A busy month for SDU’s royal expert

On 31. December, just before 6 p.m., SDU associate professor Michael Bregnsbo – like so many others in the Kingdom of Denmark – was sitting by the screen for Queen Margrethe’s New Year’s speech. He was to comment on the speech for the news agency Ritzau and expected everything to be the same procedure as last year.

But as we all know, it didn’t quite turn out that way.

Far from it: the Queen announced at the end of her New Year’s speech that she was to abdicate, sparking an historic January for the royal family – and a very busy and interesting month for SDU’s long-standing royal expert, Michael Bregnsbo.

Soon after the Queen’s abdication, Bregnsbo received the first call from the media for his comments and analyses of the upcoming change of throne.

And so it continued in the first weeks of January, with countless daily calls from different media, seeking his expert knowledge of the long history of the royal family, for their coverage of the change of throne.

Sixty media mentions in 14 days

According to the press counter in Pure, Michael Bregnsbo was mentioned 60 times on Danish TV, radio and in the newspapers between 31 December and 14 January 2024. On top of that, he has also conducted many background interviews with journalists who needed historical facts for the big media event.

And SDU’s royal expert welcomed the unique opportunity to share his knowledge about the Danish absolutist monarchy from 1660–1848. However, he won’t be too concerned if February is a little more peaceful in terms of media contact.

- As a researcher, I think you have an obligation to stand up and answer the questions that the media and the public have if you have knowledge in the field. And the expert role is a fantastic exercise in saying the most important things as briefly and accurately as possible, says Michael Bregnsbo, associate professor at the Department of Culture and Language. He goes on:  

- And it’s exciting with all the questions about the change of throne, which also fits in with my own curiosity about the historical foundation of today’s royal family.

Was the change of throne actually historical according to a historian?

- Yes, and in more ways than one. The farewell to Queen Margrethe was a farewell to the longest-serving ruler in Danish history, beating Christian IV by a few months, before her abdication in January, says Michael Bregnsbo and elaborates:

- And we have to go all the way back to 1146 to find another ruler in Denmark who abdicated. That was when Erik III Lamb chose to step down as king and actually became a monk in Odense. Finally, with the change of throne, Mary became the first queen from a non-noble lineage in Danish history.

History gives us a better understanding of the present

Michael Bregnsbo is an expert on the Danish society that was ruled by absolute kings from 1660 until the Danish Constitutional Act, which was passed in 1849. And that knowledge is in fact crucial to understanding today’s royal family and not least the challenges that sometimes arise in monarchies, he explains.

- The Danish monarchy is an institution from a completely different era and a completely different type of society, but the institution has been allowed to survive. Basically, the royal family goes against all the principles that our society is based on today. In our otherwise pretty egalitarian society, one family is above the rest of us, and the eldest child is born to be regent, says Michael Bregnsbo and elaborates:

- My knowledge of the history of absolutism – the foundation of the monarchy – can help us gain a deeper understanding of the meaning, historical roots and ancient traditions of the monarchy. The history of absolutism can usually explain some of the problems that monarchies encounter – problems that often stem from the fact that they are a relic of another era and can have a hard time adapting to change.

Good at adapting

Support for the royal family in Denmark – which was confirmed by the veritable sea of people at Christiansborg Slotsplads for the proclamation of King Frederik – is, on the other hand, a sign that the Danish monarchy has been good at adapting to the times, according to Michael Bregnsbo:

- To me, the huge interest in the change of throne shows that the monarchy in Denmark is actually working quite well, and many people have felt the need to thank Queen Margrethe for her great efforts. Unlike several other rulers in Europe, she succeeded in being a rallying point for the people and could say something important without it becoming political.

Michael Bregnsbo is reluctant to predict how support for the monarchy will play out in the future.

He points out that there are many challenges ahead for the new King and Queen, who now have the task of leading the Danish monarchy into the future.

- It is truly a balancing act to be king in a society founded on the principle that everyone should be equal. It requires the ability to read the times and not just grovel to the population. He’ll have to find his own path between the imperial and the down-to-earth. It’s not good for him to be too imperial, but he shouldn’t be too much like the rest of us either, explains Michael Bregnsbo.

However, he concludes:

- It has to be said that the new royal couple have a really great and substantial starting point with the support that the population is clearly showing them. We’ll just have to see how they manage it. They’re in a good position because they’ve had a long time to practise, and they can also get advice and guidance from Queen Margrethe, who is an accomplished queen.