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Horses, Royal Guards, a GOLD COACH and the Queen in Copenhagen next week

For Danish Royalists the beginning of January is a great treat. The many Nytårskure, the New Year Levees, are unique opportunities to witness the age-old traditions with beautiful horses parading the streets practising before the main event when they escort the Queen in her gold coach.

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By Bente D. Knudsen

If you are in Copenhagen on the 2, 3 and 4 January 2023 you have a good chance of seeing the Queen’s mounted guards as the traditional New Year’s Levees have brought them to town for several days.

As always they are here for the most important event – the escort of the closed Gold Coach from Amalienborg to Christiansborg on Thursday 4th January.

The Queen will be escorted in her gold coach from Amalienborg at 9:30 to Christiansborg Castle and back again at  around 13:00/ 13:15  from Christiansborg to Amalienborg.

Before the main event they practice the route to allow new recruits and horses to adapt to all the noises of a capital city.

Practice takes place on 2 January after lunch from the Royal Stables to Amalienborg and back, so you can see them in the streets of Copenhagen until the early afternoon.

They also accompany the diplomatic New Year Levee for the foreign missions and diplomats in Denmark on 3 January.

A mounted guard receives the diplomatic corps in Prince Jørgens Gård at Christiansborg castle from 10:45 to 11:30 and again from 12:45 to 13:00.

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The grand tour with the gold coach takes place on 4 January 2024.

The closed horse-drawn Gold Coach transports the Queen through the streets of Copenhagen, starting at Amalienborg Castle at about 9:00 and taking her to Christiansborg along Store Kongensgade and over Kongens Nytorv.

She will be going back from Christiansborg also in the gold coach with her mounted escort at about 13:00/ 13:30  from Sankt Jørgens Gård at Christianborg along Bredgade to Amalienborg.

The event is a great opportunity to see a beautiful parade through the streets of Copenhagen with the horse-drawn carriage accompanied by the mounted Hussar Squadron of the Gard Hussar Regiment – in Danish Gardehussarregimentets Hesteeksadron.

You can see the full route in a map provided for by the royal house – we are still waiting for the updated one but previously this has been the route taken.

 

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The mounted squadron’s history, traditions, and uniforms can be traced back to the Hussar Regiment set up by King Frederik V on 10 February 1762 in order to have a light mobile cavalry to face the mounted Russian regiments in the impending war with Russia.

However, the Gard Hussar Regiment itself dates back to 17 November 1614 when Christian IV set up a national militia of 4,000 soldiers.

The regiment in its full blue gala uniform, combined with the gleaming harness of the horses and the accompanying music, is quite a unique site to behold.

Only three other countries in Europe, Holland, Sweden and England, still have mounted royal horse guards. Don’t miss the occasion to see the Danish one while living in Denmark.

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The horse-guard at the Royal Stables

When in Copenhagen the horses stay at the Royal Stables, (Kongelige Stalde) located at Christiansborg Palace. When the stables were built in 1745, 250 horses stood among the marble pillars.

Today the stables house 14 horses – except of course when they receive a visit from the mounted Gard Hussar Squadron adding another 50 horses or so to those already there.

During the three day visit, you have a good chance to see them around the stables as there are a lot of activities going on also outside around the stables, however there is no official access to the stables as they are closed for visits during these days.

If you are lucky, you might be able to get a peek view of the preparations inside the stables even though the public access is restricted.

The rehearsal normally attracts a lot of family members, who have come to see the biggest event in their son or daughter’s military service at the mounted Gard Hussar Regiment, and somehow they always manage to sneak in and get a picture for the family album.

The white horses drawing the Gold Coach are Kladrubers from the Czech Republic. The first horses of that race came to the Royal Stables in 1994 upon the suggestion by His Royal Highness Prince Henrik.

The beautiful white horses are actually not born white – but they change from their dark colour to white when they are about six years old. They have drawn coaches for princely families of Europe for centuries and since 1994 do so again for the Danish Royal Family.

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Pictures above are courtesy of Hisham Ammar from a previous event.

You can see the full route here click here for map

You can see our photo report from one of their visits and rehearsal rides here

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