The former Queen of Denmark has won a prestigious award for her costume and set design work on a Danish Netflix film – just weeks after abdication.
Margrethe, who shocked royal watchers when she announced her unexpected abdication on December 31, revealed her award on Instagram.
She worked on Netflix film Ehrengard – The Art of Seduction, for which she was awarded a Robert Award as Costume Designer of the Year.
Taking to Instagram, the royal wrote: ‘I am deeply grateful, touched and proud of the recognition that the Robert award represents.
‘Receiving an award that the industry itself awards makes me particularly happy, and it has been a great joy and pleasure to be able to contribute to the expression of the film.
The former Queen Margrethe II (pictured) shows off the design award she won for her work on a Netflix movie
‘I would like to thank the entire team behind the film, but I especially thank all those who have made my ideas, sketches and drawings a reality – not least the talented people who have sewn and worked with the many costumes.’
Many are unaware of the former monarch’s creative talents, but as a child, she aspired to be an artist.
According to the Royal website: ‘Early on, Princess Margrethe went with her parents to the Royal Theatre, where in 1948 she attended August Bournonville’s ballet Napoli, which made a deep impression on the Princess.’
Under Danish law, until she was 13, men only took the throne. But when the constitution was changed, allowing women to rule, Margrethe became the heir presumptive, changing the course of her life, with her becoming Queen in 1972.
However, she continued to work on her drawing and other artworks, until around her 20s.
After studying for a diploma in prehistoric archaeology at the University of Cambridge, as well as studying at Aarhus University in Denmark, the Sorbonne and the London School of Economics, she was inspired to get into art again, after reading J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.
According to the Danish royals: ‘As an adult, The Queen herself became involved in ballet as a scenographer and costume designer.
‘From the mid-1980s and 30 years onwards, The Queen helped with the annual ballet performances at a friend’s dance school in Næstved, where the wing scenery and costumes were conjured up with enormous imagination from materials at hand. Quite special were the performances’ numerous paper hats, which The Queen thought up and created herself.’
Margrethe (pictured, left) is shown working on imagery for the Danish production, Ehrengard: The Art of Seduction,
After working on amateur productions, Margrethe took up more professional work, after being approached by the TV theatre at Danmarks Radio who ‘approached The Queen in 1987 and persuaded her to assist as a scenographer and costume designer for a TV production of H.C. Andersen’s fairy tale The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep’.
An ambitious new production of August Bournonville’s ballet A Folk Tale, at the Royal Theatre in 1990 saw the-then Queen designed the scenography and the many costumes.
Following in 1990 was the Royal Theatre’s ambitious new production of August Bournonville’s ballet A Folk Tale, for which The Queen designed the scenography and the many costumes.
Around 2000, Margethe joined with Tivoli’s Pantomime Theatre.
Her goal was to ‘help revitalise the theatre’s small ballets, which are performed free for the amusement park’s visitors’.
Her first performance as scenographer and costume designer was the H.C. Andersen-inspired ballet Love in the Dustbin in 2001.
‘Since then there have been ballets based on several of the author’s fairy tales, including Thumbelina, The Tinderbox, The Steadfast Tin Soldier, The Swineherd and The Snow Queen, but also The Nutcracker and Cinderella,’ says her biography.
Ehrengard: The Art of Seduction, which was announced last year.
AWARD WINNING: A still from Ehrengard: The Art of Seduction, which had a royal crew member working on it
According to Netflix: ‘In the fairytale kingdom of Babenhausen, a young, self-appointed expert on love, Mr. Cazotte (Mikkel Boe Følsgaard), is hired by the scheming Grand Duchess (Sidse Barbett Knudsen) to help her secure an heir.
‘While searching for a suitable future Princess, Mr Cazotte teaches the timid and introverted Crown Prince Lothar (Emil Aron Dorph) the art of seduction and lovemaking.
‘But their plan soon backfires, when an heir is conceived out of wedlock and the royal family has to seek refuge in the castle of Rosenbad. Here, as rivals within the royal family close in on their scheme, Cazotte himself falls in love with Ehrengard (Alice Esther Bier Zandén), the maid of honor, and gradually learns that in fact, he’s no expert on love at all.’
Speaking about her role in the design department when the project was announced, Margrethe said she was ‘very happy’ to be part of this project.
Praising the author, she described the work as ‘aesthetic’, revealing: ‘I have tried to interpret Blixen’s fantastic universe in the creation of the découpages and costumes and I’m looking forward to seeing the tale of Ehrengard come to life in this film.’
Ehrengard: The Art of Seduction is streaming on Netflix in Denmark now.