I know how you feel, Maura724
Summary of article in Billed Bladet #36. 2010.
Jeg har altid haft en svaghed for Prins Henrik - I've always had a weakness for Prince Henrik.
Written Annelise Weimann.
This is presumably the preface by the auther Stephanie Surrugue.
Who is 33 and half French herself.
It came as a bit of surprise to her that she ended up writing this book, but she some day found herself at Amalienborg at a meeting with Prince Henrik, arranged by her publishing house, Politikens Forlag.
She did not want a book based on interviews, she wanted free hands and she got it.
To her surprise she was never once told that a subject could not be discussed.
PH apparantly reminds Stephanie very much of her own father, who according to her playmates was very strickt in regards to bringing up children.
- "Many people believe that Frederik and Joachim had a strickt upbringing. But my sister and I were brought up in the same way..... My mates thought that my father was very strickt. We could risk a slap or two, so I can well understand the methods used by Prince Henrik".
After the first meeting at Amalienborg she got a mail inviting her to spend four days at Chateau Cayx.
She lived in a guesthouse and spend time at the chateau every day for twelve hours, being completely wasted when she returned due to the many impressions.
Alas, Henrik didn't have that much time for her, so the Queen stepped in and suggested an interview with herself.
- "It was worth gold for me. I saw the everyday life at the chateau and had lunch with the Regent Couple every single day. I did not speak that much with Prince Henrik, because he was busy but I spoke with his family and friends, because both the Queen and Prince Henrik are very hospitable indeed".
To her surprise QMII's LiW and adjutant are also dining with the Regent Couple, even if there are no other guests.
The topics were not simple chit chat.
- "It's intelligent chatting and I was wasted afterwards. You may talk about art in churches or ammunition of older times or wine production, heavy subjects and this is characteristic for this family".
She can however see how alien Henrik must sometimes have been in the eyes of the Danes.
- "He was used to living a life of the French upper class and (he) came from an entirely different world. His family had a huge position (in society in Vietnam) when he grew up. It was a Chatolic, very conservative extended family with an extremely strickt hierachy, even for the French".
She goes on to explain that French also differ from other French in the sense that he brought with him a cultural ballast based on Asian as well as French values.
She concludes her impression of Henrik: "He has humour and a lot of self-irony and he can easily laugh at himself. It surprised me how he is not snobbish at all, Prince Henrik is inetersted in people, not titles".
To her astonishment, Stephanie was invited to Joachim and Marie's wedding, because Henrik thought she should experience how they party in his family. As this happened while she was sriting the book, she sneaked a couple of times to the ladies room to take notes.