God save Denmark – The history of New Year's speeches
Tonight, King Frederik X will give his first New Year's speech. We have been in the collections to examine the New Year's speeches of previous monarchs.
Before King Frederik X, the line of former monarchs is long, but the line of royal speeches on New Year's Eve is relatively short. Only two former rulers have appeared on television on the last day of the year – King Frederik IX and Queen Margrethe II. Before that, the voice of the ruler moved home to Danish living rooms through the radio. This happened for the first time in 1941.
New Year's Eve at 6 p.m. is the only day of the year when the monarch speaks directly to the nation, and in 2024 it will be the first time that King Frederik X will wish the nation a Happy New Year. The only time Denmark's former monarch, Queen Margrethe II, spoke directly to the nation outside of New Year's Eve was on March 17, 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Photo: Aage Sørensen
From closed doors to live television
In 2024, anyone with an internet or TV connection can watch the King's New Year's speech, and it is a special opportunity to gather as a nation and listen to the words of the monarch. But in the past, the King's speech was reserved for a select few who heard it behind closed doors. This "cheers to the fatherland" was the precursor to today's New Year's speech. It was Christian IX who delivered these speeches in the 1880s for the royal court, but under his son Frederik VIII, the New Year's speeches were also printed in the national newspapers.
The first New Year's speech to be broadcast on radio was broadcast on January 1, 1941. Christian X believed that in light of the German occupation of Denmark it was of particular importance that the speech be widely disseminated and could be a unifying event for the nation in a dark time. Since 1958, New Year's speeches have been broadcast on television. Thus, the New Year's speech has developed from being reserved for a specially selected group to being for everyone.
Content of the speeches
In the past, rulers took a position on political issues, for example in 1909 when Frederik VIII spoke about the need to strengthen Danish defense:
"(…) a solution must be found, so that my government and the people will agree on an arrangement such that if the Fatherland is ever attacked, God forbid, the men who will then lead the sons of Denmark into battle, find protection that they can receive with trust and comfort, provide a defense that is strong enough to assert our neutrality and safeguard Denmark's freedom and independence."
Photo: Carl Sonne
Today, the debate about Denmark's defense takes place at Christiansborg without the regent's interference, because the Royal House today stays out of political issues, so if King Frederik were to have an opinion on the "defense issue" in 2025, he would probably be more circumspect than his great-grandfather did.
Today's New Year's speech aims to unite the Danes, and especially Frederik IX and Margrethe II have spent time putting Denmark's place in the world into words. At the same time, the New Year's speech is used to look back on the past year and highlight Danish values, for example in 1989, the year the wall fell:
"When we also at this turn of the year rejoice in gratitude to live in a society and a country where fear and isolation are not the conditions, the joy becomes that much deeper because we know that many more are now entering the new year with the same feelings as ours. For us it is a matter of course - in other places it is a whole new light that is being lit"
Although the monarchs do not directly interfere in political affairs, certain topics have nevertheless crept into recent New Year's speeches. The Queen's New Year's speech in 2023 is probably best remembered for Queen Margrethe's abdication, but the Queen also touched on political issues. In addition to the climate crisis and artificial intelligence, the Queen also made a call to treat each other with respect in light of the Israel-Palestine conflict:
"The war is causing anti-Semitism to spread again. It is unfortunate and shameful. Tonight I will make an unequivocal call for all of us in Denmark to treat each other with respect. We must step closer to each other, not distance ourselves from each other. We must remember that we are all human. This applies to Jews as well as Palestinians."
The New Year's speech we know today is a relatively new tradition. The content may have often looked the same, but the speech has served different purposes over time and has been forced to follow developments both in terms of media and in the Danish culture that it speaks to. In addition, the previous rulers have added their own personal touch, and the same will most likely also apply to King Frederik X.
Read Christian X's first New Year's speech
King Christian X's first New Year's speech was printed in the country's newspapers, which we have digitised in Mediestream. You can explore the newspaper yourself and read about what the king said in 1913.