Answer these questions as fast as you can.
How many presidents have served since George Washington?
How many were, or are, diagnosed with dementia?
How many Presidents are buried in the United States national cemetery?
Where and what is our national cemetery?
Does it matter?
Most Americans aren’t able to answer all of these questions. The United States’ national cemetery is located on a massive plot of government-owned land in Arlington, Virginia. You have the option of being buried there if you’re a soldier or an official, such as the president.
Of course, there isn’t a requirement to be buried in Arlington. There isn’t a law or statute that overrides freedom of choice, demanding you be buried in Arlington.
In Denmark, Prince Henrik, consort to the Queen of Denmark, Margrethe II, died February 13, surrounded by his family in the castle in Fredensborg. He was diagnosed with a lung infection and prior to that, dementia.
Now, for Danish Royals, there is a cathedral in a city called Roskilde, where the monarchs of the country, the kings and queens, are buried. This is tradition and custom, something that’s been followed since the beginning of the 1000s.
But before his death, before the dementia diagnosis, people weren’t calling his name in mourning; rather, they called his name in anger.
On August 3rd, 2017, Prince Henrik announced that he didn’t want to be buried next to his wife. The resulting scandal caused ripples throughout the country, with people commenting on the fact that the Prince was flouting centuries of tradition, dating all the way back to a famous Viking monarch, Harald Bluetooth, over a thousand years ago.
As an American, I have a hard time believing that a place of burial, which is a huge choice when it comes to the rights of any one person, would be so contentious and hard to respect. I think that despite the Danes’ valuing of tradition and monarchy, the Prince Consort should be able to choose where he’ll be buried without people getting upset about it.
In the end, I think that having the mindset of an American, a country that seeks to flout the conventions and traditions of aristocracy and champions the rights of individuals, that perhaps that could color my thinking. But, deep down I know that a person’s rights are a person’s rights, and I think that, perhaps, it’s a bit shameful to say that you take issue with the fact that someone doesn’t want to be buried somewhere.
People are entitled to that right, and there’s not really much else that people can do about it. If the Danes want to focus on tradition, then that’s their right. However, nowhere is tradition greater than the need and desire for self-determination.
Prince Henrik was cremated, with half his ashes spread over Danish Seas and the other half buried at Fredensborg palace. As he wished, he was not buried in Roskilde.