COPENHAGEN – Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has made clear she has had enough of unsolicited comments about her appearance.
The 48-year-old leader wrote on Instagram on Monday that she had just come home from a visit to Ukraine, where she encountered air raid sirens amid the ongoing war, when she discovered a message from a plastic surgeon offering to “fix that little spot on your nose.”
“I’ve lost count of how many messages I’ve received over the years about my appearance,” Frederiksen wrote. “Especially that I have ugly teeth and thin hair. That I have an ugly ‘wart’ on my nose and well-meaning advice to get some Botox.”
The prime minister of the Nordic nation shared a screenshot of the plastic surgeon’s message on Instagram, though she did not name him.
She also posted her reply: “Oh no. I’m happy with my body — I really don’t need a male plastic surgeon to have an opinion about it!”
Frederiksen, a Social Democrat and Denmark’s second female prime minister, is serving her third term, placing her among Europe’s longest-serving and most seasoned leaders. She has led the European Union and NATO member state since mid-2019.
Her government has vowed to hold a tough line against U.S. President Donald Trump’s ambitions for Greenland, the kingdom’s semiautonomous territory, while continuing Denmark’s support for Ukraine in the face of Russia’s war of aggression.
In her Instagram post, Frederiksen emphasized that she does not comment on other people’s looks, adding that “I’m perfectly fine with my body — as it is when you’re a woman approaching 50.”
She added that “if you’re going to write to me (and you’re more than welcome to), I hope you’ll use your time to talk about something more meaningful. Not my nose.”
The prime minister also said that those unsolicited beauty tips and suggestions made her feel “indignant” and that “today, I’m sending an extra loving thought to all of you who have to put up with the ‘perfect imperfections’ we all walk around with every day.”
