Day 3 - State Visit from Iceland

[gudinde]

Thursday 26 January

Departure
09.00
The Queen and Prince Henrik bid farewell to the President and First Lady at Christian VII's Palace, Amalienborg, where the visitor’s book and a window pane will be signed.

 

This morning's final appointment does not involve the whole royal family, but has a long and interesting history.

 

[gudinde]

The tradition of signing the windows

http://kongehuset.dk/menu/nyheder/skriften-pa-vinduerne

 

The window panes at Fredensborg Castle bear witness to an over 150 year old tradition. Guests of princely rank or heads of state on both private and official visits since 1841 have written inscriptions on the windows of the palace.

 

In the "Protocol of Windows in Fredensborg Palace by royalty" held at Fredensborg Palace, the statistics iindicate that since 1916 there have been 239 windows registered with inscriptions. Since many of the windows contain more than one signature, the total number of names at least three times as large. The signatures are divided into panes over large parts of the castle, but are found especially in the Garden Room, the Prince's Salon, entrance hall and bedrooms. As a whole the palace windows constitute a gallery of signatures from former and current members of the Danish royal family and other persons associated with it; a collection of names of prominent and in many cases, historically significant persons in Denmark and abroad during the past half century.

 

The custom can be traced back to 1841, when Louise of Hesse scratched the oldest dated signature on August 17 of that year. The following year she married Prince Christian of Glücksburg, who in 1863 became King of Denmark as Christian IX, whose numerous family accounts for most of the oldest signatures. It is from the 1860s that the signatures on the windows became a tradition, which to varying degrees has been preserved to this day. 

 

In ithemselves, the inscriptions for the most part are simple and often include just a name and possibly a date. Nevertheless, these signatures and dates beyond just documenting the person's presence in many cases imply a greater story. 

Among the earliest inscriptions are for instance. Nikolaj and Dagmar, who on the 9th and again October 29, 1864 had left a memento of a connection that did not materialize, but still had dramatic consequences. The said Nicholas, Tsar Aleksander 2.s eldest son, had the month before become engaged to Princess Dagmar of Denmark, with whom he would be married, if he had not died the following year. Instead Dagmar in 1866 married his younger brother, Aleksander, who in 1881 became tsar Aleksander 3. 

 

Not all inscriptions are just signatures and dates. Some are also scribbles of the kind you can find in more conventional guest books: More or less legible scribble, scribble series, small figures and poems. Many of them testify that the writer must have appreciated his stay at the palace, such as Princess Ingeborg, who writes: "Was once again in this heavenly place 3-30 June 1911 / Goodbye loved Fredensborg. God knows when I will return. ' It was in fact about a year after, "May 25 - June 1912", but as a sad occasion, her brother, King Frederick 8.'s funeral, which probably explains her inscription at the bottom of the same window: "How everything has changed since Last year Ingeborg ".
 

As mentioned, the custom is still alive, but in contrast to previous practice, where guests inscribed their signatures directly onto the glass, it takes place today on a loose panes brought from a warehouse for the purpose. Then the royal couple choose a convenient location to have the pane installed in one of the palace windows.

[mls]

Another behind the scenes photo for you, gudinde

 

"Saying thank you for 2 busy but nice days in company of the Queen's hairdressers at Amalienborg with the state visit from Iceland."

 

 

 

 

[gudinde]

[mls]