Work Schedule

[ricarda]

Originally Posted by GlitteringTiaras

Frederik defends his work schedule to Jan Kroner. You can read about it here.

According to Frederik, to Jan: I work around the clock, buddy! Whoops! I guess Jan hit a sore spot because Frederik was clearly mad at the journalist who asked him, "It has been discussed/reported that you are not doing enough regarding work. Is it Eskstra Bladet's criticism?" Frederik replied, "You know, I work hard I work 24 hours a day seven days a week, just ask my father. And I will never retire!!!"

Other questions raised between Jan and Frederik with his friend, Holger Foss at his side eating lunch in Copenhagen:

"Good morning, what do you think about this book for it seems you have given more of yourself than you usually do?" Frederik responds, "It is up to the readers to judge..." says Frederik with evasive signals that he wants to be left alone to drink his beer and eat with his friend, Holger.

Overall, Frederik was in a bad mood.

Jan Körner btw is the journalist who first dubbed Mary the "Nordic Imelda Marcos" and later the same year wrote a book about the "Princess with Style". He usually asks provocative questions in a provocative way to stir up the pot (e.g. he is the one who told Marie during the engagement interview that Joachim is known as a party prince and asked her what she is going to do about it; she - IMO very charmingly - answered that she loves parties too; at that time Körner had already called her a party-princess btw ).
So no wonder if Frederik - who obviously was disturbed during lunch - wasn't too friendly to him. But actually,in the picture he doesn't look as if he is in a bad mood.

And drollekop, if you look at their calendar you will find that in most months Frederik has as many engagements as Mary, in some even more, in a few less. (But he usually doesn't get as much media attention)
So, I don't think Mary is compensating anything.

[T4phage]

Just ask my father?

Rather childish, no?

[wombat]

I think it is rather obvious that Mary seems to be working a lot more then Fred, she seems to have something on almost every day and on top of that has 2 childeren to look after.
I always get the feeling she is almost compensating for Fed's lack of commitment. I quess they might have different workethics, Mary being a commoner and used to working hard. IMO Australians have a strong work ethic and maybe she also works hard because she was not born into royalty, some how feels she needs to 'earn' her way. Like she is trying to proof herself by almost over doing it.
I don't know if I am breaking any rules here as I have never posted before, but that's MO.

[Amelia]

"You know, I work hard I work 24 hours a day seven days a week, just ask my father. And I will never retire!!!"

I'm hoping this got a little lost in translation 'cause otherwise it sounds like something a schoolboy would say

[wiwaxia]

Originally Posted by Amelia

I'm hoping this got a little lost in translation 'cause otherwise it sounds like something a schoolboy would say

The translation is absolutely accurate

[GlitteringTiaras]

There are no excuses for his answer nor his attitude towards Jan (who I am very well aware of thank you very much) plain and simple. Reading the text Frederik came off as being in a rather bad mood; if you are still unsure read the article yourselves.

[T4phage]

Originally Posted by GlitteringTiaras

There are no excuses for his answer nor his attitude towards Jan (who I am very well aware of thank you very much) plain and simple. Reading the text Frederik came off as being in a rather bad mood; if you are still unsure read the article yourselves.

Exactly, it was outright rude. And, if he works 24/7, why is he out drinking with friends?

And, why ask his father? I think out of everyone to ask, his father is the last person to ask. It sounds childish and makes him look bad.

[princess leonor]

Originally Posted by T4phage

Exactly, it was outright rude. And, if he works 24/7, why is he out drinking with friends?

And, why ask his father? I think out of everyone to ask, his father is the last person to ask. It sounds childish and makes him look bad.

hahha, good one, it sure is obvious that he doesn't work 24/7 if he was having lunch on a terrace. I can understand he was annoyed by being disturbed at lunch, but I gues it was quite rude indeed and he knows that in his position he cannot expect to be left alone when sitting outside on a terrace. He did actually sound quite childish, quite cute though, I think that's how a 8 year old would have responded!

[princess leonor]

These things are quite impossible to judge IMO. We don't know how much work they do and will never know it. Because obviously every engagement they have requires a lot of preparation, and during these preparations there are no cameras present to take photographs of them! I do think they have less public engagements than other royal couples, but that doesn't mean anything of course. I wonder why Frederik felt the need to defend himself though, from what I've read from your translations of the interview, he actually felt attacked by the journalist and in the need to defend.

[ricarda]

If you look at the various calendars, they don't have less public engagements than the Norwegian, the Dutch or the Belgian royal couples.

I'm hoping this got a little lost in translation

I would say everything gets lost with EB/Körner, and not through translation,I would rather say through "willfull misquoting".

[Duke of Marmalade]

Unless the protagonists of a monarchy (Kings, Crown Princes) will anger the public with obvious lazyness or do nothing at all which is clearly not the case in Denmark I don't think the amount of events is the decisive factor. Furthermore, we don't know how much they work behind the scenes and in well established monarchies such as Denmark people probably tend to value other benefits higher than a packed schedule. Best example is Spain, they work their butts off but might be the first in line for abolishment after the King's death. Bottom line is the Danish do work and attending one event after another does not have to be a key factor to survive. I think the question of benefit for the Danish people will only come up on the agenda when Frederik becomes King and well into his reign but not now, no way.

[Amelia]

I wonder why Frederik felt the need to defend himself though, from what I've read from your translations of the interview, he actually felt attacked by the journalist and in the need to defend.

Well in his defense he was just sitting there having his lunch, so the whole thing probably just caught him a little off-guard.

[princess leonor]

Originally Posted by Amelia

Well in his defense he was just sitting there having his lunch, so the whole thing probably just caught him a little off-guard.

oh really, I thought it was part of a whole interview or something! No wonder he was a bit annoyed, if he was disturbed during his lunch!

[Amelia]

Well I don't care who Frederik is I find it very bad manners for the reporter to walk up to him while they are having lunch and start asking questions. He should of waited till he was leaving.

Frederik's answer to ask his father is the strangest thing that I have ever seen.

[Saphire]

When I started this discussion it was out of curiosity about how much work, that we don't see, this couple is doing. I think that we will never now what they do or don't do behind closed doors or with this foundations/groups in private. It really is a moot point, some couples are very visual and we see them attending many functions during the week, others seem to attend just a few. Not saying that the ones who have full schedules work more, I don't know that, but, but, they can be perceived as working more. On the other side of the coin, those who have fewer public appearances may be working just as hard as the ones with full schedules. It's hard to say as we don't have full access to their daily schedules.

[Amelia]

We see them taking a whole week of celebrations for a birthday

We did?

I think the question is how much work are they actually doing.

You will never have an answer to that question because unless you spend every single minute of every single day with them there is no way for you to know how much they are actually doing when they are out of the camera's reach. You could, if you wanted, take Mary's word for it that they do work behind the scenes, that just because we don't see them doesn't mean they aren't involved or you could choose to believe that she is lying and does nothing but sit on her backside all day being waited on by an army of servants. I guess it all boils down to what your own personal opinion of the couple is.

Also, I am sure that CPs Mary is a a good human being, but lending her name and face to a cause while a great thing to do does not put her in the same sphere as Mother Teresa.

I don't think I have ever seen any member here ever compare a royal to Mother Theresa, but there is nothing wrong in acknowledging the things they do for their country.

[Saphire]

Originally Posted by Amelia

We did?


You will never have an answer to that question because unless you spend every single minute of every single day with them there is no way for you to know how much they are actually doing when they are out of the camera's reach. You could, if you wanted, take Mary's word for it that they do work behind the scenes, that just because we don't see them doesn't mean they aren't involved or you could choose to believe that she is lying and does nothing but sit on her backside all day being waited on by an army of servants. I guess it all boils down to what your own personal opinion of the couple is.


I don't think I have ever seen any member here ever compare a royal to Mother Theresa, but there is nothing wrong in acknowledging the things they do for their country.

I also said that I don't know how much work they do behind closed doors. Just because I have an opinion that doesn't agree with yours, it does not make it wrong.

[Amelia]

Just because I have an opinion that doesn't agree with yours, it does not make it wrong.

Where did I say your opinion was wrong? You expressed yours, I expressed mine. So please don't try to accuse me of something that is so obviously not true.

If you had paid attention you would have noticed that I said that I don't know how much work they do behind closed doors.

And? I never said that you did. I commented on the part of your post where you said the question is how much work are they actually doing.

The Diana-fans used to do that all the time...

A princess who lived a life of luxury to Mother Theresa Sometimes I just don't get people

[dee4855]

Give Mary some credit. She is at least trying to do some good. That is more than many do! The longer she is in the royal family the more she will find her way, and in which areas she wants to lend her name and time too. She has only been a royal for 4 years and is doing very well seeing she has two small children and just learning about her new home land. I can hear now she has all this "help". Yes, she does but it still means her time and efforts to pull it off. If you do not like what she does, or tries to do, there are many other CP families that may suit you better. There are some that would not be happy if she was out and about 5 days weekly working.