General News about Joachim, Marie and Family 3: January 2011 - July 2014

[Muhler]

Summary of an article in Billed Bladet #25, 2013.
Prinsessens herlige fridag - The lovely day off for the Princess.
Written by Ulrik Ulriksen.

While Joachim was in France to open a memorial at a cemetary, our Marie took her son, bette Henrik, to an outdoor concert in Hellerup. (*) With her was also Christian Scherfig (**) and his daughter, Tuva. Here they sat, along with other guests, at Bistro Tisvilde and listened to Erann DD give a concert. (***)
During the intermission Marie and bette Henrik went to a nearby playground, where they were joined by Tuva. - Before returning to the bistro, to enjoy a cup of cafe au latte. Half an hour after saying goodbye to the Scherfigs it poured down! So they were lucky.

From the pictures in the article I can see: That they enjoyed several glasses of wine apart from the latte.
Bette Henrik appears to be quite comfortable with Christian Scherfig, because he sat on Sherfig's lap posing merrily, with a firm but loving grip on Tuva's arm.
Marie wore a pale greyish blue cardigan, a white lowcut top and white pants with a flowery pattern.
For reasons unknown to me, Marie had tied a string of some sort to an unidentified white furry object.

(*) Hellerup. One of the better neighborhoods of Copenhagen! It's also here Alexandra live.

(**) Help me here. IIRC Christian Scherfig also belongs to the inner circle of friends around M&F, right?

(***) I can imgagine that Tuva, and perhaps Marie as well, would find Erann DD appealing to listen to (and look at), but I think bette Henrik is just a year or two too young to be counted among the fans of Erann DD.

[crm2317]

Originally Posted by Muhler

Bette Henrik appears to be quite comfortable with Christian Scherfig, because he sat on Sherfig's lap posing merrily, with a firm but loving grip on Tuva's arm.

I would think he was comfortable it is Henrik's godfather afterall

[Muhler]

Thanks, crm2317 - So that's the connection.

And one more question: Christian Scherfig, is he related to Hans Scherfig, who wrote the scathing novel Det forsømte forår?
The movie is even better, which is quite an achievement!

[Muhler]

Alas, there appears to be no pics online of our Marie to the Erann DD concert in Hellerup, with bette Henrik and Christian Scherfig.
Oh well: https://www.box.com/s/m5p6ttvq3me2oiksflnm

You know the drill: Always open in full screen first, then use the slider to zoom in and out as you please.

[Muhler]

Joachim and our Marie have attended two semi-official events lately.

Summaries of two articles in Billed Bladet #26, 2013.

Royal hygge i Fælleden - A royal cosy time at Fælleden (a large park in Copenhagen).
Written by Dorte Quist.

Last weekend the park was the place Copenhagen Polo Open was held for the first time, atracting horse and polo enthusiasts worldwide.
Those behind the event are the same organisers as those who organise the Copenhagen Historic Grand Prix, a race which Joachim take part in, so this I guess was the reason why J&M showed up.
Not alone by the way, some of the very best friends were there as well: Oscar and Britt Siesbye with son, as well as Christian and Agnete Scherfig with daughter.
They were shown around by the event manager, Flemming Victor Andersen. A very tall man indeed, about a head taller than Joachim.

Present was also Joachim's distant cousin, Princess Tamara Czartoryski, with whom Marie had a good chat.

Now for the clothes. Not only was Joachim half naked, having the two top bottons of his shirt unbottoned and wearing distinctly blue trousers in the same hue as Marie's dress, his jacket... His light jacket had outlined a checkered pattern in blue lines... - I tell you, in a couple of years Prince Henrik will be green with envy at the outfits Joachim will be wearing!
Marie wore a dark blue, short dress with golden dragonflies and on top a blue cardigan. - Looking casually elegant, as is natural for the wife of a gentleman.

--------------

Supershow - Super show.
Written by our fashion-reporter Liz Rørsig.

The Danish designer, Charlotte Sparre, decided to present her spring and summer collection in Copenhagen this year.
And as Joachim and our Marie are close friends of her, they attended as well.
Before the show, Marie was observed having a merry chat with Charlotte Sparre's son, Frederik. (Easy now, Joachim was standing half a meter away and Frederik is seventeen). Frederik said afterwards: "Marie is sweet and fresh/lively to chat with".

Before the actual show Marie said: "Charlotte Sparre's creativity is something special. She makes everything herself. And then she is very good at drawing and her quality is fantastic".
Joachim added: "And then Charlotte dare go against the stream and the Jante Law/tall poppy syndrom".

Marie said afterwards that she does indeed have several creations by Charlotte Sparre and Joachim interjected: "Yes, there were put a lot of marks" (in the catalogue).

Charlotte Sparre appreciated having J&M dropping by: "It's lovely when you are acknowledged from the official Denmark. I also tell a lot about the DRF when I'm at fairs abroad".

- Now, I've heard some people referring to Joachim's trousers as being pink, that mistake is of course due to color-blindness. No gentleman would wear pink trousers. Joachim's trousers are light reddish.

I managed to find two pics of first Joachim's astounding outfit: https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.n...48286398_n.jpg

And our Marie's royal blue charme: http://www.polo-magazin.de/dt/wp-con...zartoryski.jpg
With Princess Tamara Czartoryski.

[Muhler]

A pic of Joachim and our Marie at Copenhagen Polo Open, with Princess Czartoryski as well: https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.n...42165816_n.jpg

BB is up.

[iceflower]

.

Prince Joachim particpated in a car race at Padborg Park yesterday, June 29:



** Pic 1 ** Pic 2 ** Pic 3 ** sn.dk gallery **


** BB: Prins Joachim gav den gas i Padborg ** translation **


** Prins Joachim kørte fra dem alle: Kongen af Padborg ** translation **

[Muhler]

That he did, Iceflower.

And he spoke with BB's Ken Richter.

Summary of a couple of articles in Billed Bladet #27, 2013.
Written by our motor-journalist Ken Richter.

Joachim and his very good friend Oscar Siesbye were indeed racing, and during very well, in Padborg this weekend. Padborg is basically round the corner and down the road from Schackenborg.
Here the two petrolheads explained that you can't compare say Le Mans with a race they take part in. Their tuned classical cars from the 60's can't run at full throttle for more than fifteen minutes or so, before their engines burn out, and that is about the time an average race takes.

However, A Danish driver was killed during this years Le Mans, Allan Simonsen. A man Joachim have met at a number of occasions and Joachim had this to say: "I sat an watched it on TV and it's just so terrible, but for us as fellow countrymen and colleagues it doesn't matter what we feel in comparison to the family who has lost someone dear to them.
I knew and I've met Allan Simonsen a number of times and I've been thinking a lot about him in days after (his death). I will remember him as the personality and as the person he was. Allan's death has cast a big black cloud over the motering sport, but we must not forget all the great results he acheived during his career".

The accident will not keep Joachim from racing: "There is a risk at all kinds of sports and the accident emphasize that we must think safety first and foremost. It's about driving with the inside of the helmet.
I will not guess at to what went wrong. We willsafely leave that in the hands of the experts to find out".

- The accident tragically as it was, may not be of particular interest to this board. However, Joachim clearly has a way with words as this quote illustrates.

[iceflower]

.

Princess Marie attended the Danish designer David Andersen's fashion show "Cut Couture" in Copenhagen on August 6, 2013.



** Pic 1 ** Pic 2 ** Pic 3 ** isopix gallery **

[Muhler]

Originally Posted by iceflower

.

Princess Marie attended the Danish designer David Andersen's fashion show "Cut Couture" in Copenhagen on August 6, 2013.



** Pic 1 ** Pic 2 ** Pic 3 ** isopix gallery **

Thanks Iceflower.

I see in pic two that Frederik has had a bad influence on our Marie while at Gråsten.

And unless I'm very much mistanken, the gentleman she is talking to in pic 3 is her hairdresser Dennis Knudsen. - He has been featured a lot lately, sporting his solarium-tan and his new toned body. I guess it isn't just hetero men who face the "panic-age".
Christian Scherfig who accompany Marie and his wife too, looks to me like he finds the whole thing marginally more interesting than watching grass grow.

On a more serious note. I read an article the other day about the growing Danish fashion export. It's going very well, thank you! And it's now among the absolute top busineses in regards to export, and CIFF was emphasized in the article as having a big significance. So having Marie - and Mary attending fashion shows really matters. So much the better if they can combine work with pleasure, eh?

[dazzling]

Princess Marie of Denmark attending the Designers Remix show at The Blue Planet in Copenhagen as part of Copenhagen Fashion Week on August 8, 2013.

Pic 1 ** Pic 2 ** Pic 3 ** Pic 4 ** Pic 5 ** Pic 6

[polyesco]

Originally Posted by dazzling

Princess Marie of Denmark attending the Designers Remix show at The Blue Planet in Copenhagen as part of Copenhagen Fashion Week on August 8, 2013.

Pic 1 ** Pic 2 ** Pic 3 ** Pic 4 ** Pic 5 ** Pic 6

wow look at the back, pic 2

[iceflower]

Besides that very special part her look is really great



** BB: Prinsesse Maries nye stil ** translation **

[antonieta]

I love princess Marie new haircut. It suit's her very well. And i wont that dress for me. It´s very sexy.

[Muhler]

Summary of article in Billed Bladet #33, 2013.
Nyt look - New look.
Written by the Ulrik Ulriksen.

Wearing a patterned dress from Designers Remix and sporting a new haircut on this windy day Marie showed up for the Designers Remix show at the CIFF at 20.45.
She was actually supposed to have been there at 20.00 but the show was late and the organisers called the driver and asked him to bring Marie later, but unfortunately they were almost there, so our Marie and her LiW Britt Siesbye had to circle around the block for half an hour.
At the entrance Marie was met by an organiser wh apologized for the trouble, which didn't seem to bother Marie.

A few days prior to that Marie attended a fashion show by David Andersen and afterwards she went to a reception backstage, with her good friends Christian and Agnethe Scherfig. Here they stayed for an hour. Marie had a good and long chat with among other her very good friend and hairdresser, Dennis Knudsen. There is a funny pic of her in the article winking at him but as Dennis Knudsen is very much gay I don't think Joachim needs to worry.
Dennis Knudsen incidentally took a bad fall from a bicylcle a couple of days later and he is now suffering from a severe case of asphalt-rash to the face.

Marie wore a long necklace from Georg Jensen.

At the show Marie also talked about Joachim car crash the weekend before: "It looked pretty bad and one must know that it can after all be dangerous.
Generally I think he is very skilled and very careful. But everything can happen. Fortunately nothing happened and he is really well. But car isn't so well". - So Joachim hasn't been banned from driving.
Marie, and the Scherfigs I presume, walked back to Amalienborg from the show.

[rchainho]

Prince Joachim's personal finance do not mix



Prins Joachims privatekonomi går inte ihop | Svensk Damtidning

[Muhler]

Originally Posted by rchainho

Prince Joachim's personal finance do not mix



Prins Joachims privatekonomi går inte ihop | Svensk Damtidning

That's from the tabloid Ekstra Bladet.

It's hardly worth commenting on, because it's an insult to the readers.

Schackenborg is a business, a farm.

Sometimes you borrow in order to invest in machinery, buildings, land whatever. That's normal for any business and it's not the first time Joachim has done that.
That (hopefully) should not have anything to do with his private economy.

It's basically something every homeowner is familiar with, albeit on a smaller scale. We got a new roof last year, so we borrowed the money with security in our house. That just means that we have increased our debt, but the house is worth more and our personal economy is still fine.

And I seriously doubt there is any reason to worry about Alexandra's finances!
She is merely utillising the debt for tax deductions. There was an article about that a couple of years after the divorce. Her expenditure matched almost exactly the amount she recieved in apanage down to the last DKK. And expenditures covered by the apanage (that was before she married Martin Jørgensen) were vat refundable. That was de facto a 25% discount she got on top of that. - Oh yes, Alexandra is no fool when it comes to money!

[xenobia]

If they got their numbers right, I actually think that Joachims economy is on the rocks. I totally agree with Muhler - borrowing money to invest in your property is just fine. Nothing to worry about. But Joachim has borrowed a lot the last couple of years (if Svensk Damtidning are correct).

2007: 6 million DK
2008: 7 million DK
2012: 9 million DK
2013: 20 million DK

The total amount of loans on Schackenborg is 42 million DK, all of those taken the last couple of years. The property is estimated to be worth around 40 million DK. To me, that sounds like problems.

[Muhler]

Originally Posted by xenobia

If they got their numbers right, I actually think that Joachims economy is on the rocks. I totally agree with Muhler - borrowing money to invest in your property is just fine. Nothing to worry about. But Joachim has borrowed a lot the last couple of years (if Svensk Damtidning are correct).

2007: 6 million DK
2008: 7 million DK
2012: 9 million DK
2013: 20 million DK

The total amount of loans on Schackenborg is 42 million DK, all of those taken the last couple of years. The property is estimated to be worth around 40 million DK. To me, that sounds like problems.

Yes, but how much is the business Schackenborg worth? We are not just talking about the manor but machinery, land and other assets. The business produce something as well, which is sold. The grain harvest alone is expected to be very good this year and that is worth quite a few millions as well.
And the assumption is apparantly that Joachim should not have paid on his debt since 2007.

As a private homeowner there is a limit to how big a loan you can have in your house, I don't know the rules for businesses but Joachim has recently invested in France and he would not be able to do that if his financial situation was that bad. It's difficult enough to borrow money for investments for healthy businesses!

One of the first signs that a business has problems is that they sack people. There has been nothing of that to my knowledge. The info I have from the last couple of years is that the farm is doing well, not exceptionally well, but well. Joachim hasn't sold off land, which would be a natural thing to do in a crisis.

So if I should choose between believing that:
A) Joachim's economy is disastrous
or
B) Ekstra Bladet's angling of the story is not objective.
I'll choose B.

The same thing for Alexandra. If her economy is so bad, she would sell her house in Turkey.

So a good deal of sceptisism is advised.
Debt is after all tax deductable.

ADDED: I checked my archive. In 2010 the Stewarts building at Schackenborg was renovated and converted into a small hotel/congress building. That would have required a loan. But that part of the estate must be assumed to generate some kind of income by now.

And here is an excerpt from the serious Landbrugsavisen = a paper for farming businesses about an investments and a loan Joachim made in 2007:
Landbrugsavisen.

Prins Joachim låner 6,1 million i gods – Prince Joachim borrow 6.100.000 DKK in (his) estate.

Prince Joachim has loaned 6.100.000 DKK in Danske Banks Realkredit Danmark. (*) The money will among other things be used for a garage for tractors.
His Royal Highness Prince Joachim has borrowed 6.100.000 DKK in his estate Schackenborg at Møgeltønder. He has borrowed the money free of amortization through Danske Banks Realkredit Danmark and they will among other things be used to buy new machines and to build a repair shop and a garage for tractors, informs Ekstra Bladet.

The paper speculates whether some of the money will also go to a wedding with the Prince’s French sweetheart Marie Cavallier. But the manager of the estate Søren Frederiksen denies that:

“I don’t know whether the Prince is going to marry or when it may (**) be. But I do know that the 6.000.000 DKK are to be invested in the manor”, he says.

(*) A finance institute.

(**) Maybe as in: I have no idea if they are going to marry at all.

(Comment from 2007). Ekstra Bladet hasn’t written much about Joachim’s supposedly financial troubles. So wonder if he has any?
- Or could it be that the reporters at Her & Nu cannot comprehend that an investment of 27.000.000 DKK really isn’t that much in a company as large as Schackenborg? Or could it be that they are sensationalist? – No, perish the thought.

[Muhler]

Follow up:

I've done some homework on the economy at Schackenborg based mainly on Landbrugsavisen - the paper for farming businesses, but also Politiken.

I won't go into details but rather summarize it briefly here.

Joachim borrowed money in 2008 to invest in garages.
In 2009 the export of Christmas trees to not least China, went very well, thank you!

In 2010 the financial crisis hurt and Joachim laid off people and when the stewart retired the position was not replaced with someone else. Instead the house was converted into a hotel/conference centre.

The grain harvest in 2012 was very good and the prices were high generating a comfortable surplus.

The business co-orporation The Five Farms of which Schackenborg is one, which export grain, oils, honey, meat and so on is doing well. They have for the past few years invested heavily in Eastern Europe. - We must presume Joachim has borrowed money for that as well.
They are also expanding these years with the weight on export.

The latest loan was made with security not only in Schackenborg - but also in around ten farms and houses around Møgeltønder also owned by Joachim.

One loan, in 2008, was according to the serious Weekly Søndagsavisen also speculation in the interests going down. It was a loan with flexible interests.

The impression I get is of a business that at least for one year was hit by the financial crisis, but is otherwise expanding.

The mortgage deeds, which the public including Ekstra Bladet, have access to, do not tell us how much Joachim has paid off on his debt.

The farms and houses mentioned above are registered as Joachim being the sole owner, as well as Schackenborg. Which means that Marie is not involved in any potential financial problems that may arise.