TV series being developed about another Queen

While The Crown has come to an end, another Queen will be getting the TV treatment. Sam Productions and TV 2 are developing a series, with the working title Af Guds nåde (which translates to By the Grace of God), about  King Frederik  of Denmark’s mother,  Queen Margrethe .

Margrethe, the eldest of King Frederik IX and Queen Ingrid’s daughters, became the Queen of Denmark in 1972. She reigned for 52 years until her abdication in 2024.

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Pernille Bech Christensen, a senior executive producer at TV 2, said in a press release that the series, which will begin in 1940, “is an important story about all of us Danes, told based on the Danish royal house and with Margrethe as the focal point of the story.”

Pernille also called it “the story of a family, of an institution and of an anachronism that struggles to maintain its relevance in a modern age,” adding, “The royal house is something that all Danes share, regardless of whether you are a supporter, an opponent or just somewhere in between.”

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The series is expected to begin filming next year. Af Guds nåde is said to have been in development long before the Danish Queen abdicated the throne. The 83-year-old royal announced in her 2023 New Year’s Eve address that she would be abdicating in favor of her eldest child.

“I have decided that now is the right time. On 14th January, 2024 – 52 years after I succeeded my beloved father – I will step down as Queen of Denmark. I will hand over the throne to my son Crown Prince Frederik,” she said.

Two weeks later, the Queen signed her abdication declaration during a Council of State meeting at Christiansborg Palace. In Frederik’s proclamation speech on Jan. 14, His Majesty said, “My mother, Her Majesty Queen Margrethe the 2nd has ruled Denmark for 52 years. Through half a century, she has followed the times with our common heritage as a starting point. She will always be remembered as a regent beyond the ordinary. My mother, like few, has managed to be at one with her kingdom.”