Prince Henrik of Denmark
Prince Henrik of Denmark was the husband of Margrethe II of Denmark. He served as her royal consort from Margrethe's accession on 14 January 1972 until his death in 2018.
Henrik was born in the French commune of Talence near Bordeaux to an old French family, the Laborde de Monpezats. He spent his early years in Tonkin in French Indochina, where his family had lived for many years. The family spent the Second World War at the family home in Cahors, France. They returned to French Indochina after the war. However, they were forced to flee following the defeat of the French in the First Indochina War. After completing his education in France and Vietnam, Henrik served in the French Army during the Algerian War. Prior to his marriage to Margrethe, he worked in the diplomatic service. He married Margrethe at the Holmen Church on 10 June 1967 and became her prince consort when she succeeded her father, King Frederik IX, as monarch of Denmark on 14 January 1972.
He had two sons, King Frederik X and Prince Joachim, and eight grandchildren. Throughout his time as prince consort, Henrik voiced his displeasure with never being granted the title of king. A keen winemaker, Henrik produced his own wine at his estate in France. He also published many works of poetry. He was the first male consort to a Danish monarch. Henrik retired from his royal duties on 1 January 2016, at the age of 81. He died at Fredensborg Palace on 13 February 2018, after a short illness.
Early life
Henrik was born on 11 June 1934 in Talence, Gironde, France. He was the son of André de Laborde de Monpezat and his then-partner and future wife Renée-Yvonne Doursenot, who was then married to Prof. Louis Leuret whom she divorced only in 1940. André de Laborde de Monpezat and Renée Doursenot were married in 1948. He was the second of 9 children and eldest son. He had an older sister, Françoise ; three younger brothers, Joseph "Jason", Étienne and Jean-Baptiste ; and four younger sisters, Anne-Marie, Thérèse, Catherine and Maurille.Henrik spent his first five years in Hanoi in Tonkin in French Indochina, where his father looked after family business interests. In 1939, the family returned to Le Cayrou, where they remained during the Second World War. Henrik received homeschooling until 1947, when he went to a Jesuit school in Bordeaux. He returned to Hanoi in Tonkin in 1950, where increasing unrest forced him to fight the Việt Minh, to protect his family's lands. He graduated from the French secondary school in Hanoi in 1952. Originally wanting to study to become a pianist at Conservatoire de Paris, he instead chose an education more in line with his father's wishes. Between 1952 and 1957 he simultaneously studied law and political science at the Sorbonne, Paris, and Chinese and Vietnamese at the École Nationale des Langues Orientales. He also studied in Hong Kong in 1957 and Saigon in 1958.
He served as an infantry conscript in the French Army in the Algerian War between 1959 and 1962. He then joined the French Foreign Ministry, working as a Secretary at the embassy in London from 1963 to 1967. While there, he met Princess Margrethe, who was studying at the London School of Economics. The couple secretly dated for a year before Henrik proposed.
Marriage
On 10 June 1967 which was the day before his 33rd birthday, he married Margrethe, the heir presumptive to the Danish throne, at the Naval Church of Copenhagen. At the time of the wedding his name was Danicised to Henrik and he was given the title HRH Prince Henrik of Denmark. Prior to the wedding, he converted to Lutheranism from Catholicism. Margrethe and Henrik had two children, King Frederik X and Prince Joachim, and eight grandchildren.Henrik's native language was French, and his second language was Danish. He also spoke fluent English, German, Chinese, and Vietnamese. Although he quickly learned Danish after marrying Margrethe and spoke it regularly for half a century, Danes joked about his grasp of Danish and his pronounced French accent.
Difficulties with the Danish monarchy
When Queen Margrethe II ascended the throne, Henrik became the first male consort in Danish history. This meant there were no clear descriptions of his duties. He defined his own role as a supporter of and counsellor to the Queen. However, he felt frustrated with the lack of recognition in title, stating that there was no way to differentiate between his own title and those of his sons and grandsons.In 2002, Prince Henrik fled Denmark for France and went to stay at the couple's Château de Cayx in Cahors in southern France. The cause of his departure from Denmark was a New Year's Day reception in which his son, Frederik, had been appointed as host in the absence of Queen Margrethe. Henrik felt "pushed aside, degraded and humiliated" by being relegated to "third place in the royal hierarchy".
"For many years, I have been Denmark's number two", he said. "I have been satisfied with that role, but I don't want to be relegated to number three after so many years." Henrik departed from Denmark to reflect on his status in the Danish Royal Family. Queen Margrethe flew to France to meet her husband. Henrik stressed that neither his wife nor son were to blame for the incident. The Prince Consort spent three weeks in Caix, and did not appear with his wife as expected at the wedding of Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and Máxima Zorreguieta. After three weeks, Henrik returned to Denmark from France.
On 30 April 2008, shortly before the wedding of his younger son, Joachim, to Marie Cavallier, the Queen conferred the new Danish title "Count of Monpezat" on both of her sons and made it hereditary for their male-line descendants, both male and female. The Queen's private secretary Henning Fode commented, "The Queen and the Prince Consort have considered this for quite some time, and it has led to the belief that it was the right thing to do." In fact, Henrik had mentioned this possibility as far back as 1996 in his published memoir: "During our generation, the future sovereign will perhaps receive approval to see 'Monpezat' added to the dynastic name of 'Oldenburg-Glücksburg. While being interviewed by the French weekly Point de Vue in October 2005, Henrik raised the issue shortly after the birth of Frederik's first son, Prince Christian, who is expected to inherit the Danish crown one day: "It also makes him very proud and happy that Monpezat will be added to this small grandson's future name as Prince of Denmark. 'It is a great joy for me that his French roots will also be remembered.
In her New Year's speech to the Danish people on 31 December 2015, Queen Margrethe announced that Henrik would slow down and give up most of his official duties beginning on 1 January 2016. On 14 April 2016, Henrik renounced the title of Prince Consort, which he had been given in 2005.
Cultural interests and hobbies
Like his wife, Henrik was deeply interested in art and culture. He was particularly fond of wooden figures and jade, building up collections which he exhibited in 2017 at the museum in Koldinghus. Although he never achieved his ambition of becoming a concert pianist, he continued to play the piano throughout his life. In 2013, he accompanied the pop group Michael Learns to Rock on the piano as they recorded "Echo", a number which was presented to King Rama IX of Thailand.Henrik wrote many poems in his native French, some of which have been published in the collections Chemin faisant, Cantabile, Les escargots de Marie Lanceline, Murmures de vent, Frihjul, Fabula, La part des anges, and Dans mes nuits sereines. The symphonic suite Cantabile by Frederik Magle is based on Henrik's poetry collection Cantabile and was premiered by the Danish National Symphony Orchestra at two concerts celebrating Henrik's 70th and 75th birthdays in 2004 and 2009. Henrik said about writing poetry : "I see poetry as an opportunity for immersion in a superficial time dominated by news and entertainment that makes us rootless and restless. Poetry takes us closer to the true nature of the world, in poetry we can approach the eternal questions such as love, loneliness and death".
Henrik was also an excellent cook, inspired by French gastronomic traditions. He usually planned the family meals in collaboration with the court chef, always including his own spices on the table, some from his childhood estates in Asia. In addition to his cookbooks, Henrik often appeared in television programmes showing how he prepared meals in Fredensborg Castle in Denmark or at his French home, the Château de Cayx.
Death
In August 2017, Henrik announced he did not wish to be buried next to the Queen, citing his longstanding complaint of only being named Prince Consort, and not King Consort. The decision is said to have broken a tradition that began in 1559, and at the time, Queen Margrethe is said to have accepted her husband's decision.On 6 September 2017, it was announced that Henrik was suffering from dementia. On 28 January 2018, he was hospitalised at Rigshospitalet, following a visit to Egypt. It was later revealed that he had a benign tumor in the left lung. His health however worsened, causing Frederik to cut short his visit to South Korea where he was to attend the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. On 13 February 2018, Henrik was transferred from Rigshospitalet to Fredensborg Palace, where the Danish Royal Court stated he wished to spend the remainder of his life. The Royal Court added that the condition of Henrik remained serious. He died later that day, surrounded by his family.
Following his death, the Court announced a month of royal mourning. Henrik's casket was placed in The Palace Chapel at Christiansborg for a castrum doloris, where in the following two days, more than 19,000 people went to pay their respects. After a funeral in the Palace Chapel on 20 February, he was cremated, with half of his ashes scattered across Danish seas and half placed in the private section of the gardens at Fredensborg Palace.