Prince Henrik’s birthday celebrations continued today, beginning bright and early this morning at Fredensborg Palace. Prince Christian and Princess Isabella were on hand in the grounds of Fredensborg Palace to wish their Farfar (Danish for paternal grandfather) a happy 75th birthday. The pair joined their parents, Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary, and a few dozen staff, friends and locals outside in the gardens of Fredensborg Palace.

Click to read the Billed Bladet article

Here, the group waited for Henrik to appear in one of the palace windows. The birthday boy, who turns 75 today, opened the window accompanied by Queen Margrethe II, and smiled and waved broadly to the small crowd. Christian and Isabella waved Danish flags and played with the gravel while there, before the group sang Henrik a birthday song.

At around lunchtime, the royal family gathered once more (and so did the rain!) for a military parade outside Fredensborg Palace. Prince Henrik was surrounded by four of his five grandchildren (Prince Joachim and Princess Marie’s month-old son stayed indoors) for the parade, and Prince Christian got a stern talking-to by his dad after he was spotted climbing on a lamp post. Princes Nikolai and Felix, Joachim’s eldest sons, did not follow in their cousin’s footsteps, behaving like perfect gentlemen in their matching grey suits.

Click to see the image at Belga

The Berleburg relatives also joined the family on the steps, as did Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, who flew in from Stockholm for the parade and luncheon which was held at Fredensborg Palace’s Orangery. The majority of the royal party were wearing new commemorative medals, a silver medallion hanging on blue ribbon emblazoned with Prince Henrik’s monogram. Read more…

JessRulz Danish Royals Birthday, Fredensborg Palace, Prince Christian of Denmark, Prince Felix of Denmark, Prince Henrik the Prince Consort, Prince Nikolai, Princess Isabella

 The Danish Constitution on the Act of Succession will be ammended to allow the monarch’s first-born child of either gender to succeed the throne, following the successful referendum on equal primogeniture this weekend.

According to Politiken.dk, 45.5% of the entire Danish electorate (4.03 million Danes) voted in favour of the proposed change, which will see future first-born daughters of Danish monarchs retain their place in the order of succession even if a younger brother is born. At least 40% of the electorate was required to vote ‘yes’ to the referendum for it to pass. 59% of eligible Danes voted, with 7.8% voting ‘no’ and 5.3% casting a blank vote.

Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen told his Liberal Party that, “It’s a strong signal that shows that we want to be a society where men and women have the same opportunities, whether it’s for ordinary people or princes and princesses,” after the result was announced.

It was unsure just two hours before the polls closed if the ammendment would pass. Exit polls provided by Politiken and TV2 stated that only 75.5% of those who turned out to vote had voted ‘yes’ – which overall created a 37.9% ‘yes’ from the total electorate, falling 2.1% short of the required target.

This caused Prime Minister Rasmussen to tell the Danes that, “The polling stations are open until 8 pm. I appeal, of course, to people to use their right to vote, and if you share our point of views to vote in favour,” via TV2.

Doubt was also raised months ago when the referendum was announced to be held on the same weekend as the elections for the European Parliament (where Denmark has 14 seats), which generally see a lower voter turn-out than national elections. The fact that this law will not have any large effect on the succession until at least second-in-line Prince Christian has children also caused debate about the reason of holding the referendum in 2009.

Read more about the succession referendum here.

JessRulz Danish Royals Elections, Prime Minister Rasmussen, Prince Christian of Denmark, Succession

Click the image to read the article at Billed Bladet

 Crown Prince Frederik is currently competing in the 2009 Acura Miami Grand Prix regatta in Miami, Florida. His family – Crown Princess Mary, Prince Christian and Princess Isabella – joined him on the trip; arriving on the fourth of March for the competition.

Frederik competes in Farr40 class sailing, on his boat Nanoq. The prince and his crew are currently 11th in the competition (out of twelve boats), with two more races to go.

Prince Christian was on hand to help his daddy on March 5th, when he joined Frederik on Nanoq. Safely decked out in a bright orange lifejacket, Christian was excited to be on dad’s boat and ‘help’ him with the final preparations before the race. The three-year-old was enjoying his time so much, that when he had to leave, he began crying and did not want to leave dad!

More information and pictures can be found here.

JessRulz Danish Royals Prince Christian of Denmark, Prince Frederik, Sailing, Sport, United States of America

Click on the image to see more from 'Allt om Barn'

 As they do every February, the Danish Crown Princely Family have gone for a skiing holiday in Switzerland. Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary allowed a quick photo session to take place with their two children, Prince Christian and Princess Isabella, before returning to their privacy and friends.

While the family has traditionally spent their skiing holiday in Verbier since 2002, this year the family opted for a more family-friendly skiing resort; enjoying the holiday with several of their good friends; Jørgen and Marie Louise Skeel, Peter and Caroline Heering, and Christopher Thomsen Kiær and Sofie Kirk Kristiansen; along with all their friends’ small children.

3-year-old Prince Christian gave his first “interview” to Danish newspaper BT during the photo session. He was asked what his favourite part of the holiday was, to which he replied, “Skiing. I’ve been on skis…like this,” and showed the reporters how he turns his feet inward when he breaks. Christian also said that “Lightning McQueen, Doc Hudson and the Hudson Hornet” were also good parts of the holiday, referring to his favourite movie Cars.

Read more about the family’s holiday, and previous ones, here.

JessRulz Danish Royals Photo Session, Prince Christian of Denmark, Prince Frederik, Princess Isabella, Princess Mary, Switzerland