"1015 København K" by Trine Villemann (2007)


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Well, since she's apparently on sabbatical from TRF again, this might be a good time to either restrict our observations to the book itself or wait till someone else has come along who's read it and has something they want to add to the conversation. :flowers:
 
Well, since she's apparently on sabbatical from TRF again, this might be a good time to either restrict our observations to the book itself or wait till someone else has come along who's read it and has something they want to add to the conversation. :flowers:

Yeah, you're right. Sorry for my part in veering this topic off course ... However, I really do think it's hard NOT to talk about Trine herself, though (in all fairness) when one discusses her book, as both are so controversial at this point in time.

I want to see her back here. I just got an e-mail from her hubby that I haven't read yet. I'll try to persuade both to continue coming here. I really like reading what both have to say even though they might stridently disagree with most folks in this thread.

-- :flowers:
 
The lesson from this discussion must be that if you intend to
write a debate book on a royal family you should never introduce
yourself as an "impertinent" or "brazen" journalist ( as TV does on
her Danish website and in the Danish media) if you want to be
taken seriously!

You should never use anonymous sources! If they are unavoidable
for some reason, they should be reduced to an absolute minimum
for the sake of the overall credibilty.

Nor should you present speculations and gossip as facts.

If you claim to be a royalist and that your book is written in the
best interest of the monarchy, then you should avoid alliances
with professed republicans like the plague! Excuse me for
repeating myself: " 1015-København K" was published by the
publishing co. of the blatantly republican tabloid Ekstra-Bladet.
I cannot rid myself of the suspicion that TV is a republican
masquerading as a royalist!

If you want your book to be taken seriously, don't write in the
chatty, sensationalist style of a tabloid journalist, as is often the
case in "1015-K".

If you claim to be a royalist you should not put members of
the royal family in question in a bad light by exposing their
faults and flaws. It doesn't add up in the big picture; it
serves no purpose, unless of course you have a hidden agenda
and hope that the mud will eventually stick! I'm particularly referring
to TVs constant ridicule of CP Frederiks public speaking skills,
it has been heartless!

You (the author) should know the history of the monarchy as
well as the background of the RF traditions, customs and general
court procedures etc. For instance, if you criticize a
custom, you've got to know why it is there in the first place!
Ignorance on the part of the author detracts from the credibility.

As I have mentioned earlier, as a Danish royalist I don't mind a
debate on the Danish monarchy and its future role, and
how the DRF could revise their focus or optimize the royal
brand in new contexts and so forth. The Danish RF
has had so much tail wind for the past decades that there's
a risk of being lulled asleep. I for one think that the DRF is
resting too much on the laurels for their own good.
This is IMO, other Danish TRF members may perceive things differently.

Finally, I don't intend to be heartless to TV. There's the good old
golden rule that you should always treat others as you would like
to be treated yourself! However she is no innocent victim
as far as the debate about "1015-København K" is concerned.

Just for the record: When writing about various subjects on her
blog, TV often displays a decent amount of common sense, presented
in decent journalistic Danish.

"1015-K" didn't quite make it!

From me to you, Trine Villemann: Know your stuff, know your
target group, know your focus and never, ever underestimate
the reader! All the best!

End of ramblings :), good night!
 
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Well said both Viv and Jo. I've been following this thread since it started (and in fact this thread is what pushed me to finally join TRF instead of just lurking). I've restrained from saying something since I have not read the book. I won't comment on what may or may not be in the book, but I do agree with many of the posters about the alleged (since I haven't read the book I can't confirm this) use of anonymous sources. I just don't think they can be used in a book that is being touted as "historical". I'm not a fan of anonymous sources at all, having relied in the past on people who swear the sources are rock solid and then it turns out they are not.


I still have concerns about the author being on the forum, but it has made for a lively debate all around.

After reading reviews, I don't think I will be purchasing the book even though I'm sure there are some interesting points. And, alas, I don't think my local library has it.
 
Well, it's always best to base opinions on having read a book yourself, but I know that people can't be expected to read everything. Maybe you could see if the library could get the book on interlibrary loan or something, especially since it gives an interesting overview of the modern history of the Danish monarchy, which might be unfamiliar to people in the USA.

Now, if we could all get away from trying to be mindreaders, it would be much appreciated.
 
I wanted to give my brief opinion about the book. I ordered it and luckily received it just in time to have nothing else to due thanks to Hurricane Ike's wrath on our coast.

I am not a big fan of the Danish Royals but am very curious about them because of their connection to my favorite Greek Royals.

I didn't find it anything less or more than any biography I've read about Diana, Princess of Wales or other royals, for that matter. It's short. There aren't any pictures and of course, there's not enough about the Greek side.

For someone coming from very far outside of the Danish family, I was a bit confused and it took me some research to understand who all the "players" really were. We don't get a lot of information here about Denmark in general or their royal family. I personally would have preferred it to be longer with more details.

I was a bit skeptical about the sourcing (as were others, apparently), but I went back to other books like Andrew Morton's original Diana biography and found that there really wasn't much difference. I also didn't see anything I felt (as an American and an outsider) to be harmful to the monarchy and I was impressed that the reasons behind Alexandra and Joachim's split were not revealed. As a child of divorce, it would be horrible to find your parents intimate life spread between the pages of a book!

Overall, I don't regret purchasing it but I'm unsure if I would keep it in my library forever. At some point, it will probably end up on Ebay simply because I have limited room and want more Greek royal books (hint, hint Trine, there's no bio on Nikolaos).
 
I wanted to give my brief opinion about the book. I ordered it and luckily received it just in time to have nothing else to due thanks to Hurricane Ike's wrath on our coast.

I am not a big fan of the Danish Royals but am very curious about them because of their connection to my favorite Greek Royals.

I didn't find it anything less or more than any biography I've read about Diana, Princess of Wales or other royals, for that matter. It's short. There aren't any pictures and of course, there's not enough about the Greek side.

For someone coming from very far outside of the Danish family, I was a bit confused and it took me some research to understand who all the "players" really were. We don't get a lot of information here about Denmark in general or their royal family. I personally would have preferred it to be longer with more details.

I was a bit skeptical about the sourcing (as were others, apparently), but I went back to other books like Andrew Morton's original Diana biography and found that there really wasn't much difference. I also didn't see anything I felt (as an American and an outsider) to be harmful to the monarchy and I was impressed that the reasons behind Alexandra and Joachim's split were not revealed. As a child of divorce, it would be horrible to find your parents intimate life spread between the pages of a book!

Overall, I don't regret purchasing it but I'm unsure if I would keep it in my library forever. At some point, it will probably end up on Ebay simply because I have limited room and want more Greek royal books (hint, hint Trine, there's no bio on Nikolaos).

Thanks for your sober and balanced review. I really appreciate it. I am also starting to get some very nice mails from people, who have purchased my book via Majesty Magazine - it is the Book of the Month for October - so it looks like the prejudice is fading away. Maybe I should do one about Niko. It does puzzle me that he still has not popped the question to the lovely Tatiana. I wonder if it is a money issue? :flowers:
 
After reading an excerpt from this book, it sounds like the "information" this author has found through "sources" are bogus and the "facts" are a completely fabricated. It may be the way it was written that makes it sound this way, none the less, the "facts" read as false to me.
 
I personally found the book to be informative, it didn't change the way I perceive the DRF, whilst I gr8ly admire the DRF, it is quite comforting to know that the royals are human. I personally find the "we are perfect" biographies to be quite unauthentic, and uninspiring.
 
I ordered the book last night (in English) hopefully it'll be a good read, I've read mived reports so i'll let you all know what I think of it when it arrives
 
The book has arrived, signed by the Author, which was a nice touch

I haven't got round to reading it yet but I've scanned over it briefly, and haven't yet made up my mind what I think of it.
 
The book has arrived, signed by the Author, which was a nice touch

I haven't got round to reading it yet but I've scanned over it briefly, and haven't yet made up my mind what I think of it.

Well I have noe read the book, I have to say I wasn't overly impressed, I found it tabloid like and at times not very professionally written. The author gave too much personal opinion and it was to say the least limited in it's authority. 2 out of 10 would be a fair mark for a below average book.
 
Well I have noe read the book, I have to say I wasn't overly impressed, I found it tabloid like and at times not very professionally written. The author gave too much personal opinion and it was to say the least limited in it's authority. 2 out of 10 would be a fair mark for a below average book.

:previous:
Wasn't Trine a journalist before she wrote the book?
The fact that she gave "too much of her own opinion" is not surprising, her own opinion is all she has to be quite honest. :whistling:
 
:previous:
Wasn't Trine a journalist before she wrote the book?
The fact that she gave "too much of her own opinion" is not surprising, her own opinion is all she has to be quite honest. :whistling:

I mean "too much of her own opinion" as in no facts all opinion, it was not like other royal biographes
 
:previous:
Wasn't Trine a journalist before she wrote the book?
The fact that she gave "too much of her own opinion" is not surprising, her own opinion is all she has to be quite honest. :whistling:

Not when the book is marketed as being a reliable source of truths. Non. The author continuously passed off her opinion as a credible reference. It is not.
 
I secretly want to buy the book in english by there is little chance of getting it in America.Plus based on this thread some are not too fond of the book and may be all lies.But still I cant help but be curious about it.
 
I noticed the other day that 1015 Copenhagen K is now available in English on Kindle -- you can "rent" it for free or buy -- so I finally got to read it. Without getting into the veracity of the info in it, I'd say it's a mediocre "beach read" book at best -- no one is going to burn a lot of brain cells reading it. Some sections seem to jump from topic without any natural transition, almost as if passages are missing or something. The ebook is also unedited, so page headers and numbers pop up randomly in the middle of sentences.

As far as the content, I'd say if you believe the author, everything in the book makes sense, but if you don't (or if you poke holes in some assertions), it reads like a sketchy tabloid piece. I doubt many people would change their opinions of the DRF after reading it: If you like them, you'll probably think the book is packed with lies, and if you don't, this will validate your opinion.

I was disappointed that Villemann didn't elaborate on some of the things she mentions. For instance, she says that the queen experienced a huge disappointment early on in her marriage, but she never says what this was or how/if this contributed to her apparent lack of attention to her sons or her moodiness. And, without knowing what this disappointment supposedly was, it's hard to understand why, as Villeman notes, the queen is still so devoted to Prince Henrik.

Same thing on the incident Villeman says gave Alexandra enough leverage to divorce Joachim. After pages describing what a dutiful, solid fellow Joachim is, she drops in a reference to some incident, which she never describes, that supposedly was so bad it trumped everything else. Maybe people who follow tabloid reports about Joachim would have more insight on this, but after reading what a great guy he is, I was baffled about what this incident could be.

There were other passing references that I wish she'd elaborated on, too. For instance, she mentions bad blood between Margrethe and Benedikte, but says nothing about what this was or how they relate today. Same thing on several references to Anne-Marie and the Greek royal family. (I would have liked to have seen a lot more about Benedikte and Anne-Marie, especially in how they relate to the Danish court as adults.)

Overall, this is the impression I got from the book:
Margrethe -- a moody, frail artist, who ignored her kids and avoids conflict
Henrik -- charming, sensitive guy, except for beating his kids
Frederick -- sweet, conflicted, damaged guy with bad judgment
Joachim -- strong, disciplined, dutiful guy with skeletons in his closet
Ingrid -- regal, Machiavellian queen and devoted grandmother

Those aren't necessarily the same impressions I've had from reading other sources, but that's what I took from the book.
 
I haven't read this book but I suspect the lack of details provide legal cover for the author. I don't know what the libel laws are like in Denmark but it seems intuitive to me that there's a difference between making vague references to something that may have happened and coming out and saying, "X, Y and Z happened at this time and place." Especially if the truth is actually that there was no incident and X, Y and Z didn't happen.
 
I wouldn't be surprised if it was something like that, although if the assertions are truthful, they wouldn't be libelous. Villemann says that she leaves some details out to protect her sources, but I found it annoying that she insinuates certain things without providing explanations.

For example, she writes, "Some believe that shortly after the birth of Frederik, the Queen suffered an enormous disappointment in her marriage, and, in an attempt to survive, pushed everything aside in order to 'just make it through one day at a time without breaking down.'"

What was the disappointment? If it was so bad that required "an attempt to survive," what was it?

But, a few pages later she writes, "The Queen adores the Prince Consort. She is like a little girl around him." That certainly doesn't make her sound too disappointed!

In the part about the breakup of Joachim's marriage, she quotes an unnamed friend as saying, "An explosive and very damaging event occurred that gave Alexandra the key she needed to release herself from the royal chains. All the friends know what happened, but no one is telling. It is a secret. And it serves no purpose to reveal it. It would crush Joachim and be terrible for his children."

Then: "Were this lurid episode ever exposed it would create a tidal wave of salacious headlines, but as Joachim descends down the list of succession, it is questionable whether it would have any long-term impact on the monarchy's popularity and standing in Denmark. What happened is a private matter between Joachim and Alexandra. But it was bad enough to compel Joachim to surrender to his wife's demand for a divorce."

OK, if it's private and it serves no purpose to reveal it, why even mention it, much less play up how salacious and lurid and horrible it is? And, if the friends all know about it, how "private" is it really?

I'm not saying Joachim's "secrets" must be revealed, but implying there's something awful without saying what it is damages his reputation in itself. He can't even defend himself on something like that (although that's not the usual royal style anyway). But, if it's true and that explosive, say it. It can't be worse than what the readers might conjure up on their own.
 
The writer of this book is so horrible, I don't think I would be able to contain my anger towards her if I met her.
 
The writer of this book is so horrible, I don't think I would be able to contain my anger towards her if I met her.

Well, I don't know anything about the author, but if what she wrote is true, she ought to tell the whole story (or not). If it's not true, change the names and publish it as fiction.
 
wow, why to write soemthing so bad about oachim without telling what it is at least to have him defendig himself! wow they way had been described this so bad thing it is so anoying , how she could, she leaveseverybody thinking the worst!
 
Came upon this book on my kindle? There is no other way to read it unless I buy it; do you think it's worth the money?
 
No, not really. It's like a very long National Enquirer story that hasn't been edited. If you're into that kind of thing, whatever, but know going in it's like a trashy novel.
 
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