New Years Greeting from the President

Dear Rebild Friends

Mette and I would like to wish you a happy and prosperous New Year and thank you for the many good experiences we shared in 2023.

May 2024 be a good year for all of us, our families and not least for the Rebild National Park Society, where we look forward to continuing the positive development. We also look forward to a super exciting annual meeting in Cincinnati and to the highlight of the year – a fantastic Rebild Festival filled with sun and summer, excellent speeches and the launch of new exciting activities in the week leading up to the festival. But most importantly, we look forward to being together and consolidating our friendships between Danes and Americans as well as Denmark and the United States.

Overall, we hope that 2024 will be a year with more positive breakthroughs for the world’s conflict and peace mediators, as well as a year where we avoid health crises and where the world economy normalizes – “We all need that”.

While New Year’s celebrations across Denmark were getting underway and we were enjoying a glass of champagne in the company of good friends and listening to Her Majesty Queen Margrethe’s traditional New Year’s speech, we were all shocked at the announcement that she will abdicate on 14 January 2024, writing an important piece of the history of Denmark in the process. Time seemed to stop for a moment. It left us with feelings of surprise and even sadness, as in a way HM The Queen has our companion, our rallying point and our anchor. It is simply impressive how, for 52 years, HM The Queen has elegantly and respectfully navigated and united Danes in a world that has undergone major changes. She has cherished and upheld traditions while simultaneously ensuring that the royal family became an important part of our modern world, where the monarchy is a popular and inseparable part of Danish democracy.

We also felt proud that HM The Queen wisely chooses to make room for the next generation, as there is no doubt that the Crown Prince Couple, Frederik and Mary, are excellent representatives for the Royal Family. We are convinced that Crown Prince Frederik will be a good and strong king who, together with his beloved and capable Crown Princess Mary, will lead Denmark in an excellent and inspiring way. They are a modern family with an iconic status as important culture bearers and will hopefully become the future rallying point for all Danes.

On behalf of the Rebild National Park Society, we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to HM The Queen for her lifelong, outstanding dedication and tireless efforts for the Kingdom, but also for her great long-standing support for the Rebild National Park Society.

An era will end and a new, exciting one will begin. We will look forward to a close collaboration with the future King Frederik and Queen Mary and hope to see them at one of the upcoming Rebild Festivals. The Royal Family’s support for the Rebild National Park Society is of invaluable importance to us.

On 4 January, as President of the Rebild National Park Society, I have been invited to HM The Queen’s New Year’s levee, where our future King Frederik and Queen Mary will be present as well. My intention is to thank HM Queen Margrethe and congratulate Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary at the event. Once again, our best wishes for a Happy New Year.

Rebild Greetings,

President, Jørgen Bech Madsen