Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Prince Henrik opens his mouth ... again


Embed from Getty Images



Dear Prince Henrik,

Please shut up.  You need medication for your chronic Foot in Mouth disease.

You cannot be king.  You are not the sovereign.

Do you not understand how the Danish monarchy works?  Do you not know that your wife is the Head of State?

Have you  read the Danish Constitution?

Denmark is a Kingdom.   The King is the head of state.  Please note the use of the word King.

"1. This Constitution Act shall apply to all parts of the Kingdom of Denmark.

2. The form of government shall be that of a constitutional monarchy. The Royal Power shall be inherited by men and women in accordance with the provisions of the Succession to the Throne Act, 27th March, 1953.

3. The legislative power shall be vested in the King and the Folketing conjointly. The executive power shall be vested in the King. The judicial power shall be vested in the courts of justice."

Here is the original Danish:   Kongen is used throughout the Constitution.  King.   Succession is gender equal, but the Sovereign is the King (although a female King is styled as Queen.)



§ 1
Denne grundlov gælder for alle dele af Danmarks Rige.

§ 2
Regeringsformen er indskrænket-monarkisk. Kongemagten nedarves til mænd og kvinder efter de i tronfølgeloven af 27. marts 1953 fastsatte regler.

§ 3
Den lovgivende magt er hos kongen og folketinget i forening. Den udøvende magt er hos kongen. Den dømmende magt er hos domstolene.

In other words, Henrik.  Your wife is the King of Denmark.    You cannot be king at all. Get over it.   It a fit of pique, you renounced the title of Prince Consort after your decision to retire from public duties.

Se and Hor, a Danish magazine, has scored an exclusive interview with the petulant Henrik at his estate in Cayx, France.   You would hope he has learned from the embarrassment of his recent comments?   Sadly, there is no hope.

His affliction is far worse than foot in mouth disease.  More like diarrhea of the mouth.

Henrik, 83, told the reporter that it is his wife "who makes me look like a fool.  I
 I have not married the Queen to be buried in Roskilde."  

"My wife has decided she wants to be queen and I am very happy. But as a human being, she must know that if a husband and wife are married, they are equal."  

Oh, Lord, what fool this mortal be!  (Paraphrasing Puck from A Midsummer Night's Dream.)  Oh, Henrik!    Someone needs to explain to you that your wife did not decide to be Queen.  In 1953,  Denmark moved from Salic law to first born son, but girls were also given the right to succeed.  As King Frederik IX and Queen Ingrid were the parents of three daughters, Margrethe became the heir to the throne.   Succession to the Danish throne is now gender equal, meaning the first born child is the heir/ess apparent.

Henrik,  you married the heir to the throne.  Yes, in your marriage, you may be equal, but your wife is the Head of State (since 1972, when King Frederik IX died).   This role is outside the marriage.  This is her job.  Not your job.     The spouse of the head of state does not have a constitutional role. Period.  Your role as the spouse of the Head of State is to support her in her duties.  There can be no equality between the Head of State and the spouse.   But when you are behind closed doors -- and living as a family --- then, perhaps, there can be equality in the actual marriage.   This can involved decisions about raising your children for example.   

You claim Margrethe does not give you respect that you believe you deserve?   What about respecting her very difficult position as Head of State?   Your role is to support her in her duties as Head of State.  That's how it works.  Yes. it must be difficult - and it takes a strong, dedicated, non-whiny person who understands this.  You get to wear the pants when the doors are closed.   Your wife is the Sovereign, the King, who is styled Queen.  

Although Henrik states that Margrethe does not respect him, he does not doubt his wife's love.  

"Yes, we love each other," he told the reporter.   He also said:   "If she  wants to have me buried next to her, she must make me a king-consort. That's it."  

Queen Margrethe II is scheduled to arrive at Cayx later today, to join her husband for a two week holiday.   Oh, to be the fly on the wall.

I think it is time for you to stay at your home in France.

The palace press office will not offer comment on Henrik's latest outburst.

4 comments:

Maora JFB said...

Must be old age getting on him. Ahah

More seriously, he likes himself too much. Can't he see everyone is taking him for a fool ? Prince Philip, who was BORN A ROYAL, didn't make so much stuff about it (or didn't seems so when you look at it today). So why a "petit noblion" like Henrik should ? As a French, I'm deeply ashamed. We can say everything, even that he's from the old generation etc. But a true old generation guy would not have married a women who was socially better than him, even less a future queen and even if he was an aristocrat (for what it means in most of French society)

He said that he love Denmark, that it has been his country for more than 50 years and so on. But if he truly loved Denmark, he must have done his possible to learn everything about it, no ? Especially the Constitution when he planned to marry Margrethe (was she already Crown Princess?). Therefore he should have understand its in and out regarding Head of State title and forget about his "request".
With you extract from the Danish Constitution, I understand that the official title of the head of state is "King" and that Margrete is just commonly styled as "Queen". If I'm right, his request is doubly inadequate : you can't have 2 Kings !

But I think the more idiotic thing in all his business, is the fact that he publically asked for the King title something like 30 years after his wife became queen. I'm sure the debate was active for a while in the royal household but he just looked like an old lady whose bingo session has been cancelled aka RIDICULOUS.

MAXny said...

Doesn't surprise me one bit that he doesn't understand how it works because he thought most people would accept his own "title" Count as original.

BlueSaphire70 said...

I've read somewhere that Prince Henrik must be afflicted with some sort of dementia or even Alzheimer's because this behavior is so preposterous that it cannot be explained in any other way. I certainly have not read anything like this in any official communication. But if he is indeed having mental issues, then maybe the royal court should protect him and keep him from having interviews where he can run amok with his imaginings and embarrass himself, his wife, and his adopted nation.

LoriW said...

If "Prince" Henrik has no mental health issues I think the Queen should consider reducing back to his original title of "Count" Henri Monpezat, no more Prince.