To be,or not to be;that is the question…. That’s how despondent Prince Hamlet contemplates death and suicide while waiting for Ophelia, the love of his life. Now, we’ll not talking about William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, but about the Kronborg Castle – the home of Shakespeare’s beloved Prince of Denmark. To mark the 400th anniversary of Williams Shakespeare’s reign as the world’s bard, Denmark’s Kronborg Castle at Helsingø, is opening up for one night, listing a room on Airbnb (completely disregarding the Bard’s warning to “neither a borrower nor a lender be”).
On April 23, the anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, the doors to the King’s Tower will be flung open to a lucky guest or two willing to sleep under the “majestical roof fretted with golden fire.” There will be a canopy bed, embroidered throw pillows, an antique portable toilet fit for a queen, and naturally a skull—so it’s best to come prepared with your own soliloquy.
Guests will be feted royally, because there actually is nothing rotten in Denmark. The listing comes with an invitation to join a banquet along with 300 other guests (perhaps a mad prince or two?) for a feast of Shakespearean proportions.
Famous Danish actors, writers, and singers, and members of the Royal Danish Ballet, will entertain the crowd, but only a lucky few will have the right to stay the night.
Guests will be chosen based on a brief essay explaining why you would like to spend the night listening for the ghost of Hamlet’s father walking the castle’s ramparts. Essays must be submitted no later than 11:59 p.m. on April 13 and, yes, bonus points will be given if the essay touches on topics like justice and revenge and, of course, if it’s written in iambic pentameter.