Who is the Danish Crown Prince Frederik, who will become king in two weeks?
Arjen van der ZielJanuary 1, 2024, 7:35 PM
The fact that his mother announced in a television speech on New Year’s Eve that she would resign in two weeks came as a surprise to almost everyone in Denmark. It was therefore a break with tradition. Previous Danish monarchs always sat on the throne until their death. Queen Margrethe mentioned, among other things, a back operation she underwent in February as the reason for her farewell on January 14. Crown Prince Frederik (55) will then become king.
“When the time comes, I will take the helm of the ship,” the prince himself declared in 2022, when Denmark celebrated his mother’s half-century on the throne. “I will succeed you, as you succeeded your father.”
Passion for fast cars
In his youth, Frederik says he did not feel very well for years. The Crown Prince felt that his parents were neglecting him due to their royal duties and had difficulty with all the attention from the media and the public. In the 1990s he gained a reputation as a party animal and daredevil, with a passion for fast cars. He took part in a months-long ski expedition through Greenland in 2000 and ended up in hospital several times after sledding and scooter accidents.
His studies in political science were one of the factors that contributed to this frivolous image. Frederik spent some time at the prestigious American Harvard University and was the first member of the Danish royal family to complete a university degree.
He also served in all three branches of the armed forces: army, air force and navy. In a diving unit he was nicknamed Pingo (penguin), apparently because he once waddled around like a bird with a full wetsuit.
‘I want to be myself’
The ‘party prince’, as the media once called him, is now in calmer waters. He married Australian Mary, whom he met in a bar in Sydney in 2000 during the Olympic Games there. The two have two sons and two daughters, whom they try to raise as normally as possible and mainly send them to regular public schools.
The crown prince, who will probably soon be called King Frederik X, still loves sports and enjoys going to football matches and concerts. But he is also very committed to environmental protection and the fight against global warming. And he does his best to be even more approachable than his wildly popular mother.
For many Danes, Frederik embodies the gradual modernization of their royal family. “I don’t want to lock myself in a fortress,” the prince once said. “I want to be myself, a human being.”
Also read:
Danish Queen Margrethe will abdicate on January 14
Denmark’s Queen Margrethe will abdicate on January 14. The 83-year-old queen announced this in her end-of-year speech. She then sat on the Danish throne for 52 years.
2024-01-01 18:35:22
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