In her 33rd annual New Year's speech the Queen of Denmark reacts to the tsunami disaster in Asia. She goes on to describe the challenges of a nation in an insecure and changing world and stresses the importance of openness and democracy. She also looks back on the royal family's personal events including the crown prince's wedding - and the separation of his younger brother. She commemorates the services of police, firemen and rescue services, specifically in a major fireworks fire that autumn. She sends her regards to the armed forces, to Danes abroad and to Greenland, the Faroe Islands and the Danish minority in Northern Germany. She finishes by using a quotation by Hans Christian Andersen to describe our times as an age of wonders.—Peter Brandt Nielsen