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No matter how they feel about the institution of royalty, almost everyone likes Denmark\u2019s Queen Margrethe, who is celebrating 50 years on the throne this week.

Every New Year\u2019s Eve, the streets of Denmark go quiet as the Queen makes her annual televised speech to her subjects. I find the speeches pretty much the same every year, they\u2019re about being kind to each other, taking care of the environment, and such.

The real entertainment is in the Queen\u2019s wardrobe - she designs her own clothes, and often chooses rather un-Danishly bright colors -\xa0 and whether she\u2019ll get her carefully written note cards mixed up.\xa0

Every year she thanks the Danish military for its work, and every year she makes sure to shout out to the Faroe Islands and Greenland, the farthest flung parts of her kingdom. And she ends every annual speech with \u201cGUD BEVARE DANMARK\u201d \u2013 God Save Denmark.\xa0

The Queen is the head of the Danish state church, and the Danish state \u2013 she still signs all the laws, including the specific law that made me a citizen.\xa0 But the Queen is also an artist. She paints, and draws, and has designed stage sets for the Royal Ballet.\xa0

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