I think the babies must have had a rough night as Fredrik looks a little disheveled
I just wander does any one have any vague guess what this must cost? I think its wonderful for the Danes to see their Royals like this, but like I said before, it must take some work and money to pull this off!!!
As you pointed out yourself such a visit means a lot for the locals as you can tell from the turnout. It's extremely difficult to put a specific amount on the value of such a visit, which is essentially a celebration of a town with the pr focus that entails.
I can't put an amount of the cost of the ship and crew either, because I haven't got the info.
The ship is crewed mainly by conscripts, who in this way get some practical sailing experience. And serving onboard Dannebrog give extra credits should they ever join the navy as professionels or enter another part of the maritime business.
The alternative is that they either don't serve onboard a ship, while being conscripts or that they serve onboard a warship in Danish waters where nothing will happen. Because the ships send out on international missions are manned exclusively by professionals and the crews serving in the North Atlantic and around Greenland needs to be of a very high quality as well. It is for real up there!
While serving onboard Dannebrog they do something useful and that is more cost beneficial than sailing onboard a patrolling warship near to home. - The Navy Home Guard can do that just as well, better in fact and cheaper.
Another matter is accommodation. It's not just M&F who sleep onboard Dannebrog, it's also their staff and PET officers.
The alternative is either to fly or drive M&F and their staff every morning from Copenhagen to Northern Jutland and back again late in the evening. That aint cheap either.
Or to house them in a local hotel and drive and fly them to a new town every morning and back in the evening. Again, not the cheapest option. - And that also require 24 hour police protection.
Dannebrog also enables the DRF to be on stage for twelve hours, because from 22.00 in the evening when the ship sails, they can go a few steps, put their feet up and go: "Phew, home and alone at last". Otherwise they wouldn't be home in Copenhagen before around midnight at the earliest.
And they know that until 10.00 the next day they are at home and alone if they want to. I'm sure that means a lot mentally.
Danneborg herself is stylish and anyone who has ever seen her entering a harbour with members of the DRF onboard knows how huge a crowd pleaser she is. It cannot be compared to the DRF arriving in Rolls Royce or a helicopter.
Royalty is after all very much about showmanship.
More than anything else Dannebrog stirs a feeling of pride, a sense of belonging, a sense of history and even a sense of patriotism, even though that's a very strong word.
You can be a hardcore republican and still feel delight in watching Dannebrog, because it's beautiful spectacle.
It's very difficult to a price tag on something like that, something that is basically about emotions.
