Margrethe II of Denmark: Quotes about life

“You are handed your job as the old king or queen dies… It is not a life sentence, but a life of service.”

Margrethe II of Denmark

On Queenship, in an interview with the BBC during her Ruby Jubilee http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16537659 (13 January 2012).
Queenship

Life

“I have always felt that it is a task that you are given, and that you have it as long as you live. That is my fundamental view. It is an integral part of the job that you have it for life.”

Margrethe II of Denmark

On the possiblity of abdication, interview with Bo Lidegaard, 'Politiken' Partially available online http://politiken.dk/indland/ECE1495013/dronningen-opgaven-som-regent-har-man-for-livet/ (01 January 2012).
Possiblity of Abdication

Life , Parting

“Being Queen is a profession, a job, a position, an office that one cannot put aside when you come home from work. It is there all the time - and it is there all your life.”

Margrethe II of Denmark

Quoted in Bistrup, Anne, 'Margrethe' (JP/Politikens Forlaghus (2005)).
Queenship

Life , Home , Time

“I would like to stress that the obligation [of being Queen] has always been driven by joy. The joy is rooted in the warmth that has met me and my family everywhere through every year, in celebration and joy as in sorrow, in the so-called "big days", as well as in everyday life.”

Margrethe II of Denmark

Ruby Jubilee speech, http://www.altinget.dk/artikel/dronningens-jubilaeumstale (15 January 2012).
Queenship

Life , Family , Joy

“One should never be so formal that one loses life, but one should never be so informal that one becomes without form of any kind.”

Margrethe II of Denmark

Television documentary 'Queen Margrethe of Denmark', BBC & Jørgen Bonfils, 30:27, 28 April 1974.
Life Philosophy

Life

“In the course of the last few generations, society has developed in such a way that we can live more and more safely, both financially and socially. We have got used to being able to pick and choose quite freely in big and small matters. Our circumstances are so good now that we have almost forgotten that our decisions also have consequences and that we cannot opt into or out of all life’s conditions.”

Margrethe II of Denmark

New Year's Address 2010/2011 http://kongehuset.dk/english/Menu/news/her-majesty-the-queens-new-year-address-2010 (01 January 2011).
Society

Life , Way , Decision

“Painting is not what my life is about, but it is very important to me, and I am very lucky to be able to give some time to it. The time that I devote to painting is not a lot of time, but I do it 100 percent while I am working, and then there's nothing else that counts.”

Margrethe II of Denmark

Interview with Reuters, quoted on ITN. http://www.itnsource.com/shotlist/RTV/2012/01/26/RTV249512/ (26 January 2012).
As an Artist

Life , Time , Painting