Yes, you read that headline correctly – Denmark’s Crown Princess Mary is going to be mother again, and this time to twins!
Amalienborg Palace announced Friday that the babies are due in January 2011.
When Mary’s brother-in-law Prince Joachim was asked Friday about the pregnancy, he said “Wonderful news. Absolutely wonderful”.
He added: “You become really happy for such good news and you become even happier for double-good news”.
It was Crown Prince Frederik who told Joachim about it at Gråsten recently.
“He was more than ordinarily happy when he said it. It’s great that he can give the good news to those closest to him. Now the whole family is somersaulting with joy. I see the same joy in his eyes, as I experienced myself, when I became a father”.
He ends by telling that he looks forward to seeing how the twins will look like.
Congrats to Frederik, Mary, Christian and Isabella!
ROYAL PRESS PHOTO OG NIELS HENRIK DAM / COLOURPRESS
Most of members of the Danish royal family took part in a media photoshoot Wednesday at Gråsten Castle. Queen Margrethe II and Prince Henrik were there with their two sons, their daughters in law and their grandchildren. They were also with the Queen’s sister, Princess Benedikte and her husband, plus her grandchildren.
Absent from the event were Prince Joachim’s two eldest sons, Princes Nikolai and Felix, who are vacationing with their mother in Turkey. Also, Princess Nathalie, daughter of Benedikte, is still in Germany recuperating from delivering her son earlier this week.
ROYAL PRESS PHOTO OG NIELS HENRIK DAM / COLOURPRESS
Despite that, Prince Joachim was proud to show off his youngest son, Prince Henrik age 1, to the press. The little boy is turning into a spitting image of his mother, Princess Marie.
ROYAL PRESS PHOTO OG NIELS HENRIK DAM / COLOURPRESS
Meanwhile, Frederik and Mary were happy to pose with their two children, Prince Christian and Princess Isabella. Christian will be 5 years old this coming October, and there will be a lot of celebrations to mark that milestone. As for Isabella, age 3, she is turning into a lovely young lady – or rather, lovely young princess!
After the Dutch and Belgian Crown Princes promoted their respective countries at Shanghai’s World Expo 2010, it was Denmark’s Crown Prince Frederik’s turn to go to China to promote his Kingdom. He arrived Monday and spent Tuesday at the Expo, where Denmark had its flag day.
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On Monday, Frederik was seen playing handball with local students for the “Take Charge: Change Your Lifestyle” project, aimed to promote a healthy lifestyle, at the Nordic Lighthouse.
He later opened the “Danish Design Jewels” exhibit and gave a speech at a Sino-Danish conference called “Going overseas – how China’s new global companies can benefit from choosing Denmark.”
Also on Monday, the Crown Prince spoke to China’s news agency, Xinhua, about Denmark’s participation in the World Expo.
“It is always good when your own country has success in a country like China, so I am very positive about it. The expectations were of course big, with that in mind it is always a comfort that there is this interest from the audience and that the expectations have been exceeded.”
He also expressed hope that the rest of the world would follow Danes in their eco-friendly lifestyle.
“Denmark is a world leader in alternative energy sources, such as wind power. But we are also very good in minimizing and conserving the loss of energy in households and in general energy-saving solutions.”
On Tuesday’s agenda, Frederik visited the Danish pavilion at the Expo.
Also representing Denmark at the Expo is the Little Mermaid – the statue that is. It was removed from its position in Copenhagen port and is now a major draw in Shanghai.
It was a night of celebration as Sweden and royals from all over the world marked Saturday’s wedding between Crown Princess Victoria and Daniel Westling. Just like her parents had 34 years ago, Victoria and her fiancè were a given a special concert at the Royal Concert Hall in Stockholm. Pop acts and classical artists played through the night as if it were a final hurrah before tomorrow’s big event.
First arriving at the Hall was the House of Bernadotte. When she got out of the car, Crown Princess Victoria wowed the crowd waiting for her. Beaming and radiating of joy, the Crown Princess waved as the people gave her and Daniel a four-fold cheer.
They walked up the red carpet behind her parents, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia. Bringing up the rear were her two younger siblings, Prince Carl Philip and Princess Madeleine.
After the Swedish royal family came the friends and relatives of the royal couple, and the Swedish government leaders. Then came the royals from all over Europe, plus Japan and Jordan. The royal guest list even included those who are from deposed monarchies, such as Romania and Serbia.
All in all, 1,600 guests.
Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images Europe
Once inside, everyone dined amongst each other before the big concert. Those who haven’t seen each other in a while were able to say hello, such as Denmark’s Crown Princess Mary and Spain’s Crown Princess Letizia.
King Carl XVI Gustaf gave a small speech during the dinner, thanking the Prime Minister for allowing the wedding to take place – after all, the wedding of an heir to the throne needs government approval.
“We can all see how happy and engaged the engaged couple looks,” the King went on to say. “They really… You can feel the joy and youth and optimism in their eyes. We can all feel the warmth and happiness also in this hall and during this day.”
At about a quarter to nine local time, all those in attendance were in the Hall. Everyone stood and sang when the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra played the Swedish national anthem. Even Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II, who’s mother was a Swedish Princess, sang along.
Right after that, the orchestra began to play “Party Song” and right in the middle of the stage, lights went on, illuminating two
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figures holding hands. Crown Princess Victoria and Daniel Westling had made their appearance. They received a standing ovation as they made their way to two seats in the front row especially made for them. With that, the concert began.
It was clearly a joyous occasion for everyone in the Hall. Ballet was performed, the opera classic “Nessun Dorma” was sung – even pop and jazz acts played. The host of the event also poked playful fun at the royals in attendance. At one point, the group Jazz Divas of Scandinavia were about the perform and the host gave a nod to the Scandinavian Crown Princesses – Victoria, Mette-Marit and Mary. The women had a good laugh about it.
But the biggest act to perform that night was probably the 80s Swedish pop duo, Roxette, said to be one of Victoria’s favorite bands. As the band played “The Look,” everyone in the hall clapped along and a few – such as Norway’s Princess Martha Louise – moved their heads to the song. Once done, there was a standing ovation for Roxette.
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The concert came to a close when all the singers returned to the stage and together sang Elvis Presley’s classic, “Can’t Help Falling In Love.” As they did with the Roxette song, many of the royals sang along.
Overall, it was an emotional event for everyone. Queen Silvia was seen wiping away some tears and it looked as if King Carl Gustaf was getting teary-eyed. Even Princess Madeleine looked red in the eyes – as did Queen Margrethe and Dutch Queen Beatrix.
With that, the pre-wedding events were over. Tomorrow comes the wedding of the year as Crown Princess Victoria marries her love – and a former gym owner from a small village in central Sweden becomes Prince Daniel.
Denmark’s Crown Princely couple are on a four day visit to the capital of the United States. They are there to celebrate the Danish embassy’s 50th anniversary as well as promote Danish culture.
Hanne Juul/Billed Bladet
Thursday was their first full day of engagements and on their agenda, Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary went to John Eaton Elementary School. For the past year, the school participated in the Embassy Adoption Program in which its “adopted” the Danish embassy and the students at John Eaton have been learning about Denmark all year.
A class of fifth graders were selected to meet with Frederik and Mary, with whom they exchanged knowledge about the Scandinavian country. Mary told the students that before she moved to Denmark, she knew little about it with the exception of Hans Christian Andersen, the fairy-tale author.
For the remainder of their visit, the royal couple will visit the Walter Reed Military Hospital and meet with American soldiers. Denmark is fighting alongside the U.S. in Afghanistan.
Also, Frederik and Mary will lay a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery in honor of the troops who died defending Denmark in World War II.
They will also celebrate the Danish embassy’s 50th anniversary, meet with Danes living in the area and take part in a few seminars.
The Crown Prince and Princess are not expected to meet with President Obama or First Lady Michelle Obama.
Denmark’s Crown Prince Frederik was at the opening ceremony of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) Copenhagen 2010 Conference Monday. The conference focused on proposing ISO (International Organization for Standardization) 26000, which aims to increase corporations’ awareness of human rights, respecting different cultures, and being environmentally conscious.
Frederik delivered the opening speech at the conference, and he started off by talking about climate change. “Five months ago, just a few miles from here, world leaders and other delegates were discussing how to deal with climate change issues at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP 15.
“Climate change is a global challenge of great importance. On my frequent travels to Greenland, I have seen how melting ice caps and glaciers are transforming the life of people there. The consequences of global warming are very apparent in Greenland but in essence the consequences are global and affect people all around the world, not least in the developing countries.”
The Crown Prince then went on to discuss the importance of being socially responsible. “I believe that social responsibility is a duty to everyone engaged in society – locally or globally. It is a duty to citizens, to businesses, to organizations.
“But it is not only a duty. Acting responsibly makes oneself stronger, it makes society stronger, and at the end of the day it makes the world stronger. Being responsible to others is an inherent necessity of being human, a social requirement of being a citizen, and – I believe – a great advantage when doing business,” said Frederik.
“One of the difficult parts of social responsibility is how to define it, and to agree on how to approach it. This difficult issue is what you are here in Copenhagen to discuss. And it is, of course, a task of great importance.
“To reach a common guidance standard is a giant step forward for social responsibility to take effect. It will provide common ways of defining the basic terms. It will also establish a common framework for implementing social responsibility efforts.”
“It is my hope that organizations, companies and governments around the world, from a local, regional and global perspective, will make use of the ISO 26000 guidance standard. Make use of it for the sake of taking care of people, for the sake of taking care of the planet we share, and for the sake of taking care of business.”
Crown Prince Frederik then ended off his speech by saying, “Creating a common guidance standard is a global challenge. I hope that businesses, organizations and governments will adopt ISO 26000 and make social responsible actions ‘business as usual.’”
To learn more about ISO Social Responsibility, click here
After weeks of building up the big event, Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II officially celebrated her 70th year Friday, and she did it with the love of her people, her family and other royals from across Europe.
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Unfortunately, a lot of royals were unable to make to the festivities because of the volcanic ash shutting down airports in northern Europe. But that didn’t stop everyone from having a good time.
Friday began with 27 cannon rumblings from a nearby naval base. Within hours, the royal family of Denmark stepped out onto the balcony of Amalienborg Palace to greet the thousands of well-wishers who waved their country’s flag and cheered for their Queen. Along with the family, the crowd also sang “Happy Birthday” to the monarch affectionately known as Daisy.
During this time, police had to block a small group of anti-monarchists from protesting at the Palace. They were kept back at over 300 feet.
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Meanwhile, Margrethe and her husband, Prince Henrik, then rode a carriage through the streets of Copenhagen as they traveled to a reception at City Hall. There, European royals had a birthday lunch which seemed to be a prologue to the gala dinner in the evening.
Not all of Europe’s royalty were there for the celebrations. With air flights canceled due to ash from an Icelandic volcano, some were not able to come to Copenhagen at all. Britain’s Prince Philip, the Crown Princely couple of Belgium, and the King and Queen of Spain were those not in attendance. Others, such as Dutch Queen Beatrix, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and Crown Princess Maxima made it in via train just for Friday and had missed out on the performance gala Thursday night.
But luckily, they did not miss out on the dinner at Fredensborg Palace. Dressed to the nines, the royals gathered once again for the final part of Queen Margrethe’s birthday festivities. This time, her husband and eldest son, Crown Prince Frederik delivered moving speeches.
The Prince Consort went first. After welcoming the guests, he said in Danish, “Dear Daisy, 70 years is a milestone. The years that have elapsed, has filled you with a life experience that is influenced by your life’s work and your duty to follow it. But they also have filled you with joy and happiness – even if no people are living a perfect life. For aspects of life are manifold. But if you have lived as you can safely say that you have lived a rich life.
AP PHOTO/POLFOTO, Jens Dige
“You have contributed to your own life and greatly to mine, Frederik, Joachim, our grandchildren and our entire extended family. Yes, you have contributed more than that. You have too many lived a life that has inspired loving care, life energy, cheerfulness and artistic talent.
“Although you may begin to feel the age pass you from these sources of inspiration properties that blooms and evolves as never before.
“Your pleasant and amiable mind, combined with your life’s work, gives you an intuition and a compassion that touches people in your vicinity. For all those who live around you, every day enriched with joy and feeling of joy, happiness and admiration.”
With that, Prince Henrik gave a toast calling the Queen the light of his life.
REUTERS/Jens Norgaard Larsen/Scanpix Denmark
Next came Crown Prince Frederik, whom many thought Margrethe was going to abdicate the throne on this day for. Whether he was disappointed or relieved did not show on the Prince. Instead, he gave a sweet speech to his mother, and got a kiss from wife Crown Princess Mary as a result!
Even Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen spoke to the head of state in words the Queen described as “kind and beautiful.”
Finally, the birthday girl got her chance to speak. She gave a short and simple speech in which she thanked each of the speakers and gave them a few personal words. As for the rest of the guests, she said:
“What is 70 years? Many before you reach this far, but when the day comes, they are suddenly gone so quickly. Day has gone to day, year to year, many were the challenges, joys far more and far larger. Gratitude for everything that was me and part of everything I have experienced the greatest.”
With that, a toast was made and the night’s dinner began.
The past two days have seen one of the great gathering of royals of 2010. The next time this many royals would be at one place in such a glamorous environment with gowns, tuxedos and tiaras will be Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria’s wedding on June 19th – that is almost two months away!
Dozens of European royalty arrived at the Royal Danish Theatre for a performance gala to mark Queen Margrethe II’s 70th birthday.
REUTERS/Bob Strong
Although flights in northern Europe are experiencing delays and even cancellations because of an Icelandic volcanic eruption, many of the region’s royals made it to the celebration, and boy, were they a sight to see! Glamorous gowns, stunning tiaras, men in tuxedos – it all added up to the quintessential royal event.
First, the Danish royals: Crown Princess Mary wore a white Grecian style gown and her beautiful ruby tiara, while sister-in-law Princess Marie looked quite sexy in her tight red dress. Both were on the arms of their husbands, Frederik and Joachim.
Also on the arm of Crown Prince Frederik was fellow royal and good friend Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway. She looked quite stately in her gown that had a simple white top and a silvery floral skirt.
Representing Sweden were Crown Princess Victoria, her fiance Daniel Westling, and brother Prince Carl Philip. Victoria recycled a dress she wore to a dinner following the 2008 Nobel Prize ceremony. She also wore what seems to be her favorite tiara, the four button.
Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg were among the guests as well. The Grand Duchess wore her emerald tiara that went nicely with a sparkly gown.
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Queen Margrethe’s sisters, Princess Benedikte and ex-Queen Anne-Marie of Greece were also on the guest list, as was her niece, Princess Nathalie, who’s pregnant belly was noticeable, and her fiance, Alexander Johannsmann.
In addition to the royals at this event was the President of Iceland. While his country is experiencing a major natural disaster, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson arrived on time to pay his respects to the Danish Queen. Iceland was once a territory of Denmark.
The performance for the evening was an opera, a play and a ballet. The evening began with the overture from “The Elf Mound.” It was followed by two excerpts from Wagner operas, Bizet’s “Carmen” and samples of the ballets “Swan Lake” and “Romeo and Juliet.”
On the drama side was an excerpt of one of this season’s most notable performances, Holberg’s “Ulysses of Ithaca.”
Tomorrow will be the big day for Queen Margrethe, as she will finally turn 70 years old. More royals are expected such as the Dutch, who were unable to make it in time for tonight’s gala.
Friday marks Queen Margrethe II’s 70 birthday, and Denmark is going to great lengths celebrating this milestone. Since the beginning of the year, there have been televised documentaries, books and exhibits honoring the Danish monarch. But Tuesday began the real festivities.
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The members of the royal family put on their best attire for a gala dinner at Christiansborg Palace, with 375 guests including members of parliament.
Queen Margrethe gave a speech at the start of the dinner, where she spoke humbly about the affectionate relationship she has had with her people.
“Tonight I have the opportunity to bring a greeting and a thank you to the entire country for everything I through many years has received the kindness and warm attention from all sides,” said the Queen.
“It means a lot to me that even the Faroe Islands and Greenland are represented here tonight. Well, there may be far from Torshavn or Nuuk, but for me the distance never seemed exemplary or the many miles incalculable,” she said, mentioning Denmark’s territories.
“It is my hope that this evening alternating spots and surprises may be for the benefit of all those who have the opportunity to follow in the event.”
The Queen then concluded with a toast of champagne.
Performances by Danish singers and some foreign acts, such as Cliff Richard took place. There was even a magic trick show by comedian Rune Klan.
Celebrations for Queen Margrethe will last until Friday. I will keep you updated on the days’ events!
Denmark’s Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary are currently in Budapest, Hungary – the same time as Britain’s Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall are getting ready to leave. While the two couples did not meet up at one point, Budapest certainly got a taste of royalty this week.
The Crown Princely couple are in the city for its Spring Festival, where their country is the guest of honor. Running from March 19th to April 5th, the festivities include classical music and opera performances, ballets, film screenings and open-air performances.
Frederik and Mary attended the afternoon open ceremonies at the Ludwig Museum where Danish contemporary art in being showcased. Called “Power Games”, the exhibit aims to blend politics and social issues together.
As the sun set Friday, the couple visited Hungarian President Sólyom Lászó in Sándor Palace. The President also took the Prince and Princess to the Royal Ballet’s performance of “La Sylphide” and “Symphony C” in the National Opera House. Several Hungarian ministers and the Danish Minister of Culture were also there.
Frederik and Mary’s stay in Budapest would be exciting, but also brief. They are to return to Denmark Saturday.
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