Mary Donaldson, Current Events 1: September 2002 - May 2004

[sheeba]

Alexandria, I'm sure your right, but why do I get this feeling that those who knew about it probably just thought he was probably just having a fling, nothing serious, he's just come out of a 4 year relationship - on the rebound the usual stuff. He only dated her for 6 months before the engagement. If they knew she was "the one" why would Felipe had had to give his parents an ultimatum? And if they knew she was the one and she had been adequately prepared please explain these faux pas - which incidently Mary did not make
1) In the "Peticion de Mano" (official announcement) Letizia walked on the wrongside of Felipe and interrupted him "dejarme terminar" so one presumes she paid alot of attention in her protocol class
2) She indicated that she would eventually leave her job but not immediately!!!!! Every royal watcher and their Mama knows when you get engaged to a CP you leave your job ASAP. This had to be corrected eventually by a Palace official. So obviously they did not brief her properly. I did not see Mary hanging around in her Microsoft job!!!!!!!
3) When the engagement is announced all CPrincesses move into the official Palace untill they are married. Letizia moved into Zarzuela and after a couple of days moved out? Why were the indepth questions from the men in grey suits abit to tough for her or did the King jsut not like her? Isn't Mary still living at home with Frederik she has not had to move out has she?
4) How can intelligent woman from a country as proud as Spain with its own fashion industry wear an Armani trouser suit to her official engagement? Hello!!!!! I'm sorry but something is just not right. Compare and Contrast all recent announcements and I don't think these many mistakes have been made. Mary did not make a mistake why - because she was adequately prepared -or well it seems like she has been.
5)"Operacion silencio" - if Spain rejected I Sartorius and E Sannum on the grounds that they're parents were divorced the heir to the throne is asking them to accept a divorce whose parents are divorced and grandaprents I think on the maternal side also are. I'm a publicist and I'll tell you you only gag the press if a story is groundbreaking and big enough to 1) cause major damage (hence you go into damage limitation mode - I suspect thats why they had to buy her divorce papers another hint as to why they did not expect her to be the one, the divorce papers would have been bought a long time ago) or 2) it will be of enormous advantage to your client. And all I'll say is even Haakon lived with Mette Marit so it was no shock to the nation about her son. And lets be honest if Letizia had been pictured with Felipe prior to the engagement as his potential bride, I'm willing to bet good money on this there would be no engagement.
Why - the nobility don't like her, the Duke of Palma (Elenas Husband) does not and supposedly the King, lets not forget the GRF - the queen is close to her family and Princess Irene does not think much of her, God ony knows what KC thinks of her and lets not mention the conservative press and pro monarchists. Its interesting that most critiques of Letizia tend to be pro monarchists. With this much opposition she would never have made it past the Palace gates and you get the feeling sub consciously Felipe probably knew that's why all the hush hush.
I don't know much about the Belgium situation but I know the Crown Princesses family are part of the nobility - isn't her mother a countess or something. And did she make the same mistakes as Letizia?

[Alisa]

What do you mean? Can you explain this further?

I am sorry,you are correct that the general public didn't know much about Mathilde except for the few photographs here and there. Also P & M met knew other 3 years prior to their marriage. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for Letizia.

[donnaK]

Sheeba,

1). I saw Maxima standing on the right hand side of WA during their engagement, Mary standing on the right hand side of Fredrick on the balcony. Is it such a big deal of which side she stands ?

2). I think she was telling the truth since she did have to do some transition type works. Besides being the news anchorwoman, she might also be scheduled to host the gala events. It would definitely take some time for her to pass her work to the next person. Mary was a consultant in microsoft. When her time was up, she could leave.

3). It was just rumor that Letizia moved out of Zarzuela (she still lives in Zarzuela). Mary doesn't live with Fredrick officially either.

4). Letizia wore Armani, Mary wore Channel. Fashion has no boundary. Both women should be free to choose what they like for the last time.

5). I agree that if Spanish press had known their relationship prior to the engagement announcement, they might have a harder time. But if Felipe was determined to marry her, they would still find a way, just everyone would be so worn out at the end. Didn't Felipe tell his parents he wanted to marry Letizia at the beginning of October ? It was just a matter of finding a right timing to announce the engagement. Nobility probably prefered Felipe marrying their daughter or niece. I heard that Dutch court was not happy about WA marrying Maxima, Norwegian court was not happy about MM, at the end, they are still their CPs.

[USCtrojan]

Originally posted by tricia@Feb 7th, 2004 - 10:20 am
Any potential bride or groom marrying into a royal family should be told about the pros and cons BEFORE there is even an engagement. :flower:

Agreed...... I feel the same way... But, in a way it seems as though they don't want you to know.. So that one might be blindsided when told what WILL happen if THIS happens....

[anna]

Originally posted by donnaK@Feb 9th, 2004 - 6:40 am
4). Letizia wore Armani, Mary wore Channel.

No, on her engagement day Mary wore a known danish designer Kenth Fredin !

He designed her day dress and coat and her gala gown.

The danish royal engagement day did have many more events than the spanish

- which only publically consisted of a short standing chat with some of the media
in addition to a photosession for both families.

[sheeba]

DonnaK

The bit about her leaving work does not stark up. We all work and we all know people who resign instantaneously due to numerous reasons - death, need to care for a family member, are you telling me that if Letizia had walked up to her boss (and incidentally did she not meet Felipe through a dinner organised by her boss) and said I'm marrying the CP goodbye. I'm sure they'd understand, the CP is not joe bloggs and no one is going to feed her any (*expletitive removed by administrator*) about transition periods and we need to find a replacement. Thats nonesense - do you know how many journalists are out there desperate for work, you can snap you fingers today and get a replacement.

And furthermore why after the official engagement when they announced the wedding date, was it let be known that she would not be taking "princess classes" and that decision had to be instantly reversed. Can you imagine Maxima, Mette Marit, Mathilde or Mary saying we don't need "princess classes"? Thats bad judgement. No one's doubting Letizia's intelligence and the fact that she's in control of the relationship, Felipe has always been attracted to strong women, he's a mummy's boy. There's nothing wrong with strong women, I'm all for them, but I'll give you another difference when Maxima had her interview (this was after the furore of her Dad - I appreciate the feeling of the Dutch, papa ain't coming to the wedding - what a sacrifice can you imagine isn't it every girls dream to have her father walk her down the aisle) look how she handle herself in that interview. And a telling remark was made by the head of some republican movement (can't rember the name) and he said - Maxima after that interview had set back Republicanism in Holland for decades if not century's (Not that it was getting anywhere in the first place). But that for me was a wonderful tribute to a strong woman. I doubt if we will be hearing the same about Letizia. From the press cuttings I've been reading she's probably advanced republicanism in Spain. If not allowed the subject to be aired more vocally and you the dangers when more and more people begin talking about it you could be sailing in choppy waters.

[donnaK]

Sheeba:

There are jounalists out there who are desperating for work has nothing to do with a transistion period being needed to pass the necessary infos from one person to the other one. Sure by marrying CP, she didn't need a two-week notice, but any responsible person would like to see the person who replaced her would get all the infos she needed. Either Princess Alexandrea of Denmark or Maxima (don't remember exactly which one) went back to finish her work after the engagement.

Regarding Maxima, if Maxima insisted on her Papa coming to the Wedding, there would not have been a wedding seriously. Surely she made the sacrifice, tell me what else she could do otherwise. Felipe and Letizia did mention that together they wanted to serve Spain well. I really don't know where you get the idea that Letizia didn't take 'princess classes'. The RF only said that she didn't need the international studies, which she probably had more knowledges than most of the already princesses due to her involvement with the huge international events over the years.

I think your 'republicanism' worry in Spain is a bit exaggerated. I have been to Spain several times and being a quarter Spanish, I would say less than 10% of the Spaniards favor 'republican'.

[sheeba]

Donna

I lived in Spain for awhile and have Spanish friends all I can say is from the press cuttings we get in from the international press - I suggest you spend abit more time in Pais Vasco and the Catluna region (I hope I got the spelling right and the regions right) weren't they recently calling for a reform of the constitution? And yes one could argue they've always been calling for a reform.

And about the job aspect in England an anchor lady got murdered and was replaced asap for the next reading. anyone that works in any organisation will tell you, as a manager you plan for all eventualities - people being fired, people walking out - particularly in the capricious Media industry. And any professional thats worked infront of cameras can do so just like that. What do you think happens in Operas when the star falls ill in between acts?

And are you trying to tell me that just because Letizia has a masters degree and was a news reader her knowledge of international affairs was or is much better than an economist that worked for Deutsche Bank (i.e. Maxima) or an IT consultant that works for one of the worlds top IT companies (i.e. Mary) come on thats abit lame. The Palace got caught on the back foot and had to do a reversal - abit like Blair and Bush being forced into having commissions. I don't want to go off topic here but this thread is all about how prepared CPS'es are for their role and if I compare the way the other Royal Families have handled the relationships and then announcements I know you are Spanish and you have to be patriotic but you must admit the Danes, Dutch, Belgians etc got it right and the Spainsh one - I know I can't put my finger on it but I know there's something not right. This is not because I'm anti Letizia or Anti Mary far from it. Someone made a comment about the number of functions that were held didn't they organise for children to stand outside waving flags and then there was a ball afterwards. I don't expect every announcement to be the same - but remember that the Spanish have not seen a CP engagement/wedding in how many years and you would have expected them to go all out on this one. I don't know - I'm begining to sound like my mother - when she saw Charles's interview with Diana when they got engaged and he said what is love I remembered vividly as a child my mother saying something's not right. History will prove me right or wrong. I guess we just have to agree to disagree.

[anna]

A book on Mary is being written to be published after the wedding by publishers Høst & Søn.

The two autors have just returned from research and interviewing in Australia.

Karin Palshøj is assistent editor in the news departement of the national broadcasting DR.

Gitte Redder has been a political journalist for 14 years.

Respekt, Mary - af Karin Schmidt - 10.february 2004

[tigerlilly23]

why do you think fred's mother gave mary only 1.27 million kroner out of a sum of 12.7 million kroner that the couple have together and they also pointed out that the amount that mary's has been give is for her to carry out her offical duties and that it doesn't say she has the right to buy clothes, and go on holidays on the spur of the momment sort of a thing maybe fred mum has finally woken up and see mary for what she really is and that why she has cut back the funding on mary's allowence.
Or maybe she does have insiders following mary;'s every move and reporting back to her on what she does with the money and how she is planning to became the next cp of denmark and she is getting second thoughts about this girl. :o

I would love your options

[anna]

Originally posted by tigerlilly23@Feb 10th, 2004 - 9:58 am
why do you think fred's mother gave mary only 1.27 million kroner out of a sum of 12.7 million kroner that the couple have together
... why she has cut back the funding on mary's* allowence.
**

The annual allowance(money) for the danish royal family is given by the danish parliament -> they get their allowance by the politicians.

The spouses Henrik and Alexandra get 10% of their royal spouse's allowance
- as Mary will too - when she becomes the spouse of a danish royal.

According to the government's proposal, Crown Prince Frederik's allowance
as a married man will be 14 400 000 danish kroner.

[Jasl]

Originally posted by anna@Feb 9th, 2004 - 6:54 pm
A book on Mary is being written to be published after the wedding by publishers Høst & Søn.

Will this book be like the tabloid kind (i.e. will Beatrice be the source of information :P )? Or is it palace-sanctioned?

Will it be in English?

[anna]

Queen Margrethe has created a monogram for her daughter-in-law when she becomes

http://img130.imageshack.us/i/marys.gif/

Crown Princess Mary



- af Else Boelskifte - 14:19 --10.february 2004

The article will soon be moved toa pay archive

[kate14]

Thanks Anna,

All the spouses get 10% of their Royal spouses allowance. Why should Mary be any different.

IMO--I really do not see a story here. Much to do about nothing.

[paulette]

NIce monogram!

I would just like to ask if Princess Alexandra also has a her own royal monogram. I have already seen the monogram of Joachim and Alexandra. Both combined!

[anna]

Originally posted by paulette@Feb 10th, 2004 - 3:29 pm
I would just like to ask if Princess Alexandra also has a her own royal monogram. I have already seen the monogram of Joachim and Alexandra. Both combined!

According to the above linked article Prince Joachim designed Alexandra's personal monogram.

Queen Margrethe designed that couple's monogram.

[Jasl]

I haven't seen Alex's own monogram. Can someone post it here? Can it be found anywhere in LTR?

Regarding Mary's monogram, I really like it. I saw the big version the first time and it was just too strong. But looking at the smaller picture, it's not too masculine actually. I like this one much more than the F & M combined one (coz I have problems with the trailing arms of the M in their combined one).

[Alexandria]

A quick note: News about Frederik and Mary's wedding has been moved to the Something New (wedding) forum as there is a thread there related to the upcoming Crown Princely Danish wedding. While I can see reasons for it being posted in the Crown Prince Frederik sub-forum, it really does belong in the Weddings forum. Please post future news and comments related to the wedding there.

[tigerlilly23]

I was really bored and just went through lat year's articles and in one of them it siad that mary is an articulate person this is what her theacher's have siad about her and that she has a keen intrest and knowledge of world events.

I have a few questions for you people to think about !

1 what do you think the term articulate means when it's reffered to mary

2 why do you think people like her theachers are saying this unless it a suck up job to make her look good

3 and when mary made here first press confrence last year on her engagament day the pres asked her a very easy question about what does she know about denmark? And she answered aans christen anderson. She has been living in denmark for more than a year and she had all the time in the world to explore the great country denmark is and that the best she could do. Does this acually prove anything about mary's great knowledge and world events with an anwer like the one she gave?

I'm not crticizing her i just want you guys to think a little bite more deeply about the things you read about her and to question weather it true or not with what you think and belive about this girl.

[hania]

I think it means that she is very meticulous and attentive in anything that she does.She pays a lot of attention to what she is doing.