Abstract
Using as its centre piece a Royal Visit, this article draws upon ethnography from a small town in Jutland, Denmark, to examine the role of the monarchy in Danish society. By focussing upon performance, and upon the management of the local cultural contradictions of equality and hierarchy, and modernity and tradition, the delicate balance between the sacred and the profane in the legitimation of monarchy in social democratic Denmark is explored. Comparisons are drawn with the United Kingdom monarchy, arguing that there are no transferrable lessons for the House of Windsor from the relatively successful adaptation to modernity of the House of Glucksborg.
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