Faroes –  This year, HM The Queen of Denmark and HRH Prince Henrik celebrate their Golden Wedding Anniversary. Posta marks this event with the issue of an elegant mini-sheet, which shows a photo of the royal couple without official pomp. The mini-sheet is a joint issue with Denmark and Greenland – this is symbolized by a polar bear, a ram and a swan printed on the mini-sheet background. Posta also publishes a beautiful Golden Wedding Anniversary folder with the three mini-sheets of Faroe Islands, Denmark and Greenland.

“… Sometimes sincerity calls for great courage. This courage is represented to full extent in Princess Margrethe’s telling us the truth, simply and unreservedly: Whether we are surrounded by idyllic circumstances or war and insecurity, we fall in love, become engaged, marry and find the wealth and confidence consisting in having each other, and in this communal sense we can establish the home which forms the basis of our faith and confidence in the future.

We here in the islands have probably had the opportunity of seeing Princess Margrethe more often than is the case for many others in the Kingdom. We greeted her as a little girl and we have met her as an adult. Her unaffected, warm and fresh manner of being is for the majority of those that met her the best attributes of a future ruler. And therefore, many kind thoughts go to the Church of Holmen with the best wishes for the future of Princess Margrethe and her life partner, who has been chosen by her own heart to stand by her side in the days to come. “

Thus, among others, were the thoughts expressed by the editorial in the Faroes’ largest newspaper, Dimmalætting, on June 10, 1967 – the day when the  Danish crown princess married the French Count Henri Marie Jean André de Laborde de Monpezat.

And there were reasons for a few optimistic words on that summer day, when turmoil and divisions reigned in the world. On that same day, the so-called Six Day War in the Middle East came to an end. A day earlier, Egypt’s President Nasser had resigned. In Greece a few months earlier a military junta carried out a coup, side-lining democracy. In the East China groaned under the so-called cultural revolution. Add to this list the war in Vietnam, which just seemed to be escalating.

So it was not the most hopeful news that characterized the headlines in the summer of 1967. One must therefore assume that it was a bit of a relief for the writer of the editorial to put the world’s anger and anguish aside for a moment and occupy himself with one of mankind’s more sympathetic traits, love.

The story began in 1964 when Crown Princess Margrethe was studying in England. There she met the French diplomat Henri de Monpezat, who was employed by the French Embassy in London.

Love blossomed between the two, and in 1966 they became engaged. The following year, on June 10, 1967, they were married in the Church of Holmen in Copenhagen – and at the same time the bridegroom got the title “His Royal Highness, Prince Henrik of Denmark”.

A year later, on May 26, 1968, the royal couple’s first son, Crown Prince Frederik, was born – and on June 7, 1969, they had their second son, Prince Joachim.

In 1972 King Frederik IX died and the Crown Princess was hailed as Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.

In the 50 years that have passed since the beautiful wedding ceremony took place in the Church of Holmen, the world has changed for better or worse. However, in these volatile times, the Danish royal family has been a stable factor – and the golden wedding couple has fully performed their functions in the constitutional, representative and, not least, the cultural fields.

This is why  we follow the example of Dimmalætting’s editorial writer 50 years ago, and send our kind regards to the golden wedding couple, extending to them our heartfelt congratulations.

Anker Eli Petersen

Issue Date: 15.05.2017
Designer: Torben Eskerud / Jacob Monefeldt
Printer: Cartor Security Printing, France
Process: Offset
Size: 40 x 40 mm
Values: 50,00 DKK