Crown Prince Frederik, Current Events Part 5: November 2014 - November 2015


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Even though it was PET that made the decision, Crown Prince Frederik has accepted responsiblity for the decision and apologized. As others have said, if this is the worse "scandal" that the DRF has to face, I am sure that the Spanish and British royal houses would welcome such a "scandal" right now!:lol:

As for this incident being on BBC news, the reporter is Malcolm Brabant, the husband of Trine Villeman. If not for that, this would never have even been mentioned or taken notice of by the BBC!:whistling:
 
Yes we are not in the league of royal scandals as seen in other countries.

But as for crossing a red light. As I recall, it was Prince Joachim who made fun of the danes not crossing a red light. He said that it is only in Denmark people are standing and looking at the red light even when there is no cars in sight.

And skipping a line is a mortal sin in Denmark. One of the things foreigners has to learn - I even think it is mentioned in a guide to immigrants.
 
Terri Terri said:
Even though it was PET that made the decision, Crown Prince Frederik has accepted responsiblity for the decision and apologized. As others have said, if this is the worse "scandal" that the DRF has to face, I am sure that the Spanish and British royal houses would welcome such a "scandal" right now!:lol:

As for this incident being on BBC news, the reporter is Malcolm Brabant, the husband of Trine Villeman. If not for that, this would never have even been mentioned or taken notice of by the BBC!:whistling:
Click to expand...

Agreed, and nicely put.
ok, he made a mistake, he apologized (even if the blame is not all his)
what more can he do? turn back time?
he apologized, so unless he does it again and again, i dont see the issue
from the reactions you would have thought he ran over someone or something. :ermm:
From following the DRF for a few years now, I dont get the sense of self entitlement in Frederik. Issuing a statement and not just ignoring the situation was good in my mind.

and yes Im having a laugh and so are many others to this bridge "scandal"
my favorite post
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B7J5v6pIIAAPdwZ.jpg
 
It seems the furor is dying down a little. I enjoyed the humorous pictures that were posted. Especially the James Bond-ish one, with Mary hanging onto Fred and the Little Mermaid in the background. :lol:

Muhler was right, there are more serious things going on in Europe right now. By comparison, this is somewhat refreshing - sorry, that's the only word I can think of right now. But it's put Denmark in the news - first the North Pole business, and now bridgegate. There is a certain governor here in the US who has had a 'bridge problem' for some time now. Fred's little escapade will blow over long before his does. BTW, I see your Prime Minister took a fall in Paris. She seems to be all right, though.
 
The saga about Frederik's bridge crossing continues: Nye oplysninger: Politiet lod kronprinsen køre over broen | Nyhederne.tv2.dk

DR1 has dug deeper and found out that Frederik and/or PET did cross the bridge without the permission of the local police Saturday afternoon.

However when he crossed the bridge again the night to Sunday, it was with the permission of the local police: Politi lod kronprinsen krydse stormlukket bro | Nyheder | DR
That is, someone within the police gave the permission.

Because according to the log the police at Funen, that's west of the bridge, informed the police in western Zealand, that's east of the bridge, at 01.00 that the crown car with Frederik will pass the bridge once it arrives at the bridge. (Patrol cars from Funen police apparantly escorted Frederik, with sirens and lights flashing). The log then reads that at 02.53 Southern Zealand police informs that Frederik with escort are to be allowed across the bridge. At 03.05 the log reads that Frederik has passed the bridge.

The police commissioner for Southern Zealand police, Steen Nørskov, said Sunday that Frederik had not been granted permission to pass the bridge. He says: "This is news to me. I will of course relate to that. And I will investigate that further at once".

- So it seems like a number of police officers on the spot gave permission for Frederik to pass. Probably in a more or less misunderstood gesture of being obliging to the Crown Prince and/or extending a favor to PET.
In other words: If PET requests permission to pass an otherwise closed bridge and the same PET officers are escorting the Crown Prince, then I think most medium level police officers in charge will snap their heels and grant permission without further questions.

BTW the PM today during her weekly press conference declined to comment further on the Frederik episode except saying that she thought it wise that Frederik issued a public apology early on.
 
new reports are coming in that police did give permission for him to cross the bridge
"Survey shows that the police gave the crown prince allowed to cross an otherwise closed Belt Bridge.
As crown prince night of Sunday would run over the otherwise storm closed Belt Bridge, it was the police who allowed him to pass.
It informs the company behind the bridge, Sund & Belt, in a statement to the Ministry of Transport which DR News has had access.
In the report, it appears that the crown prince Saturday at 15:15 arriving at the toll station at halsskov on Funen.
Here he is in agreement with the South Zealand and Lolland-Falster police allowed to run through the system and keep on the other side of the track before the bridge."
Politi gav grønt lys til kronprinsens brotur - Indland
Politiet gav Kronprinsen lov til at krydse lukket Storebæltsbro - Nationalt | www.b.dk
Either way, I still liked that he apologized since it caused frustration among other drivers
 
This put thing in another perspective, when the police gave their permission.

But Frederik must understand it never is a good idea to skip a line.

Scandal was worldwide, gave us great publicity and must be blown over now.
 
Fox said:
But Frederik must understand it never is a good idea to skip a line.
Click to expand...

I really dislike it when people "skip the line", but,I really think it's pretty obvious, that people in certain positions do skip the line, are driven straight to entrancies etc etc. This goes for members of the DRF, royalty in general (I very much doubt Frederik is the only one in the whole world of royalty who does that ;)) , presidents, prime ministers and so on.
It just comes with the "territory". Personally, it doesn't bother me at all, it's pretty natural.
I don't think it has anything to do with feeling "entitled".
From everything I have read and seen about Frederik, I haven't seen anything that would suggest that he has that sort of mentality.
 
I'll forgive Frederik for this, he made a public apology via a statement, which these days is very rare indeed!
 
FasterB said:
It wasn´t CP Frederik´s decision to cross the bridge. It was PET who took the desicion. Let´s get that straight.

So I can´t see why all keeps blaiming CP Frederik.
Click to expand...

He's a 40+ years man, he can't say the big boys made him do it. If he was that bothered by it he could have told PET not to continue. As much as I agree it's a massive fuss over not very much at all, it will be worse if Fred is seen or portrayed to try to blame everyone else.
 
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tommy100 said:
He's a 40+ years man, he can't say the big boys made him do it. If he was that bothered by it he could have told PET not to continue. As much as I agree it's a massive fuss over not very much at all, it will be worse if Fred is seen or portrayed to try to blame everyone else.
Click to expand...

i dont think he is trying to blame others, the statement reads that he the CP regrets it
"The Crown Prince is sorry that it happened and (he) can well understand that the situation caused additional frustrations and anger among the people who had been waiting for many hours to cross the bridge. It was a wrong decision to accept te opportunity for the car to continue and the Crown Prince regrets that"

even if it has come to light that the CP does not interfere with PET matters and that the police more or less let them.
 
Danskernes dom over Kronprinsens brokørsel: Det var en dum beslutning - Danmark | www.bt.dk

Gallup has made a survey for BT and the result of the survey shows that 64 % believe Frederik should not have crossed the bridge. If it's closed for everybody else it should be closed for royals as well.
68 % state that their view on Frederik has remained unchanged or only marginally changed as a result of this.
For 21 % the incident has changed their view of Frederik to being more negative.
30 % believe it will harm the reputation of the DRF on a long term basis.

- The exact wording of the questions are not mentioned in the article, nor are the options for the replies. However, Gallup is very reputable and I doubt they "manipulate" the survey in order to serve the interests of BT or others that hire them.

That is, no thing like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0ZZJXw4MTA
 
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:previous:maybe its my google translate but it looks like for most their opinion on frederik has not changed

"But although the Danish people think that Crown Prince Frederik took a wrong choice when he drove over the Great Belt Bridge, they think no worse of the Crown Prince of the reason. And Crown Prince Frederik is apparently still 'the people's prince.

another article on the poll
Brotur koster kronprinsen populariteten - Politiken.dk
 
:previous: No, your Google translate is correct. I just prefer to let people interpret the figures themselves.

In my interpretation it reads that 68 % believe it's nothing or a very trivial matter.
21 % believe it wasn't the brightest idea. = A "Come on, Frederik. Think".

30 % are pessimists or wish to put the DRF up against the wall or simply believe the DRF shouldn't make too many mistakes like this.

The survey in Politiken is made by Megafon, which is often used but IMO not quite as reputable as Gallup.

55 % do not think crossing the bridge was okay.

Around 25 % find it acceptable.

As for his popularity 20 % are now more negative or much more negative towards him.

That means that QMII today is the most popular member of the DRF with 37 % votes, while Frederik has dropped to a second place with 27 %.
Last year Frederik was in the lead.

However, 69 % still believe Frederik is suited to be Regent (i.e. king) and there is still a majority in favor of the monarchy, even though 14 % have become more negative towards the monarchy.

-----------

Interestingly I read somewhere else today that it is among the 18-35 year olds is the most supporters of the monarchy can be found, I can't remember the exact figure but it was in the high 80 %

----------------

IMO it speaks volumes of the behavior and moral standing of the DRF that a trivial matter like this is even taken serious.
This is a PR-problem some other royal families can only dream of!
 
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Muhler said:
IMO it speaks volumes of the behavior and moral standing of the DRF that a trivial matter like this is even taken serious.
This is a PR-problem some other royal families can only dream of!
Click to expand...

thank you:flowers:
and i agree 100%
i think some danes are getting tired over the amount of coverage the media has placed on this incident
a tweet
"Have read Berlingske in my whole life. But enough is enough. Why should HRH Crown Prince ridiculed when PET was the decision maker"
 
Seriously!???:lol:It has actually come down to polls being done for this incident!!??? WOW!! :ohmy:Goodness, if that is the case, Denmark would have been a republic by now if they had members who acted like some royals in the Spanish and British royal families!!!

I think because CP Frederik is regarded as being a generally humble and down-to-earth person is why people are willing to forgive him this "slip-up" and he is still popular. It was also good that he accepted responsibility for this situation early and apologized. I have a feeling if the tables were turned and it was Prince Joachim in this situation, he would not be forgiven as easily!

But you know what is even more sad?:ermm:....the media attention given to this incident has been so blown out of proportion compared to the almost total lack of media attention given to most of CP Frederik's official activities and duties!

ADDED!

Hear! Hear! Love this commentary!
http://www.b.dk/kommentarer/brobizzen
 
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well due to the lack of scandals given by the DRF the danish media has to take what they can find and blow it overboard, lol. ; )

back to his event
Here is another gallery from the Sports gala event, 3 pictures of Frederik
I can also see the USA ambassador attended as well
Galleri Sport 2014
 
I love the DRF they have such calm little scandals


Sent from my iPhone using The Royals Community
 
One day it may not be such a calm little scandal. If the Danes get so excited over driving violations the real thing is going to be devastating and the near end of the DRF and I mean that only half jokingly.
 
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:previous: Well, at some point somone within the DRF are going to screw up big time, then we might talk about a crisis, but even then I'm pretty certain people are able to maintain their sense of proportions. So IMO it will take a lot to seriously threaten the status of the DRF, let alone the monarchy.

That's one of the disadvantages of living in a tribe or village, which Denmark and the Danes really are. If someone for once does something everyone has an opinion about it. And as usual it's mostly the loudest who are heard.

Also keep in mind that because DK is a small country and because we are a tribe, the DRF are in many ways like distant relatives to most Danes.
It's the equivalent to talking and gossiping about uncle Hubert, who is married to aunt Olga and who lives in the other end of the country.
We don't see them that often, but we often hear about them and we know their children and what they have been up to lately.
Now uncle Hubert has been nicked for speeding. - And of course the whole family are talking about it and we generally agree it wasn't such a bright idea and come on, Hubert, really! - But that doesn't mean we stop liking uncle Hubert and we still attend family get-togethers with Hubert and Olga and we wouldn't dream of cutting them out of the rest of the family.
You get the meaning of my analogy? ;)
 
Scandinavians treasure their orderly little societies.

I know this because I watch Lilyhammer.
 
To quote several comments I came across on Facebook: "If I hear one more word about a car crossing a bridge I will throw up. There’s terror in France, there’s killed 3000 innocent people in Nigeria and we are talking about a car having crossed a bridge in bad weather!! "

I dare to say that's exactly what 9 out of 10 Danes seems to mean as well.

That the Danish media end out blowing it totally out of proportion actually seems to only have been to Frederik's advantage. If you followed it on Facebook you could see how the Danes tried their best to bring ‘the story’ down into level and ended up taking Frederik in total defense (many even pay tribute to him) because the exaggerate coverage was embarrassing.

Jason Watt, an acknowledged sportsman, was the first out with a post. A post there have recieved ten thousands of likes and shared on Facebook:

"Breaking News in France: The fight against terrorism is at its highest. Breaking News in Denmark: A blue car driving over a bridge in windy conditions. We certainly have it very well here in Denmark, huh?"
https://scontent-a-ams.xx.fbcdn.net...=6184b68b3745cc21673eb260d3d64670&oe=55244C44

And it seems to be the general reaction among Danes IMO.
PET decided that night that the best solution was to get the Crown Prince over the bridge and home. The police gave their permission. The day after PET admitted a better solution may could have been found, Frederik as well and he regretted. End of story. And let’s so move on to the real problems in the world, thanks...

Politicians even wrote yesterday that they think Denmark (with the new information about that it was PET's decision and that the police did gave PET their permission) owe our Crown Prince an apology. A post that has been shared and has received thousands of likes.
https://scontent-b-ams.xx.fbcdn.net...=70c9f8f25a9a84f98f93d23018c90a8e&oe=552F7BC6
https://scontent-b-ams.xx.fbcdn.net...=457a2ddd61cd00cbb327f28f2394a3ec&oe=55333F08

As the Gallup survey also shows I doubt it will affect Frederik's large and folksy popularity. I’m not saying I think it was just fine because I agree with PET and Frederik that a better solution may could have been found. But it really isn’t more worse and it was, for some reason, blown totally out of proportion. Perhaps you now understand why Denmark is called the world's happiest country. It’s not big problems we apparently have in this country!

Not a single article or word today in the Danish media... seems to have been a 'storm' in a glass of water (sorry, I couldn't resist :p)
 
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Hahaha!! Yes you Danes are an unlucky bunch ? maybe the media need Mary to be out and about have some photo ops so they have something to write about! Or let the twins go for a run around the palace with Ziggy!! ?


Sent from my iPhone using The Royals Community mobile app
 
Thanks Roskilde for your post and putting things in perspective.
Yes, reading on twitter it seemed like alot of Danes found the media coverage on this event overblown. Good that he apologized, even if he had permission

Moving forward, tomorrow Frederik travels to Qatar to attend the World Handball Championship in Qatar on 15 and 16th January.
the 15th is the opening day, the 16th Denmark plays versus Argentina. I read that the Danes are quite good at this game. The tournament runs until the 31st.
I remember last year the CP couple kids got jerseys with their names on it from the handball team.
24th Men's Handball World Championship | 15th January – 1st February 2015
 
While I think "Bridge-gate" has been blown out of proportion, it wouldn't be the worst idea for the royal family and their team to use this as a learning opportunity. Are there any lessons that can be taken from this relatively small issue that may help to avoid some future crisis?

One thing this illustrates to me - and I think there's an element of this with pretty much every royal scandal, big and small - is how much of a bubble even the folksiest and most down to earth royals live in. Based on the reports over the last couple of days Frederik either:
A) crossed the bridge - once or twice, knowing it was closed and then lied about "making it just in time" to reporters. This would be a very poor reflection of Frederik's judgement/character, but I think this scenario isn't very likely.

B)genuinely thought the bridge was open, despite the weather, the fact that his was the only car on the bridge at the time, the line up of angry motorists he presumably had to drive by to get onto the bridge, and the fact that PET at some point in all this stopped to confer with the police. Again, this just doesn't ring true to me.

C)didn't really question the PET officers as to what was going on regarding the whole situation because it's their job to take care of inconvenient details like this and Frederik is used to just getting in the back seat of the car and not worrying about anything until he gets to his destination. special arrangements have always been made for him so he doesn't really take on board what a big distinction open bridge vs closed bridge is to most people, and how big of a disruption it can be in people's lives, and therefore why the whole thing looks bad.

That would be a good thing for Frederik to learn from this, IMO: sometimes even stupid little things can turn into actual problems because they just look bad.
 
I think you nailed it Roskilde, another survey (!) published today in Jyllands Posten, this time by Willke, which I don't know much about, have the following figures: Måling: Danskerne blæser på kronprinsens bro-ture - Indland

Do you think Frederik is worthy of becoming king of Denmark:
Yes: 85 %
No: 7.9 %
Don't know: 7.1 %

Which of these options do you prefer for Denmark:
That we continue with the monarchy as it is today? 79 %
That the monarchy is abolished to be replaced by a president? 17.8%
Don't know: 3.3 %

The royal expert, Lars Hovbakke Sørensen, comments that an individul episode like this does not have any significance, only if there are a string of similar episodes.

That may be the case should the members of the DRF feel, (genuinely feel) above everybody else (in regards to legislation, general moral behavior and so on.
Lars Hovbakke Sørensen mentions specific examples from Spain (the king going hunting for elephants in the middle of a serious financial crisis) and Sweden (the King being caught having had an affair and frequenting strip clubs and so on), where the royals lived by another standard than is generally acceptable among the people.

Using special privileges is acceptable within reason. However, this situation is special because Frederik crossed a bridge that was closed for reasons of safety, without having an absolutely good reason for doing so. (Like a security threat, bad health and so on), comments Lars Hovbakke Sørensen.

- I remember a minister having to resign after a visit to Greenland around 1980, where she commandeered a patrolling warship. Meaning that the ship didn't perform it's normal duties, like fishery inspections for several days. That was a case of clearly overstepping the line in regards to privileges for government ministers.

Thank you, Kimlan.
 
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