Engagement of Crown Prince Frederik and Mary Donaldson: October 8, 2003

[Josefine]

Programme for 8 October 2003

9:45 - 10:00 am
Members of the Cabinet arrive at Christian IX' s Palace, Amalienborg.

10:00 am
Ordinary Meeting of the Council of State in Christian IX' s Palace.
Her Majesty The Queen presides over the Council of State which is composed of the members of the Cabinet. His Royal Highness The Crown Prince also has a seat on the Council of State. At meetings of the Council, parliamentary bills to be introduced by the Cabinet in Parliament (Folketinget) are presented. On 8 October 2003, Her Majesty The Queen will upon the Prime Minister's submission and according to the Act of Succession (section 5 subsection 3) give her consent to the marriage of His Royal Highness The Crown Prince to Miss Mary Elizabeth Donaldson.

11:00 am
After the meeting of Council of State, the ministers gather in the Banqueting Hall to greet the engaged couple, HM The Queen and HRH The Prince Consort, Professor John Donaldson and Mrs Susan Moody. Official photographs will be taken.

12:00 am
The engaged couple, HM The Queen and HRH The Prince Consort, Professor John Donaldson and Mrs Susan Moody appear on the balcony of Christian IX' s Palace.

1:15 pm
Family lunch at Fredensborg Palace.

3:30 pm
Photo opportunities and press meeting in the Garden Hall at Fredensborg Palace for accredited journalists and photographers only.

8:00 pm
Dinner at Fredensborg Palace. The engaged couple, the Royal Family, Professor John Donaldson, Mrs Susan Moody, members of the Cabinet, the Speaker of Parliament, Party leaders, Representatives of the Home Rules of Greenland and the Faeroe Islands, the President of The Supreme Court and the Royal Household will attend the dinner.

The date of the wedding between His Royal Highness The Crown Prince and Miss Mary Elizabeth Donaldson is expected to be announced 8 October 2003.

 

[Josefine]

8 October 2003

PRESS RELEASE

The Office of the Lord Chamberlain announces:

Her Majesty The Queen of Denmark and His Royal Highness The Prince Consort have pleasure in announcing the engagement of their son, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to Miss Mary Elizabeth Donaldson.

Today, Wednesday 8 October 2003, the Council of State gathered at Amalienborg Palace, presided over by Her Majesty The Queen. Upon submission from the Prime Minister and in accordance with the Act of Succession of 1953, Her Majesty gave her consent to the marriage of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Miss Mary Elizabeth Donaldson. The wedding will take place on Friday 14 May 2004.

Miss Donaldson is a British and an Australian citizen and is currently a member of the Presbyterian church. She has agreed to become a member of the Evangelical-Lutheran church and to apply for Danish citizenship, thus relinquishing her British and Australian citizenship ties.

Professor Christian Thodberg, Her Majsty The Queen's Chaplain will undertake Miss Donaldson's spiritual guidance in her transition to the Evangelical-Lutheran faith.

The marriage ceremony will be performed by the Bishop of Copenhagen, Erik Norman Svendsen assisted by Professor Christian Thodberg in the Cathedral of Copenhagen, Our Lady's Church.

For further information concerning the programme of events for 8 October 2003, please visit the web-site of the Danish Monarchy or of the Crown Prince:
www.kongehuset.dk
www.hkhkronprinsen.dk

Ove Ullerup
Lord Chamberlain

 

[xicamaluca]

Balcony Appearance

Part I

www.bt.dk & www.imaginescandinavia.com

 

[Josefine]

thank you xicamaluca
She look sweet...

 

[xicamaluca]

I love her outfit, very elegant But, she could have done something better with her hair, something different

 

[rdennv]

she looks happy and at ease with the waving from the balcony...We've only seen her so far in unofficial situations so she seemed quite plain but these pics show that she is fit to become crownprincess and that she will accomplish her duty seriously.

I know it's just pics and I'm waiting for the press conference but that's the feeling I have so far.

 

[Josefine]

I also thought about the waving, it looks like a royal waving....
do you know what I mean

 

[Lisa5113]

Does anybody know what her ring looks like?

 

[xicamaluca]

Balcony Appearance

Part II

www.imaginescandinavia.com

 

[paulette]

Congratulations to both of them! They look so happy and very sweet. Mary looked elegant with her outfit so with Queen Margrethe.

The engaged couple are to be married in May next year.

 

[paulette]

A KISS FROM FREDERICK AS HIS ENGAGEMENT BECOMES OFFICIAL

8 OCTOBER 2003
As he gently kissed her hand in front of a crowd of 50,000 of his future subjects on Wednesday morning, there was no doubt that Crown Prince Frederik is very much a man in love.

The tender gesture came as the 35-year-old prince and his bride-to-be, Australian lawyer Mary Donaldson, 31, greeted the Danish people from the balcony of the royal palace in Copenhagen. They were joined by Queen Margrethe and Prince Consort Henrik after the Danish monarch had officially given her consent to their union in parliament.

The wedding is to be celebrated at Copenhagen Cathedral on May 14 the palace announced. Marriage to Frederik will mean that Mary will one day become queen of Denmark.

It was Hobart-born Mary's official engagement since she first moved to Copenhagen two years ago. She and Prince Frederik met during the Sydney Olympics in 2000, and a year later she quit her job with a real estate company to be closer to the prince. Since then she has worked for a Danish computer company.

 

[Josefine]

merge

she seems VERY nervous....

journalists first ask in Danish and then repeat in English

She talks very much in English

And Frederik talks English with accent

 

[hrhcp]

Alexandria 
Posted: Oct 8th, 2003 - 9:19 am

Thank you .... I did like Mary's outfit very much .... I thought she was sweet looking!

Amazing compliments, Alexandria.

I wonder if that is the last outfit that Mary had to buy on her own?

I get the impression the haute coutours (er ... Danish clothes designers) will be greatly and I am inclined to think very rewardingly challenged in establishing clothes that show Mary to advantage. I like that thickish pull-over? she's wearing.

Also, I think she - just like the CP - is a very private person.

(OT it occurred to me, who was it who pulled the strings for M to get a job with Microsoft in Denmark?)

I think everybody here will be raving within 2 to 3 years about the appeal a subdued lady like Mary has. And takers????

 

[Cissan]

Josefine

I can't see it. Please, tell me more!! How is she? Has she said anything in danish? In that case; how was her danish? (I presume that you're Swedish...)

 

[Alexandria]

Originally posted by Lena@Oct 8th, 2003 - 9:36 am

Hoho, I bet on their wedding day you are even able to write a 5000-signs-post because you´re so overwhelmed of her stunning beauty, her loveliness, and her charming appearance

BTW, is the man with the beard on the balcony Mary´s dad? He looks very likeable (such a nice-looking man can just produce a nice daughter ) [/quote]
Let's not get carried away here Lena!

 

[visitor]

I think everybody here will be raving within 2 to 3 years about the appeal a subdued lady like Mary has. And takers????

Yes, I think you're correct. She looks very good here and has impressed me with her conduct physically today. Still not impressed with her past credentials. I also agree with posters who think she was actively looking for a prince, but that is considered understandable by many.

I want to find out about the press conference and if she spoke in Danish or English.

 

[Josefine]

Formal Portraits

http://www.hkhkronprinsen.dk

 

[xicamaluca]

Her danish is quite disapointing

 

[Josefine]

Originally posted by Josefine@Oct 8th, 2003 - 1:50 pm
And Frederik talks English with accent

she seems VERY nervous....

journalists first ask in Danish and then repeat in English

She talks very much in English

Almost all questions to Fredrik
They call her Mary not Miss Donaldson

 

[Alexandria]

Originally posted by Josefine@Oct 8th, 2003 - 9:47 am
she seems VERY nervous....

journalists first ask in Danish and then repeat in English

She talks very much in English

Why does Mary need to speak in or be spoken to in English when it has been reported that she speaks Danish fluently and picked it up so quickly. I would think now would be good time for Mary to demonstrate her fluency of the language and her commitment to the Danish people and culture.

But maybe her nerves made it hard for her to concentrate and focus on her Danish? (Trying to give her lots of benefit of doubt here ...)

 

[visitor]

Her danish is quite disapointing

It's the one thing she really should have learned very well by now. Surprising.

Frederik definitely looks in love.

 

[bramair]

B) Mary looks very nice in her engagement pictures, but I am a little worried because she and Frederik didn't seem to smile as much as Alexandra and Joachim did. I did not see any huge smiles from her. Maybe she felt restrained in her first official public appearance. I wish them the best.

 

[Cissan]

Mary opened the meeting by saying: I må forstå, at jeg er en smule nervøs. Jeg har kunnet læse i avisen, at jeg taler flydende dansk. Tak for det. Det er desværre ikke rigtigt, sagde Mary Donaldson.

Which means: "I'm a bit nervous because I've read in the newspapers that I speak fluent danish. Thank you for that. I'm afraid it's not true though."

So it was just rumours about her fluent danish...

 

[visitor]

Mary opened the meeting by saying: I må forstå, at jeg er en smule nervøs. Jeg har kunnet læse i avisen, at jeg taler flydende dansk. Tak for det. Det er desværre ikke rigtigt, sagde Mary Donaldson.

Which means: "I'm a bit nervous because I've read in the newspapers that I speak fluent danish. Thank you for that. I'm afraid it's not true though."

So it was just rumours about her fluent danish...

What do the Danes think of this?

She looks great. What a pity she could not learn the language after 2 years and private lessons. Will this affect her popularity?

 

[Bubbette]

Neither of them really seem like the "smiley" type.

 

[Josefine]

They did not sit to close in the sofa

 

[Cissan]

The ring! Red and white, like the Dannebrog!

Unknown Source

 

[Alexandria]

Originally posted by visitor@Oct 8th, 2003 - 10:31 am
Frederik definitely looks in love.

Frederik certainly looks like a smitten kitten in those official pictures from inside the palace with Mary. With his arms wrapped around Mary like that, there is no question that this is a man in love.

 

[jun5]

Balcony Appearance

Part III

Unknown Source

Pic 3-9: www.polfoto.dk and www.ibl.se (Originally posted by Julia)

Pic 10: www.imaginescandinavia.com (Originally posted by Alexandria)








http://img353.imageshack.us/my.php?image=24op.jpghttp://img353.imageshack.us/my.php?image=24op.jpg

 

[Julia]

Ok, I have to gloat...I was right about the engagement ring! :woot: Sorry, about that.

First impressions:

*Mary looked very elegant in what I believe was a Chanel coat-dress and heels. A very nice and tasteful look as opposed to some of her looks in the past

*Hair....she should have worn it differently. Pulled back in a chignon or something. Her hair was a little too 60s.

*Frederik looked like the entire world had been lifted off of his shoulders. Totally relieved and in love. So, now we can say without a doubt that he is smitten.

*Mary looked very appropriate (her expressions, waving) but like she might fall down from nervousness, but then again who wouldn't under such circumstances??

Overall, they are indeed in love!! Congrats to them both!!