How to see Copenhagen through the eyes of Danish royalty

As an adaptation of Karen Blixen’s novel ‘Ehrengard’ hits our screens, embark on a very regal tour of Copenhagen

With its playful modern edge and grand historic foundations, Denmark’s charming capital has long been an autumn city-break favourite. But as the seat of the world’s seventh-oldest monarchy, and home of the oldest reigning living queen, 83-year-old Margrethe II, it should come as no surprise that Copenhagen is a city best explored by way of its royal credentials.

And though its four splendid ­palaces are a great place to start, there’s far more to be gained from a visit themed around the city’s royal identity than you might first think – particularly as a new adaptation of Danish writer Karen Blixen’s novel, Ehrengard, hits our screens on Thursday. 

A period drama set within the ­aristocratic world of a fairy-tale ­kingdom, the film is a visual ­celebration of Denmark’s castle-­dotted countryside and turret-pierced skies, conjured up by the combined imaginations of two highly influential Danish women – Blixen, and Queen Margrethe, who is a respected artist and designed a series of costumes and decoupages for the film’s fantastical backdrops.

“What Her Majesty likes about Blixen is the way she paints pictures with her stories,” says Elisabeth Nojgaard, museum director of ­Rungstedlund, a museum dedicated to the author in her former birthplace and country home. “A painter herself, she can relate to that. She can also ­recognise some of the interiors Blixen describes from her own childhood growing up in castles.”