Abstract painting by Queen Margarethe sells for £18,000
A PAINTING by the former queen of Denmark has been sold at an auction in Copenhagen for nearly £20,000, a substantially higher sum than expected.
The abstract blue and yellow painting by Queen Margrethe, who suddenly announced her abdication in her New Year’s Eve address last year, fetched 160,000 kroner (£18,400) at auction.
The initial estimated price had been about £8-11,000, with Denmark’s main auction house suggesting that the abdication may have significantly increased the value of the work.
Painted in blue and yellow acrylics, faintly resembling the Ukrainian national flag, it was originally given as a gift to a former palace aide who died in 1989.
Niels Boe-hauggaard, a spokesman for the Bruun Rasmussen auction house, said: “The queen’s recent abdication may also have given the painting an
extra layer to its history.” Queen Margrethe abdicated the throne on Jan 14, the first Danish monarch to do so voluntarily in 900 years, on health grounds.
Immediately after her abdication her son ascended the throne as King Frederik X.
His ascension to the throne was a deliberately low-key affair, with no crown or sceptre in sight, as part of the Danish royal family’s long-running tradition of being close to the people and reluctant to engage in pomp and circumstance.
The royal family remains immensely popular in Denmark, with a recent survey showing that 82 per cent of Danes expect King Frederik to perform “well” or “very well” in his new role.
King Frederik, a former Danish frogman (Navy Seal), is known in the Nordic country as “Pingo”, an affectionate nickname he received after his diving suit got flooded with water on a training exercise – forcing him to waddle like a penguin.
The Danish king is married to Mary, 51, an Australian-born former advertising executive. The pair met in Sydney during the Olympic Games in 2000, though she reportedly was unaware at the time he was royalty. He reportedly introduced himself as “Fred”.