I Feel Sorry For Alexandra

[Fireweaver]

That would be an excellent way to get Mary started (put her with a charity that's already successful and has had royal sponsorship in the past) and then when she's comfortable in her role, expand her charities with ones of her choosing that don't already have a royal attached.

 

[Mee]

Does anyone consider the fact that HRH Princess Alexandra might actually be interested in having the focus lifted from her and her immidiate family?

So rahter than feeling sorry for HRH Princess Alexandra, I believe we should be happy for her that she now has a fellow daughter-in-law that will share the extensive media attention with her - and relieve her of some of her work load!

 

[Lady Jean]

Excellent point, Mee!

 

[andiemac]

And Alexandra will get more time to spend with her two kids !! :flower:

 

[Jacqueline]

Originally posted by Mee@Jan 4th, 2004 - 10:34 pm


So rahter than feeling sorry for HRH Princess Alexandra, I believe we should be happy for her that she now has a fellow daughter-in-law that will share the extensive media attention with her - and relieve her of some of her work load!

Absolutely Mee. Alexandra is far too intelligent to not realize that she will have much more time for herself and her family. I think that's wonderful.

Also, who knows! Alexandra and Mary may even have the great opportunity to become good friends as the years go by, especially since the immediate Royal Family is so small. I think it is a great opportunity for Alex to make a new friend. Alex is so outgoing and friendly, I don't think this would be so outrageous for this to happen.

 

[Jasl]

I don't think Alex should have to diminish her role just because Mary is there. There are far too many people needing help for this to happen anyway. What does bother me are the "I wish P. Alexandra is the CP/Queen/President of Denmark (alright no pres.). It was never going to happen and to say that Fred should have fallen for Alex instead is so slack on Joachim.

Anyway, there you go. I hope some of Mary's less serious patronages will include sporting associations. She was good at basketball/ hockey so maybe she could do something with them. Apparently, P. Alex was good at hockey too, but I've never seen pictures of Alex doing sporty stuff now (probably because of the kids/ her work) so I don't see Alex as "the sporty kind of princess".

 

[asdfasdf]

I like Mary! I think she is just really nervous right now and with good reason - the fact is she has a biiig job ahead of her and anyone can see that, it's bigger then Alex's job so I would be scared too PLUS she is getting compared with someone else constantly. I think the way some people in the thread talked about Alex is this - that she would be jealous of the attention not being on her - and it seems to make some of you annoyed and dislike Mary for it. If Alex is as nice as I have heard that she is, I'm sure that she will be happy to have someone new to go through this with and would help out and wouldn't be so damned 'Me Me Me!!!' as some of you give me the impression that she is like.

I think if Mary comes across as boring or whatever, that it's because she hasn't adjusted to the public life in the way that Alex has... everyone would react differently in that situation and I think it's unfair to call Mary boring or to dislike her because of this fact - she just hasn't found her feet well enough yet in the situation which is not the same as anyone here will ever really be able to comprehend! Mary must be always concious of being judged so harshly and not being given a chance which after coming on the internet, I can see why she would be! lol not many people seem willing to give her a chance - I think she wants people to like her but doesn't know what to say or do. She is scared as this is all new for her. Alex obviously must have just adjusted better then Mary. But this doesn't make Mary boring or bad. And I highly doubt that Mary is a gold digger. What makes Mary that and not Alex? Can anyone prove it? I didn't think so. Give her a chance people. she can't be that bad if the Danish Queen thinks she is good enough for the job and the CP loves her the most!

Anyways, I wish Mary the best of luck!

 

[sunlesstanning]

I've heard that Princess Alexandra will be going to washington dc to have lunch with Laura Bush and also I think a conference in NYC. Pricess Alexandra is perfect for this kind of job. She's intelligent, charismatic, and beautiful ( she has such a beautiful face structure). Therefore I dont think anyone should feel sorry for her.

 

[Times2222]

Having read through and even participated in some of the discussions about Alex's role after Mary becomes crown princess, I have finally come to the conclusion that Alex should not be compared to Mary and vice versa.

Each should have their own identity and given a chance to grow into the roles and persona that they are comfortable with.

I have been a long-time fan of Princess Alexandra and have in the past been frank about my concerns about Mary.

Still I think Mary should be made welcome and greeted with patience and understanding from Danish citizens and others.

 

[Jacqueline]

I agree that the two women can hardly be compared, but only contrasted. They really are two very different individuals when taking into account their personal backgrounds, interests, demeanors, etc.

But, I still see no reason to feel sorry for Alex. Because as it has been stated by so many, Alex has already adjusted to public life, whereas Mary has not. Her standing within the Royal Family and the Danish community has already been established. She has made a solid reputation and life for herself and Mary's addition to the family can hardly undo that, IMO.

 

[Times2222]

I am adding this posting from another site, called Royal Blue. The conversation threads is about why Mary's father's CV is included in her's CV. Is it to boost her resume which includes 8 or 9 jobs in as number of years?

On the contrary Alexandra's father and mother's CV were not added to her to bolster her credentials.

Quote from anothers site:
"Alexandra's father was well-respected Director of insurance company in Hong Kong. Her mom was a manager of German company in Hong Kong. Her Austrian family is well educated too . The main point is that Alex had very impressive cv. She studied in London, Vienna and Tokyo. She has been working in three companies only. In GT Management (her last company) she worked form 1990 to 1995 and since 1993 as vice director. Alexandra didn't have to add her dad's impressive cv becuase she was professional and successful . Mary's employement history looks so extremely poor compared to Alex."


Message to Jasl:
before you explode with anger about this comment, please understand that we are entitled to our opinion of Mary's career accomplishments in this forum based on what we observed. This is no absolute and there is no way you or I know 100% what is the truth.

As for you being pleased to have Mary's CV, well I don't. Having received a graduate degree from Harvard, I know what a top achiever's CV looks like and Mary's CV is not one of a top career achiever. But that does not mean she is a bum, just that she has no major distinction in her career.

Having said that, Mary seems intelligent. I at first did not like her but have come to see that She and Fred are very happy together and that she is an intelligent and happy person who is good for Fred and Denmark.

 

[Jasl]

As long as it's not defamatory of course you can post your opinion . Of course it doesn't mean that others can't post an opposing view and attack the basis of another posts arguments.

Lol.... I like the "explode with anger". It's funny, because I could also say "now you're just being defensive". But I also know you're really just posting your views and are not being "defensive" as such. Although the admins at royal blue are very good now, you have to admit that there was a LOT of defamatory being posted before... hence the strong words.

I do however have problems with defamatory statements - the law doesn't tolerate it and neither does society. As such I don't think it has a place even in the internet, that's why I seem to sound like i'm "exploding".

 

[Times2222]

.

 

[anna]

Originally posted by Times2222@Jan 22nd, 2004 - 11:49 pm
On the contrary Alexandra's father and mother's CV were not added to her to bolster her credentials.

So you know that for a fact ?

Nine years ago - when Alexandra became engaged to Prince Joachim - the danish royal house did not have a website - info on the bios of Alexandra's father and mother were distributed to the media !

Years into her royal life the website was launched - her family background was common knowledge - not included in the very short cv they put online for her.

Mary's cv on Crown Prince Frederik's website will be altered 14.may

Her Royal Highness' cv will be shorter - Mr. Donaldson's cv will not be there - I guess.

 

[Times2222]

Anna, No, I did not know that. Thanks for the clarification. Don't know if the media also received information/press releases about mary's father's background, as they did with Alex's family.

As for Mary's CV on Fred's website, a CV should cover only her accomplishments not her father's also. Still not appropriate.

 

[anna]

Originally posted by Times2222@Jan 23rd, 2004 - 12:23 am
Don't know if the media also received information/press releases about Mary's father's background, as they did with Alex's family.

As for Mary's CV on Fred's website, a CV should cover only her accomplishments not her father's also.  Still not appropriate.

Didn't get the point, did you ?

Nowadays the info goes out from the court online - not just to the media like in the old days - back then the media could choose whatever they wanted to write about.

The info the royal court provided about Mary's family is in her cv on CPF's site - nothing more from the court than that.

As I wrote above - I guess Mr.Donaldson's cv not will be a part of HRH Crown Princess Mary's cv.

 

[Alexandria]

Originally posted by anna@Jan 22nd, 2004 - 6:47 pm
Nowadays the info goes out from the court online - not just to the media like in the old days - back then the media could choose whatever they wanted to write about.

Back when Joachim and Alexandra were first engaged, and information about Alexandra's family was being distributed to the press only, couldn't "regular" citizens "apply" to see the information if they so wanted, even if there was a small fee involved.

I am not sure how it works in Denmark, but for instance, in Canada, we have a Freedom to Information Act in which "regular" citizens can go to a particular government office and apply to see public documents of individuals, even private individuals, not just public figures like politicians. For example, you can apply to see someone's marriage licence (if it is not sealed) or birth records and the like. Does Denmark have a similar law?

Or was the case different in Alexandra's case (and now Mary's) because their parents are not Danish citizens and any such information for the interest of Danish citizens would have to come directly from the Royal Court? (Alternately, I guess you could go to the home countries of Alexandra and Mary's parents and apply for such documents.)

 

[Times2222]

Originally posted by anna+Jan 22nd, 2004 - 6:47 pm--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (anna @ Jan 22nd, 2004 - 6:47 pm)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Times2222@Jan 23rd, 2004 - 12:23 am
Don't know if the media also received information/press releases about Mary's father's background, as they did with Alex's family.

As for Mary's CV on Fred's website, a CV should cover only her accomplishments not her father's also.  Still not appropriate.

Didn't get the point, did you ?

Nowadays the info goes out from the court online - not just to the media like in the old days - back then the media could choose whatever they wanted to write about.

The info the royal court provided about Mary's family is in her cv on CPF's site - nothing more from the court than that.

As I wrote above - I guess Mr.Donaldson's cv not will be a part of HRH Crown Princess Mary's cv. [/b][/quote]
The point I was making was that the royal court found it necessary to add her father's Credentials to Mary's Professional CV to boost her up.

It did not seem to me in 1995 that the court or anyone else try to boost Alex via strong emphasis on Alex's parents professional accomplishments.

As far the fact that Alex's parents were widely distributed to the media in 1995, so are Mary's. Which article in the media do we not see Mary mentioned as the daugther of a "Oxford Professor" or math professor from Tasmania.


It's the issue of emphasis.

 

[Jacqueline]

Originally posted by Times2222+Jan 23rd, 2004 - 12:31 am--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Times2222 @ Jan 23rd, 2004 - 12:31 am)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>

Originally posted by anna@Jan 22nd, 2004 - 6:47 pm
<!--QuoteBegin-Times2222

@Jan 23rd, 2004 - 12:23 am
Don't know if the media also received information/press releases about Mary's father's background, as they did with Alex's family.

As for Mary's CV on Fred's website, a CV should cover only her accomplishments not her father's also.  Still not appropriate.

Didn't get the point, did you ?

Nowadays the info goes out from the court online - not just to the media like in the old days - back then the media could choose whatever they wanted to write about.

The info the royal court provided about Mary's family is in her cv on CPF's site - nothing more from the court than that.

As I wrote above - I guess Mr.Donaldson's cv not will be a part of HRH Crown Princess Mary's cv.

The point I was making was that the royal court found it necessary to add her father's Credentials to Mary's Professional CV to boost her up.

It did not seem to me in 1995 that the court or anyone else try to boost Alex via strong emphasis on Alex's parents professional accomplishments.

As far the fact that Alex's parents were widely distributed to the media in 1995, so are Mary's. Which article in the media do we not see Mary mentioned as the daugther of a "Oxford Professor" or math professor from Tasmania.


It's the issue of emphasis.[/b][/quote]
I am not sure why the court found it necessary to do that. It could be as has been stated on other forums that it was done to try and bolster Mary's credentials or even that of her father.

It could also have been done to give individuals more background on Mary's family. However, in that case I really wouldn't see any reason to actually give his resume/cv online. A chosen journalist could have written an article about it in a reputable journal.

It is a little strange in my opinion, and I have to admit that I find it to be a bit tasteless and unecessary to start posting the employment histories of an individual's family online. Regardless of whether or not Mary's personal employment history may make things appear as though she has "jumped around" a bit. The fact is that it is her employment history and it does show that she was employed at several places. I personally feel that regardless of how anyone interprets it, it was good enough and should have stood on its own.

It really could been done for so many reasons, that the entire thing may be completely or at least fairly innocent. Who knows?

 

[anna]

As far the fact that Alex's parents were widely distributed to the media in 1995

by the danish royal court to the in total 20 persons (incl photogs and tv-crew) present at Joachim's engagement press conference !

On Mary or anyone in her family - the only info given by the same court - to us to as well as any media - is still available on CPF's website - until 14.may - I guess.

 

[lasu]

Originally posted by Alexandria+Jan 22nd, 2004 - 6:58 pm--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Alexandria @ Jan 22nd, 2004 - 6:58 pm)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteBegin-anna@Jan 22nd, 2004 - 6:47 pm
.

I am not sure how it works in Denmark, but for instance, in Canada, we have a Freedom to Information Act in which "regular" citizens can go to a particular government office and apply to see public documents of individuals, even private individuals, not just public figures like politicians. For example, you can apply to see someone's marriage licence (if it is not sealed) or birth records and the like. Does Denmark have a similar law?
[/b][/quote]
Not quite accurate. In Canada, the Privacy Act governs the release of personal information. It prohibits the release of most government-held personal data (age, marital status, health info, identification numbers, etc) without the consent of the individual concerned. There are exceptions, mostly for legal investigations or aggregate statistical data. Interestingly, it is legal, in certain circumstances, for the government to withhold personal data from the actual individual who "belongs to" that information.

As a citizen, I have no ability to request your birth certificate Alexandria. Your secrets are reasonably safe...

Now, to get on topic... I thought it was a little weird that Mr. Donaldson's CV was listed with Mary's. Very patriarchal. However, I like Mary, so I am not tempted to view this addition as an attempt to camouflage some inadequacy. They released Mary's CV to provide the media with background, maybe they just did the same with her father's... I doubt they would do any differently had it been Alex marrying into the family this time around.

 

[lasu]

And for the record, I don't feel sorry for Alexandra. If she is the saint that so many say she is, then she will find happiness and satisfaction in her good works, loving family, and elegant (though somewhat boring at times) wardrobe. Having another princess around won't detract from the first, especially one so admired.

 

[Times2222]

Originally posted by lasu@Jan 23rd, 2004 - 8:32 pm
And for the record, I don't feel sorry for Alexandra. If she is the saint that so many say she is, then she will find happiness and satisfaction in her good works, loving family, and elegant (though somewhat boring at times) wardrobe. Having another princess around won't detract from the first, especially one so admired.

I don't think Alex is regarded as a saint. One may recall that several years ago Alex was criticized for not producing an heir.

Neither Alex and Mary should be regarded as Saints. They should develop their individual styles (as Alex has). Mary should be given a chance to do so to.

 

[ingenue]

well i hope for the best for the two princesses.
alexandra seems like a real lovely woman, and i can understand her missing hong kong so much since after all it IS her home.
having mary around will certainly detract attention off alex, but im sure she'd welcome a momentary "quiet" time!

 

[Jasl]

Originally posted by Jacqueline@Jan 23rd, 2004 - 10:53 am

As for Mary's CV on Fred's website, a CV should cover only her accomplishments not her father's also.  Still not appropriate

It's a fact that there was media attention about Mary' father being an Oxford professor even before the engagement. Danish TV was interviewing kids and Aarhus professors even BEFORE (but near) the engagement. The press were indeed very interested in what her dad did. I believe that because the CP's website is there for information, they included Mary's dad' CV because they knew that the press would be interested in it (and because its good news that the future heir's dad is anOxford professor isn't it?).

Regarding Alex, she will always be well-loved. She has done so much and I doubt that Mary will be involved with the same charities as Alex already is (maybe some, but not the major ones).

 

[agisele]

argh. i've never liked mary, she seems like a very cold person, and hardly expresses any emotion whatsoever whenever you see her in the pictures. i love alex though, i think she's so awesome, i really admire her style and elegance, while i'm not that optimistic about how mary's going to be dressing like once she marries into the family.

 

[bonjour_corsica]

i think alexandra manley is a suitable person to be a queen..
coz' i don't really like mary ;frankly speaking..

alexandra has the criteria...

 

[montecarlo]

Do you know Alexandra and Mary personally? What don't you like about Mary?

 

[Jacqueline]

Originally posted by bonjour_corsica@Apr 6th, 2004 - 12:25 pm
i think alexandra manley is a suitable person to be a queen..
coz' i don't really like mary ;frankly speaking..

alexandra has the criteria...

Mary does come off sometimes as being very aloof at least in some of her photographs. Her personality in pictures seems to have changed from the way in which they appeared when you compare it to her personality in photographs of her taken while she was still in Australia. IMO, she seemed happier and enjoying herself more in pictures pre-Denmark.

I attribute the shift in what appears to be her personality now at least publicly to having added pressures and trying very hard. Sometimes if you pay very close attention to photos of her you can see that she does appear to be very uncomfortable and working towards appearing poised. I think that her coldness is due in large part to a change in her life and added worries. To use a very old statement, Mary's plate is full at this point. She cannot appear as natural as Alexandra or as others do because she is still adjusting. Mary seems to be visibly trying whereas, although Alex may have had similar worries, she never let on to it. She really appeared to be carefree throughout and seems so in the present as well.

 

[montecarlo]

Some of you people are being very unfair. Mary hasn't even become the Crown Princess and you're already judging her capabilities as Queen consort? That's really pathetic! Look at Queen Elizabeth II. Even though she is very sober and austere, she is considered to be one of the greatest queens of 20th century!