The prime minister of Denmark has slammed a plastic surgeon who – apparently randomly and without invitation – suggested the leader “get that spot on your nose fixed”.
Mette Frederiksen has served as PM of Denmark since 2019. She is well used to the international stage and has regularly clashed with US President Donald Trump who has threatened the Danish territory of Greenland.
In an Instagram post, Ms Frederiksen that when she had returned from war torn Ukraine, she received a message from an unknown plastic surgeon she didn’t take kindly too.
“Do you want to get that little spot on your nose fixed?” the screenshot of a reported message to the PM said.
“The last thing I heard as we left Kyiv yesterday was the air siren,” Ms Frederiksen, 41, wrote on Monday, Denmark time.
“One of the first messages I got when I was back in Denmark was this one.
“Come on.”
Ms Frederiksen said she had long been bombarded with comments on her looks.
“I can’t count how many messages I’ve received over time about my appearance.
“Especially that I have ugly teeth and thin hair. The fact that I have an ugly ‘wart’ on my nose and good advice on getting Botox.”
“I’m fine with my body. Such as it is, when you are a woman approaching 50.”
Ms Frederiksen said the comments elicited “a little old fashioned outrage” from her.
“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”.
She said it was a “no thanks” to the plastic surgeon’s offer and rather she would be celebrating everyone with “perfect imperfections”.
Ms Frederiksen received almost 3000 responses to her post.
“Shouldn’t we stop reviving the trend of shaming women’s bodies?” said one.
“I wonder if a man would have been asked the same question,” was one comment.
“There is absolutely no reason to criticise your appearance,” said another – although the response had a sting in the tail. “ … when there is so much of you politics you can criticise instead”.