Naked prostitute 'cavorted on the Danish throne'

Royal security is under urgent review in Denmark after the publication of lurid photographs purporting to show a prostitute posing naked astride the thrones of Queen Margrethe II and her consort, Prince Henrik.

Even in Scandinavia, where attitudes towards nudity are relaxed, the stunt has prompted outrage at the insult to the popular Royal Family.

Security staff cautioned yesterday that the seven photographs could have been the result of a computerised hoax — with the model’s image superimposed on the royal thrones — rather than a break-in at Christiansborg Palace in central Copenhagen.



But See and Hear, the weekly magazine that first published the pictures under the headline “Porno on the Throne”, said that it had verified that the images were genuine. It has refused to name the prostitute, disclosing only that she is aged 43 and claims to have taken the pictures herself with an automatic camera.

Royal officials are now waiting to see whether further images appear after See and Hear reported that it had 22 more scandalous shots, some of which it would publish next week. One is said to show the woman lying naked on the table where Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Prime Minister, holds Cabinet meetings.

Jens Greve, the palace manager, summed up the Scandinavian mood when he declared: “Under all circumstances it is very annoying and an abuse of surroundings we all value. I choose to view this as a provocative act on society.”