General News about Frederik, Mary and Family Part 14: September 2015 - December 2015

[Queen Claude]

If I am understanding the story, nobody did anything wrong, this is an inherent risk when it comes to swimming in the ocean in that part of Australia. The only thing that could've been done differently was to forbade Christian from going into the ocean, or have someone swimming right beside Christian who is well-trained in the perils of those kinds of waters. If his father or a Danish protection officer was with him, then two people would've needed rescuing.

I think that the outcome of this is going to be praise for Australian lifeguards and a primer on the possible perils of swimming in those waters.

[Sun Lion]

Originally Posted by HRHJAP

My brother happened to be walking right by them down the beach when all this unfolded...

Welcome to The Royal Forums HRHJAP.

Did your brother have any other details than those so far reported?

I've just seen an article saying CP Mary and CP Frederik were on the beach as the surf life-saver paddled Prince Christian back to safety, in a "distressed" state.

(Fully understandable.)

[HRHJAP]

Thank you Sun Lion!

He wasn't paying too much attention, the beach was very quiet and there wasn't a big commotion and at the time he wasn't aware of who they were but from what i gather.. Frederik was in the water when it happened and Mary was on the sand with Isabella and Josephine and another lady. They were very panicky when it was all going down. Afterwards though, all of them including Christian were fine and Frederik and Mary were getting their photo taken by the other lady they were with, while the kids continued playing on the sand (Minus Vincent, according to my brother he wasn't around). Afterwards, Mary and the other lady were also pointing out into the ocean and Mary said "i'll let the lifeguard know" (not sure what they were talking about? Maybe where the rip was?) That's basically all they're reporting and all i know, like i said my brother didn't hang around too much!

Also, when my brother passed them before it happened, Christian had a surfboard.

[Sun Lion]

Originally Posted by HRHJAP

Thank you Sun Lion!

He wasn't paying too much attention, the beach was very quiet and there wasn't a big commotion and at the time he wasn't aware of who they were but from what i gather.. Frederik was in the water when it happened and Mary was on the sand with Isabella and Josephine and another lady. They were very panicky when it was all going down. Afterwards though, all of them including Christian were fine and Frederik and Mary were getting their photo taken by the other lady they were with, while the kids continued playing on the sand (Minus Vincent, according to my brother he wasn't around). Afterwards, Mary and the other lady were also pointing out into the ocean and Mary said "i'll let the lifeguard know" (not sure what they were talking about? Maybe where the rip was?) That's basically all they're reporting and all i know, like i said my brother didn't hang around too much!

Thank you - and your brother too - HRHJAP for filling in some more of the details of the incident.

I hope you enjoy your time here at TRFs.

[Muhler]

And we have an official statement from the DRF: Kongehuset: Prins Christian var på intet tidspunkt i fare - Danmark | www.bt.dk

Lene Balleby says that the situation was not dramatic at all: "Prince Christian was in no danger at any time. The lifeguards must always be attentive and in this case they knew was in the water and (they) were perhaps extra attentive. They therefore did an extra check to see if Prince Christian was OK, which he was.
In other words: The situation was completely undramatic".

The article concludes that the reports that Christian was in (at least some) danger, was exaggerated.
And that the lifeguards did not know who he was is also not correct.

- That the lifeguards still do a most valuable job cannot be detracted IMO. Nor should it detract from anything if, repeat if, one of them intervened when it may not have been necessary.
Like I said in a previous post the sea take a number of tourists every year here in DK as well, so better safe than sorry.

Congratulations on your first post, HRHJAP.
And thanks for your account.

[Duke of Marmalade]

Originally Posted by Muhler

Probably nearby.

But it only takes a moment and an overconfident ten year old...

Exactly. Life is never without risk, is it? Not to go swimming in the ocean is not an alternative so all protection was in place. After this experience, and you can only first hand experience how powerful nature can be, Christian will probably more careful next time.

I remember when I went to Yallingup Beach near Perth, the waves were ok, after swimming I was resting on the shore for some time when out of the blue a wave knocked me off my feet. I don't know the particular beach where the family went but I found the Goldcoast beaches equally unpredictable.

[ricarda]

Originally Posted by Muhler

And we have an official statement from the DRF: Kongehuset: Prins Christian var på intet tidspunkt i fare - Danmark | www.bt.dk

Lene Balleby says that the situation was not dramatic at all: "Prince Christian was in no danger at any time. The lifeguards must always be attentive and in this case they knew was in the water and (they) were perhaps extra attentive. They therefore did an extra check to see if Prince Christian was OK, which he was.
In other words: The situation was completely undramatic".

The article concludes that the reports that Christian was in (at least some) danger, was exaggerated.
And that the lifeguards did not know who he was is also not correct.

- That the lifeguards still do a most valuable job cannot be detracted IMO. Nor should it detract from anything if, repeat if, one of them intervened when it may not have been necessary.
Like I said in a previous post the sea take a number of tourists every year here in DK as well, so better safe than sorry.

Congratulations on your first post, HRHJAP.
And thanks for your account.

My impression from the video actually was that this was more a precautious action from the lifeguard than a real rescue. It's their job to foresee dangers and not let it come to the worst (like Christian not being able to make it back).

[TLLK]

Thank you all for the information. Having experienced lifeguards who understand the changing nature of the ocean floor, beaches and wave patterns is an absolute necessity! Especially when every summer there are millions (with varying levels of swimming proficiency) who come to spend the day at the beach. I'm constantly reminding our kids that even though they are "pool safe" swimmers at 15 and 13 , the ocean is an entirely different situation.

[Muhler]

I tend to agree with you, Ricarda.

If you listen to what was said in the video, they did not say that Christian, was in danger, but that they intervened before he was in danger and ending up in a situation he couldn't handle.

BB has apparently phoned Lene Balleby and this is what she said to BB: Livredder tjekkede om prins Christian var okay | BILLED-BLADET

Prince Christian was Thursday and the beach Mermaid Beach near Brisbane in Australia with his parents, Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary and his three younger siblings.
Here the whole family went into the water and swam between the flags. At some point a lifeguard spotted the 10 year old Prince and paddled out to him on his board to see if he was okay. Fortunately everything was as it should be.
"The situation was completely undramatic. The lifeguards were very attentive and checked whether Prince Christian was alright, just to be on the safe side", says the DRF communications chief Lene Balleby to Billed Blade and adds:
It's good the lifeguards do their jobs so well, but in this case there was no danger".


It was the Australian 7 News that Sunday reported that Prince Christian had been rescued to the shore by a lifeguard at the beach at the Gold Coast in eastern Australia, because the undercurrent had got him.
But according to Lene Balleby the Prince wasn't in direct danger, when he was out bathing during the family holiday in Crown Princess Mary's homeland

"The DRF take very calm because the situation was as said before undramatic", says the communications chief of the DRF.

[Muhler]

Follow up.

The Danish press have had a closer look at the matter: Livredder kom prins Christian til undsætning: Så farlig er stranden, prinsen badede fra - Danmark | www.bt.dk

They have looked at the beach, Mermaid Beach and the lifeguard site, ripcurrents.com.au
According to that the beach is known to have strong currents, so it's safer to swim near the shore.

Even though the DRF labelled the incident as undramatic, far from all swimmers get a visit by a lifeguard.
At this beach, since July, there have been one rescue (i.e. a swimmer in danger), five cases of first aide being applied and 279 precautionary actions.
The paper concludes that the incident with Christian must be considered a precautionary action. (Especially I imagine if the lifeguards had been told to watch out in particular for that family. Perhaps by putting an extra lifeguard on duty, whatever).

[Curryong]

With regard to the figures quoted however it should be remembered that July is in the depths of an Australian winter. As of now our hotter beach weather has barely started. Few except the most hardy go into the ocean before late November/December.

So the number of people saved or warned is of course small from July to November. December until April are the beach months in Australia, and the fact that lifeguards are there and that swimming is done between the flags doesn't mean that children can be left without parents keeping an eye out.

[Nordic]

[QUOTE=Curryong;1849449]December until April are the beach months in Australia, and the fact that lifeguards are there and that swimming is done between the flags doesn't mean that children can be left without parents keeping an eye out.[/QUOTE]

How have you concluded, that Christian's parents didn't keep an eye on him?

[Duke of Marmalade]

Princess Mary's son saved on the Gold Coast by shocked lifeguard | Daily Mail Online

[mitchell]

No Cookies | The Courier Mail

[Curryong]

[QUOTE=Nordic;1849453]

Originally Posted by Curryong

December until April are the beach months in Australia, and the fact that lifeguards are there and that swimming is done between the flags doesn't mean that children can be left without parents keeping an eye out.[/QUOTE]

How have you concluded, that Christian's parents didn't keep an eye on him?

^ Maybe they did, maybe Fred's eye was off him for a moment. Mary was apparently on the beach. There was some sort of an incident in which a lifesaver was involved. It was probably much less dramatic than was originally reported. That doesn't mean that I am necessarily swallowing the Danish Royal spokesman's explanation of what happened/didn't happen either.

[Sun Lion]

I can understand the Danish PR wanting to downplay the situation of how much danger Prince Christian was in - for the residents of Denmark. I don't think they are concerned with how anyone else views the incident.

But all indications are the young prince was knocked off his feet and dragged out to sea by the rip.

Reports say his parents were "distressed".

One of our own TRF members has posted their sibling witnessed the incident and those on the beach were "very panicky".

I don't think the Australian surf life-savers knew who the family was. I don't think they are lying.

I don't think they were keeping a special eye out on the Royal children. No-one would be getting special treatment while others in the waves were over-looked.

CP Frederik is reported as personally thanking the young surf life saver.

I think anyone ever caught by a rip at an Australian beach understands how helpless they are in such a situation and are grateful to come out of it.

I can understand them not wanting this to incident to blow up, but I think they've lost this PR exercise, and the original reports are more correct than their later downplaying is.

[Duke of Marmalade]

Originally Posted by Sun Lion

I can understand the Danish PR wanting to downplay the situation of how much danger Prince Christian was in - for the residents of Denmark. I don't think they are concerned with how anyone else views the incident.

But all indications are the young prince was knocked off his feet and dragged out to sea by the rip.

Reports say his parents were "distressed".

One of our own TRF members has posted their sibling witnessed the incident and those on the beach were "very panicky".

I don't think the Australian surf life-savers knew who the family was. I don't think they are lying.

I don't think they were keeping a special eye out on the Royal children. No-one would be getting special treatment while others in the waves were over-looked.

Prince Frederik is reported as personally thanking the young surf life saver.

I think anyone ever caught by a rip at an Australian beach understands how helpless they are in such a situation and are grateful to come out of it.

I can understand them not wanting this to incident to blow up, but I think they've lost this PR exercise, and the original reports are more correct than their later downplaying is.

I agree. It happened what happened and I don't see the need of downplaying the incident. There is nothing you can do to prevent this apart from asking your child to be careful. But experience is something else and it doesnt matter if parents are only a short distance away. It doesnt make them careless. Thats why lifeguards are around. Prince Christian was lucky in this situation, it could have gone the other way but so can go any other situation in everyday life, a shark could have appeared out of the blue and bitten him or he could have slipped on a banana peel and died. He is human after all, like other people.

Making experiences, especially for youngsters, goes along with taking calculated risks, in this case swimming in the open ocean like millions of other children do. What do people who are critizise want - that Christian is forbidden to go for a swim? Whats next, don't let him ride a bike? Or that he has to wear a helmet all day because he can trip and hit his head?

I am glad I've grown up in a time where I could enjoy being a kid what included injuring myself during activities and nobody accused my parents of bad parenting (this came to my mind when I read the articles' comments section).

[gerry]

Originally Posted by Sun Lion

I can understand the Danish PR wanting to downplay the situation of how much danger Prince Christian was in - for the residents of Denmark. I don't think they are concerned with how anyone else views the incident.

But all indications are the young prince was knocked off his feet and dragged out to sea by the rip.

Reports say his parents were "distressed".

One of our own TRF members has posted their sibling witnessed the incident and those on the beach were "very panicky".

I don't think the Australian surf life-savers knew who the family was. I don't think they are lying.

I don't think they were keeping a special eye out on the Royal children. No-one would be getting special treatment while others in the waves were over-looked.

Prince Frederik is reported as personally thanking the young surf life saver.

I think anyone ever caught by a rip at an Australian beach understands how helpless they are in such a situation and are grateful to come out of it.

I can understand them not wanting this to incident to blow up, but I think they've lost this PR exercise, and the original reports are more correct than their later downplaying is.

What I think is that here is a perfect opportunity for Australia to demonstrate the efficiency and effectiveness of your world famous (and, clearly correctly renowned) lifeguards! Just as Canada is famous for its Mounties, Australia is famous for its beach patrol (think Bondi as we have no Australian smileys:(. Here an occasion arrived for the guards to be shown in action; I think Australians should be proud and the Danish grateful. The question of responsibility is irrelevant: Australia has clearly won! Bravo and thank you, life savers!
http://blog.dealsdirect.com.au/wp-co...2/09/santa.jpg

[polyesco]

Originally Posted by ricarda

My impression from the video actually was that this was more a precautious action from the lifeguard than a real rescue. It's their job to foresee dangers and not let it come to the worst (like Christian not being able to make it back).

I agree. Less dramatic then was first reported. Probably being more cautious with a situation that can turn really serious really quick.

Originally Posted by Muhler

I tend to agree with you, Ricarda.

If you listen to what was said in the video, they did not say that Christian, was in danger, but that they intervened before he was in danger and ending up in a situation he couldn't handle.

BB has apparently phoned Lene Balleby and this is what she said to BB: Livredder tjekkede om prins Christian var okay | BILLED-BLADET

Prince Christian was Thursday and the beach Mermaid Beach near Brisbane in Australia with his parents, Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary and his three younger siblings.
Here the whole family went into the water and swam between the flags. At some point a lifeguard spotted the 10 year old Prince and paddled out to him on his board to see if he was okay. Fortunately everything was as it should be.
"The situation was completely undramatic. The lifeguards were very attentive and checked whether Prince Christian was alright, just to be on the safe side", says the DRF communications chief Lene Balleby to Billed Blade and adds:
It's good the lifeguards do their jobs so well, but in this case there was no danger".


It was the Australian 7 News that Sunday reported that Prince Christian had been rescued to the shore by a lifeguard at the beach at the Gold Coast in eastern Australia, because the undercurrent had got him.
But according to Lene Balleby the Prince wasn't in direct danger, when he was out bathing during the family holiday in Crown Princess Mary's homeland

"The DRF take very calm because the situation was as said before undramatic", says the communications chief of the DRF.

Thanks Muhler
Things like this happen daily and in an instant . It's nice that the lifeguards were attentive and helped prevent something really serious from happening.
That the family continued on the beach says alot to me.


It's reported that Christian and his three siblings were there
I think this one is Vincent with the body board
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/...0632440875.jpg


nor sure why the kids faces were blurred and not Christian's
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/...0632530350.jpg

looks like the family is having a great time. And now that they are in the East coast we might see more pictures
Lovely shorts by Frederik
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/...0630374357.jpg

Christian I think is going to be really tall
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/...0632821215.jpg

[polyesco]

Originally Posted by Duke of Marmalade

I agree. It happened what happened and I don't see the need of downplaying the incident. There is nothing you can do to prevent this apart from asking your child to be careful. But experience is something else and it doesnt matter if parents are only a short distance away. It doesnt make them careless. Thats why lifeguards are around. Prince Christian was lucky in this situation, it could have gone the other way but so can go any other situation in everyday life, a shark could have appeared out of the blue and bitten him or he could have slipped on a banana peel and died. He is human after all, like other people.

Making experiences, especially for youngsters, goes along with taking calculated risks, in this case swimming in the open ocean like millions of other children do. What do people who are critizise want - that Christian is forbidden to go for a swim? Whats next, don't let him ride a bike? Or that he has to wear a helmet all day because he can trip and hit his head?

I am glad I've grown up in a time where I could enjoy being a kid what included injuring myself during activities and nobody accused my parents of bad parenting (this came to my mind when I read the articles' comments section).

I agree with this so much
Some are so quick to ask for and blame the parents .
besides keeping the kids inside with the tv on, everything has risks
I think this is a very outdoorsy family who enjoys being active and outside.

I think this incident was less dramatic then a full on rescue, but a big praise for the lifeguards in being aware of everything

hopefully the family continues their relaxing vacation in Australia
my guess is that pretty soon they will be in Tasmania