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Bus #1, #6, #9 or #10. Slotsplads is a square surrounded by the four palaces of Amalienborg , the centrepiece of Frederikstad and the home of the Danish royal family since 1794. Designed by Eigtved, the four almost identical palaces are functional rather than sumptuous, and the whole ensemble is striking for its accessibility and openness rather than its grandeur - you're free to wander around Slotsplads, though you'll be challenged by the bearskin-hatted Livgarden (Life Guards) if you get too close to the palaces. Hang around long enough and you may even catch a glimpse of Denmark's first family.
Every day at noon the Livgarden perform a changing of the guard, during which they march back to their barracks beside Rosenborg Slot. A marching band is added to the procession if the queen or any other head of state is in residence.
The first palace on the left from Frederiksgade is home to the crown prince and the Royal Danish Collection (De Danske Kongers Kronologiske Samling; May-Oct daily 10am-4pm; Nov-April Tues-Sun 11am-4pm; 40kr, joint ticket with Rosenborg Slot 60kr), which includes a part of the royal family's living quarters that have been turned into what is basically a shrine to the monarchy. Queen Margerethe has had a sizeable input into designing the museum, as well as putting together the cover to the collection's catalogue - decide for yourself whether she got the job on merit. The museum itself is a mish-mash of family mementos, stuffed animals, garish military pictures and carefully preserved living quarters shielded from the hoi-polloi behind glass screens. The rooms of previous kings (the present queen is the first female monarch) do reveal something of their character - some are stuffed full of assorted regalia and military tackle; others are more homely affairs, with family portraits, pipes and slippers. There are also dull collections of jewellery and an absorbing Europe-wide royal family tree revealing the generations of inbreeding that have gone into producing the monarchs of today. At the centre of Slotsplads is an enormous equestrian statue of Frederik V - it reputedly cost more than the four palaces combined thanks to sculptor, Jacques Saly, who, invited to Copenhagen to create the work, spent thirty years in the city living it up at the court's expense.
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