Just days after ascending to the Danish throne, King Frederik X has surprisingly released a memoir.
The book, Kongeord (which translates to The King’s Word), addresses Frederik’s “thoughts and considerations about the monarchy, as well as what the King himself puts into the words: Connected, obligated, for the Kingdom of Denmark.”
The announcement of the memoir came via the social media page of the Danish Royal Family, saying, “United, bound, to the Kingdom of Denmark, […] Today, the book Kongeord is released.”
In the book, King Frederik praises and gushes over his wife, Australian-born Queen Mary.
“I love marriage, my wife, our children and the whole happy base that arises for the people who manage to stay together and persevere.”
In the book, Frederik also candidly said, “I have learned a lot from having a wife who, from time to time, reminds me that of course I am not always right, and that my words are not automatically believed, just because I am a man in the house.”
Frederik and Mary have been married for nearly 20 years, after famously meeting in Sydney in 2000.
Today they are the King and Queen of Denmark, but 24 years ago Frederik introduced himself as “just Fred” to the then-salesperson, Mary Donaldson.
Since then, the pair have remained each other’s ‘person’.
“I remember how my mother, Queen Margrethe, said in her wedding speech in 2004 that I had found peace and joy with Mary,” Frederik said.
It truly is a fairytale story and from this memoir, it seems the couple are as strong as ever.
The book also addresses Frederik’s initial struggles with the idea of being the future King of Denmark, with the current monarch wishing for a normal life when he was younger.
He revealed that he “just wanted to be like all other boys my age.”
“I remember my 18th birthday as something similar to the end of the world. It was the feeling that now everything that was fun and exciting was coming to an end.
“Fortunately, it didn’t,” Frederik shared.
The biography was written by award-winning Danish author, Jens Andersen, and is based on interviews conducted over the past 18 months.
Jens Andersen also wrote Frederik’s 2017 biography, Under Bjælken A Portrait of Crown Prince Frederik.
King Frederik and Queen Mary officially ascended to the Danish throne on 14 January in a rather low-key affair, where the new monarch was visibly overcome with emotion, wiping away tears before delivering a moving speech.
“My hope is to become a unifying king of tomorrow,” he said.
“It is a task I have approached all my life. It is a task I take on with pride, respect and joy.”
The King was then joined on the balcony by Mary and their four children, Crown Prince Christian, Princess Isabella, Princess Josephine and Prince Vincent.