Today BT has an article on PH, on this being his birthday. (It's also the Devil's birthday today BTW. - And being the Devil he has birthday twice a year, the two days the mortgage is due...).
Prins Henrik fylder 80 i dag: Så højt elsker vi ham - Royale | www.bt.dk
With a few delightful pics:
http://www.bt.dk/sites/default/files-dk/node-images/433/7/7433594---2.jpg
Here as snake charmer.
http://www.bt.dk/sites/default/files-dk/node-images/433/7/7433593---1.jpg
At the hippie and hashis-enclave Christiania.
http://www.bt.dk/sites/default/files-dk/node-images/433/7/7433597---5.jpg
At a hunt. - He's certain to be noticed! And if you can't hit the deers you can at least stun them...
The article deals with PH's popularity and he has indeed become pretty popular in recent years.
From a low point around the time, when he grumped about being relegated to number three in the royal pecking order, simply because Frederik has certain functions as a Crown Prince.
I understand this may be based in a cultural difference. While a Danish father would beam with pride over seeing his son taking over, a French (and perhaps a very conservative Frenchman at that) would frown at being "usurped" by his son.
Running off to Cayz complaining about being demoted and wishing to be equal with his wife, wasn't exactly endearing either.
His mastery of spoken Danish (his understanding of Danish is nothing short of brilliant) wasn't something to write home about either! Accent is forgivable but consistent basic gramattical mistakes are an irritant. - You are seen as not doing an effort to join and fit in with the tribe/village. The tribe being the opposite of cosmopolitan, so if you don't fit in, you are out. It's 0 or 1.
That has changed, not least helped by the portrait book some years back, which gave us a deeper insight to the man.
Now he's the somewhat excentric but endearing grandad who has his faults like everyone else.
But back to the article. It is claimed that he has become something of a cult figure among young peolpe, I don't know if that's true, but his excentricity is certainly appreciated and so is his habit of goofing around from time to time. His visit to Christiania (I guess every country has a weed-enclave somewhere, so imagine your own royals or first lady strolling about in suce a neighborhood and the reaction that would get) earned him a lot of credits!
He has become a popular item in a radio satire show, Monte Carlo, where his recipies have been read aloud with veneration and the host weren't mocking him, it's more a kind of endearing teasing.
To quote one: "We love Prince Henrik, because he in every way rests within himself (is in harmony). Some may think it's for the fun of it or with an ironic distance. But nothing could be more wrong. We are are very fond of his good mood, his lust for knowledge and in particular his behavior/way to be.
He's never afrais to step out of the role as Prince Consort and play the entertainer. And then we have to bow in admiration of a man who speaks five languages".
- In other words, he has been fully accepted by the tribe. Or perhaps rather, the tribe has gotten used to him and embraced him.
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A BB gallery:
http://www.billedbladet.dk/kongelige/danmark/billeder-tillykke-til-prins-henrik
And a Royalista gallery:
http://royalista.com/da/12460/happy-anniversary-queen-margrethe-and-prince-henrik-2/
ADDED: A 82 pic gallery of PH from BT:
http://www.bt.dk/royale/prins-henrik-fra-barn-i-hanoi-til-prins-af-danmark#slide-1
WARNING: If you are disturbed by nudity, skip pic #2.
You can read the story behind pic #42 here:
https://app.box.com/s/s9pfonckpovcdu2yk78g
