded and humiliated” to become number three. Queen Margrethe went to see him there, but he remained in a sulk for three weeks, failing to accompany the Queen to the wedding of the Prince of Orange.
To mollify him, he was appointed Prince Consort of Denmark in 2005 and his family name was bestowed on his sons by the Queen, who created them counts of Monpezat. This went some way to appeasing the truculent consort.
It was further ill-received when he failed to be present at Queen Margrethe’s 75th birthday celebrations in 2015, claiming to be ill when in fact he was holidaying in Venice. The international media began to dub him “the world’s grumpiest royal”.
In her New Year’s Eve speech at the end of that year, Queen Margrethe announced Prince Henrik’s intention to wind down with effect from January 1 2016, at which point he renounced the title of Prince Consort. He was admitted to hospital more than once in 2017, and in August he announced that he had no intention of being buried in the special sarcophagus that Queen Margrethe had designed for them in Roskilde Cathedral, the traditional resting place of Danish monarchs since 1559.
He declared that he would be buried in France, on the grounds that the admirable Queen Margrethe had not been a supportive wife. Many Danes were upset by his treatment of the Queen and some took the line that since he felt like this, it was fine to send his body back to France.
In September 2017, Prince Henrik’s unpleasant behaviour was explained by an announcement that he was suffering from dementia. His future activities were downgraded and the Queen expressed the wish that he would have “the peace and quiet as required by the situation”.
Prince Henrik of Denmark, born June 11 1934, died February 13 2018