The King Is Dead

Had he not been destined to become a King, Frederik IX of Denmark might well have earned a measure of fame as an orchestra conductor. Trained as a pianist in his early years, he studied under the Danish Royal Opera's Conductor Georg Hoeberg. As Crown Prince, Frederik used to sit night after night in the Royal Theater, ready to take over the baton if his aging mentor should be taken ill. Later, he was frequently an incognito guest conductor of the state radio orchestra, without the knowledge of critics or radio audiences.

Frederik IX, who was King of Denmark from 1947 until his death last week at 72, was a monarch of many parts, and a few forgivable shortcomings. As he once put it, "It's damn nice to be King." A robust 6 ft. 6 in., he trained in the navy, exercised to make himself "the strongest monarch in history," as a London newspaper once dubbed him, and sported tattoos on his arms and chest. To most Danes he was a discreet, suitable constitutional monarch and an ideal family man and father. His popularity was enhanced by Swedish-born Queen Ingrid and Daughters Margrethe, 31, who succeeds him, Benedikte, 27, married to German Prince Richard zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, and Anne-Marie, 25, the exiled Queen of Greece.

Never an intellectual or a particularly brilliant conversationalist, Frederik IX reigned with easygoing informality. From the Amalienborg Palace, he often watched steamers leaving Copenhagen, and sometimes, using a flashlight, he would signal greetings in Morse code to the captain. Bicycling through the Tivoli Gardens one morning, he stopped to chat with an American tourist. "I'm a storekeeper from Chicago," said the tourist. "Who are you?" "Oh--I'm the King," replied Frederik IX.

On more public occasions, he was often shy and visibly ill at ease. Last New Year's Day, during his final television appearance, he appeared frail and sick. He was. Shortly after the speech, he was assailed in turn by the flu, pneumonia and, on Jan. 3, a massive heart attack; last week his heart finally failed.

Historic Formula. The following day, on the first-floor balcony of Christianborg Palace in Copenhagen, Prime Minister Jens Otto Krag intoned the news three times, according to historic formula: "King Frederik IX is dead. Long live Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II." The new Queen of Denmark is also the Countess of Monpezat since her marriage in 1967 to French Count Henri de Laborde de Monpezat, who changed his name to Henrik and became a Danish prince. They have two sons, Prince Frederik, 3, and Prince Joachim, 2.

The first woman to inherit the Danish throne since the 15th century, Queen Margrethe attended the universities of Copenhagen and Aarhus, the London School of Economics, Cambridge and the Sorbonne. She has a sly, self-deprecating wit. Her comment on miniskirts: "The miniskirt is not impossible, but my legs are." Pretty and occasionally moody, she sometimes exercises the royal prerogative of being stuffy when she feels like it. That will probably ensure that she will never again be called, at least by Danes, by her teen-age nickname: Daisy.

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