General News about Joachim, Marie and Family Part 4: July 2014 - August 2019

[GracieGiraffe]

I suppose we really don't know how much time they put in behind the scenes... or not. I've always wondered how much prep the royal has to do and how much is done by their staff. This goes across the board.

In this case either more transparency is required, or the numbers are non-transparent for a reason.

I suppose this should be on the Graasten thread, and I'll go post it there, but is there any reason for them to miss that shoot? Don't they have the leeway, unlike most of us, to plan their vacations as they want them?

[Countessmeout]

Originally Posted by Archduchess Zelia

Regarding the graph, it should be noted that they have only counted on engagement per day of official visits and visits with Dannebrog – and during most official visits QMII, Mary and Frederik generally do multiple engagements per day.

I think this is a very valid discussion to have. And make no mistake, while BT undoubtedly did this piece to sell papers, it also largely reflects the views of the general public – what's the point of funding Joachim when he doesn't seem to bother giving anything in return? Joachim and Marie hold part-time "consulting jobs" with the Danish Defence and the DEMA, respectively, both of which seem like de facto jobs meant as some sort of poor damage control to the criticism they've faced since moving away from Schackenborg. And I do think it's shocking that they can't muster up more engagements than Joachim's retired, 82 year old father. But again, I've never been a big fan of Joachim's (and I have criticised Prince William for doing the exact same thing) so colour me biased



This a ridiculous not only because the article is about Joachim and not Frederik (so why would we discuss Frederik's workload here?), but also because if you take a moment to look into Joachim's part-time job, you'll find that the actual amount of time he spends on it is highly dubious. I'm also very curious as to where in the article you find that Frederik is somehow spared from criticism because he attended the photo opportunity in Gråsten? As I mentioned earlier, this discussion is not merely the result of Joachim and Marie skipping out of Gråsten but a general frustration towards them and their lack of visibility.

Was there an article criticizing Fred for doin 55? No. Or maybe someone can post a link. The fact is he is being criticized for not doing as much as his brother who is the heir. People get all pissed off and up in arms when people criticize other royals for being work shy. But Joachim its ok?

Visibility? I guess he needs to publish his time card or have photos taken as he goes to his defense job because it is not a public event its 'dubious' and doesn't count.

And yes, the article made a clear point of praising Fred for never missing the photos and Joachim missing 2.

[Nordic]

Originally Posted by Archduchess Zelia

Regarding the graph, it should be noted that they have only counted one engagement per day of official visits and visits with Dannebrog – and during most official visits QMII, Mary and Frederik generally do multiple engagements per day.
.

If this graph is counting engagements, one event per day during official visits etc, then it's not really very accurate:

F&M visit to Saudi Arabia, 5 days counted as 5 engagements per person, when they really had 23 engagements on the agenda.

Women Deliver conference, 4 days = 4 engagements for Mary, but on the official agenda she had 27 events during those days.

And the same for QM on Dannebrog, F&M during State Visits and so on.

[Muhler]

It is indeed getting increasingly difficult to defend Joachim in particular but also our Marie to some extent. In the sense that they receive an apanage.

It would perhaps be wiser if J&M did a Benedikte - i.e. basically having an expense account under QMII. Which means they would get paid for the work they do and not for what is expected of them.

In that way we would still have someone ready to stand in for M&F, while they at the same time are more free to do what they want.
Because in fifteen years Christian and Bella are old enough to begin to sideline J&M in earnest.

[Nordic]

Originally Posted by Muhler

It is indeed getting increasingly difficult to defend Joachim in particular but also our Marie to some extent. In the sense that they receive an apanage.

In that way we would still have someone ready to stand in for M&F, while they at the same time are more free to do what they want.
Because in fifteen years Christian and Bella are old enough to begin to sideline J&M in earnest.

I don't really understand your "some extent"....?

I thought it odd, that the article concentrated on Joachim. Your Marie has even less official engagements than him, even if the figures in the article aren't completely accurate.


Fifteen years is a long time....Realistically speaking, Frederik could become King next week or next month. The next in line, Christian, and the other kids are all 10 and younger. Joachim & Marie would be needed to do the job the CPC are doing now. Can they just opt out of it and continue with the workload they have if that happens?

[GracieGiraffe]

Originally Posted by Muhler

It is indeed getting increasingly difficult to defend Joachim in particular but also our Marie to some extent. In the sense that they receive an apanage.

It would perhaps be wiser if J&M did a Benedikte - i.e. basically having an expense account under QMII. Which means they would get paid for the work they do and not for what is expected of them.

In that way we would still have someone ready to stand in for M&F, while they at the same time are more free to do what they want.
Because in fifteen years Christian and Bella are old enough to begin to sideline J&M in earnest.

I think it makes more sense, as you suggest, for working royals to live under one big expense account.

[ricarda]

Originally Posted by Countessmeout

Was there an article criticizing Fred for doin 55? No. Or maybe someone can post a link. The fact is he is being criticized for not doing as much as his brother who is the heir. People get all pissed off and up in arms when people criticize other royals for being work shy. But Joachim its ok?

Visibility? I guess he needs to publish his time card or have photos taken as he goes to his defense job because it is not a public event its 'dubious' and doesn't count.

And yes, the article made a clear point of praising Fred for never missing the photos and Joachim missing 2.

The fact is nowhere in the article it says that he should work as much as his brother, the heir. Joachim is critizised for working as little as his father who is officially retired although J+M's move to Copenhagen a few years ago was officially explained with their workload. He is critizised for not coming to Graasten although he constantly declares how important South Jutland is for him. There is a huge gap between what J+M say and what J+M do. And this article points that out.
And yes, Nordic, Marie is (and always has been since her wedding) the family member with the fewest engagements. It's odd that they don't mention her. Since she is at least half responsible for the couple's "freeloader" image.

[Muhler]

Originally Posted by Nordic

I don't really understand your "some extent"....?

I thought it odd, that the article concentrated on Joachim. Your Marie has even less official engagements than him, even if the figures in the article aren't completely accurate.

Because it's not a question of quantity, that is how many events a royal do, not even quality, it's a question of profiling. And in that respect our Marie has a way higher profile than Joachim.

Originally Posted by Nordic

Fifteen years is a long time....Realistically speaking, Frederik could become King next week or next month. The next in line, Christian, and the other kids are all 10 and younger. Joachim & Marie would be needed to do the job the CPC are doing now. Can they just opt out of it and continue with the workload they have if that happens?

Yes, they can.

M&F would be in the same situation as the current Regent Couple was in the 70's and 80's. They ran the show on their own, only supported by Benedikte and Queen Ingrid.

Is it desirable to have a couple of royals in perfect working order, not pulling their weight while M&F are all over the place? Absolutely not
But it's perfectly possible.

[Nordic]

Originally Posted by Muhler

M&F would be in the same situation as the current Regent Couple was in the 70's and 80's. They ran the show on their own, only supported by Benedikte and Queen Ingrid.

Is it desirable to have a couple of royals in perfect working order, not pulling their weight while M&F are all over the place? Absolutely not
But it's perfectly possible.

Did Benedikte and Queen Ingrid have official events at the time, or was it more a question of moral support?

If they did have official events, then the Regent Couple ran the show with two other members of the family. M&F would be on their own, if J&M "opted out".

[Muhler]

Originally Posted by Nordic

Did Benedikte and Queen Ingrid have official events at the time, or was it more a question of moral support?

If they did have official events, then the Regent Couple ran the show with two other members of the family. M&F would be on their own, if J&M "opted out".

I thought you meant with their current workload.

I don't think J&M opting out completely is a realistic scenario. Not unless they decided to move to France or something like that. And that would be most odd IMO.

Yes, Benedikte did her bit but not to the extent that she is doing now, she after all had children, husband and the estate at Berleburg to keep her busy.

Queen Ingrid also stepped in on a relatively low key basis. And as you may recall she also stepped in as Rigsforstander, even is she was not in the Line of Succession.

So in a scenario where J&M opted out more or less completely, it would not only be possible that Mary would from time to time be Rigsforstander, it would be inevitable IMO.
(Which would make Mary the de facto head of state from time to time. There is a particular website where they would have a collective heart attack, should that happen... )

[Nordic]

Originally Posted by Muhler

I thought you meant with their current workload.

I don't think J&M opting out completely is a realistic scenario. Not unless they decided to move to France or something like that. And that would be most odd IMO.

Yes, Benedikte did her bit but not to the extent that she is doing now, she after all had children, husband and the estate at Berleburg to keep her busy.

Queen Ingrid also stepped in on a relatively low key basis. And as you may recall she also stepped in as Rigsforstander, even is she was not in the Line of Succession.

So in a scenario where J&M opted out more or less completely, it would not only be possible that Mary would from time to time be Rigsforstander, it would be inevitable IMO.
(Which would make Mary the de facto head of state from time to time. There is a particular website where they would have a collective heart attack, should that happen... )

Sorry, badly put: I meant with their current workload, but if they continue with that if Frederik becomes King next week, it would, for me, be kind of "opting out".

Several members of this board would be having the collective heart attack too...

[polyesco]

Originally Posted by ricarda

The fact is nowhere in the article it says that he should work as much as his brother, the heir. Joachim is critizised for working as little as his father who is officially retired although J+M's move to Copenhagen a few years ago was officially explained with their workload. He is critizised for not coming to Graasten although he constantly declares how important South Jutland is for him. There is a huge gap between what J+M say and what J+M do. And this article points that out.
And yes, Nordic, Marie is (and always has been since her wedding) the family member with the fewest engagements. It's odd that they don't mention her. Since she is at least half responsible for the couple's "freeloader" image.

very well stated.
If the numbers are accurate (which I think they are wrong in only counting one engagement per day, since we know F&M do multiple engagements per day especially during official visits; and not counting Joachim and Frederik's regent days, etc...)
if they are correct, we see that Benedikte is doing more than Marie and almost as much as Joachim. Of course, maybe these past months were the heavy ones for Benedikte and the upcoming months will be heavier for J&M, but for me this is off.
take for example the 4 days Women Deliver conference in DK. yes it was very much Mary behind it but if Frederik and Benedikte found a way to attend a few sessions and relate it to their work...was there not one session at least that Marie could have attended?

2 years have gone by since Joachim sold his farm, one of the reasons was that it was hard to balance his royal duties and farm work, now he has no farm and his royal duties have remained the same

[Archduchess Zelia]

Originally Posted by Countessmeout

Was there an article criticizing Fred for doin 55? No. Or maybe someone can post a link. The fact is he is being criticized for not doing as much as his brother who is the heir. People get all pissed off and up in arms when people criticize other royals for being work shy. But Joachim its ok?

No. That was my point. We're discussing Joachim because it's an article about Joachim. BT doesn't shy away from criticising any royal so if Frederik's workload (or lack of so) was a problem, trust them to have him be the focus of another article. It's notable, as it has been pointed out before, that this graph apparently counts work days rather than the actual amount of engagements of the individual royal – so that would raise both QMII, Frederik and Mary's scores – the same can't be said for Joachim.

If you had bothered reading my reply to you, this criticism is fed by a general frustration towards Joachim amongst the Danes. And people aren't frustrated that he doesn't do as much as Frederik – no one expects him and Marie to do as much as the Crown Prince couple – as I said before, it is, however, upsetting to people that he can't even muster up more engagements than his retired, 82 year old father.

Originally Posted by Countessmeout

Visibility? I guess he needs to publish his time card or have photos taken as he goes to his defense job because it is not a public event its 'dubious' and doesn't count.

The criticism directed towards his part-time job is pretty valid. Documents from the meetings he has attended strongly suggest that rather than spending the normal 20 hours a week on this part-time job, that is more likely to be the amount of time he spends on it a year. Which, to me, is the very definition of a de facto job to detract from all the criticism he's getting. So yes, providing some evidence that it isn't just that would greatly help his case

Originally Posted by Countessmeout

And yes, the article made a clear point of praising Fred for never missing the photos and Joachim missing 2.

The article mentions Frederik twice: First, in the beginning, by noting that he, Mary, the children, QMII and Henrik, indeed, were present at the photo opportunity. Secondly, near the end, by pointing out how Joachim acts as regent whenever both QMII and Frederik are out of the country. While I'm not usually one to spring to BT's defence, nowhere in the article did they make "a clear point of praising Fred for never missing the photos". Which would be a stupid thing to do – IIRC he and Mary missed out on the photo opportunity in 2008 and received plenty of flack for it as well

Originally Posted by Nordic

If this graph is counting engagements, one event per day during official visits etc, then it's not really very accurate:

F&M visit to Saudi Arabia, 5 days counted as 5 engagements per person, when they really had 23 engagements on the agenda.

Women Deliver conference, 4 days = 4 engagements for Mary, but on the official agenda she had 27 events during those days.

And the same for QM on Dannebrog, F&M during State Visits and so on.

While I agree that it doesn't give a fair representation of QMII, Mary and Frederik's workload, I would also argue that counting several engagements per day wouldn't change Joachim's score much

[camelot23ca]

The report does make me wonder how Joachim spends his days, especially if it's true his part time job is more an honorary thing instead of actual work. He doesn't have the country estate/farm to run anymore. His children are getting older and I can hardly see Joachim being their full time caregiver, anyway. The royal engagements he does don't seem to be the sort to require extensive behind the scenes prep. Presumably most of his friends, even the wealthy ones, have some sort of employment or estate management or something that keeps them busy.

A man in his 40s or 50s should have some sort of regular work, IMO, even if he's independently wealthy.

[iceflower]

.

Posts about the family's holidays have been moved to the following thread:


** Prince Joachim and Family Summer Holidays: 2012-2016 **

[Muhler]

BT has an article about how much Joachim work in the Defense Command. His position is nominated at 20 hours a week.
Prins Joachim ansat til 20 timer om ugen: Men så meget arbejder han rent faktisk

BT has tried to find out how much it really amounts to, but the military has declined to give away details.
A reply from the military says that there is no registration and: "Just as with other senior executives in the defense there is no upper limit for time at work".

But in his interview to Børsen Joachim has commented on his workload: "It's a part-time position. If I am to put numbers on how much time I use, it's everything from weeks where I'm not here, to last week where I was on a course the whole week with the defense and had a work-week for up to 70 hours.
If I'm not away traveling I will come by the office a couple of times a week as a minimum in order to be productive here.
There are many who likes to write subjectively without considering how much they know and don't know. All of a sudden it's trumpeted a message that you are lazy, lethargic and idle. Of course that affects you. But I can only say that it is absolutely not an objective news-presentation".

- I will add that Joachim and our Marie attended a gala-dinner last night after a hectic week with the Defense Command, where Joachim and other among other things traveled to Greenland to look at the security situation there. - DK is in these years increasing its military presence and ability to rapidly move military forces to the arctic. F-16 fighters were tested in Greenland a couple of years ago but found operationally unsuited for the climate to operate from bases there.

The problem with Joachim, as it also sometimes is for Frederik, is that they don't get as much press-coverage as their wives. Meeting people in suits may be important, but from a media-perspective it's not particularly news-worthy.
That there IMO actually is a point in having a look at Joachim's workload is another matter. I think he shuld be seen out and about more often or change his and Marie's apanage to an expense account under QMII, more or less akin to the arrangement Benedikte has.

[maria-olivia]

Yes Mr Muhler , to much press coverage for the Princesses !

[Muhler]

You may recall that J&M a few years ago bought a villa in France.

Now it has been put up for sale. You can see the advert with pics here: Buy a villa/house in montauroux, Provence - Var | HH-7138412

They have tried to rent out the villa, also at reduced prices, but apparently without that much profit, so now it's up for sale. Kom med indenfor i det sydfranske luksuspalæ: Joachim og Marie sætter sommerhuset til salg

[polyesco]

I completely forgot they bought a place in France, we usually saw them at Chateau Cayz.
Maybe one of Joachim's friends might be interested?

[eya]

Prince Joachim with Prince Henrik in concert of Justin Bieber

http://www.billedbladet.dk/sites/bil...?itok=3YfzX2Xh

Video

http://www.bt.dk/royale/aerlig-prins...eber-sang-foer