With Crown Princess Mary in training for the Danish Home Guard: Army, Billed Bladet has pulled out pictures from the time her mother-in-law, Queen Margrethe II, went through the training for the Airforce branch of the Home Guard.
The Home Guard stands strong among the Danish female royals: the Queen’s sister, Princess Benedikte is a member of the Navy branch of the organization.
The Danish Home Guard is a part of the Danish military. It has around 50,000 volunteers, and 650 full-time employees. It was formed in 1945, by former resistance fighters, who wanted to ensure that Denmark had a wide network of people who knew how to fight, if Denmark was to be invaded again. Today, the organization deals with education of military forces sent out for deployment, and with more civilian matters inside Denmark, such as handling environmental or other emergencies where the government is in need of extra hands.