As the Danish Queen Margrethe II abdicates from the throne, which she announced in her New Year’s Eve speech – Denmark is about to have a new king. But who is he?
Crown Prince Frederik is 55 years old and next one in line to ‘guide the ship.’ He is quite popular among the public, but finding peace with his royal position surely took time. According to an expert on the Danish Royal house, Frederik didn’t really gain confidence about his royal circumstances until he was in his mid-20s.
“He was not strictly speaking a rebel, but as a child and young man, he was very uncomfortable with the media attention and the knowledge that he was going to be king,” said Gitte Redder to AFP.
A man of the public
During the early 1990’s, he was perceived as a spoiled party prince, who found solace in fast cars. But things changed after he graduated from Aarhus University in 1995 – as the first Danish royal to get a university degree.
At college, Frederik had a stint at Harvard, where he was enrolled under the pseudonym Frederik Henriksen. A fake surname, to represent his father Henri de Monpezat who became Prince Consort Henrik when he married the Danish queen.
It was especially when Frederik entered the Danish military, that he began to mature into his royal role. He served in the Frogmen Corps’ navy, where he was nicknamed ‘Pingo.’ He and three others were the only ones of 300 recruits to pass all tests in 1995.
Besides, Frederik is a sportsman. He likes skiing and he created ‘Royal Run’ which is an annual and popular race, where the royals run with the public in multiple cities.
“He is a sportsman, he attends concerts and football matches – which makes him even more accessible than his mother,” royal expert Redder said. And this is a conscious choice. Frederik once said he doesn’t wish to lock himself in a fortress. He wants to be himself fully – a human being. And he insisted, that this would not change after taking the throne.
Modern and woke
Frederik found love in Australia, where he met his wife Mary Donaldson in a bar. Today they have four children, who they wish to give as normal an upbringing as possible. For instance, Prince Christian – the eldest – was the first Danish royal to attend daycare.
The couple is considered a modern and ‘woke’ couple who loves pop music, modern art and sports, according to historian Sebastian Olden-Jørgensen.
They “do not represent a potential revolution compared to the queen”, but a careful transition adapting to the times, he said.
Source: Bangkok Post / AFP
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