Frederik went Sailing while Willem-Alexander had a Birthday Party

[MissSaga]

Aw I was soo sad when I saw that Mary and Frederik weren't there in Holland, but what the heck, look what a GREAT family time they had in Copenhagen with their two beautiful children.
That's what matters, not some bowtie event. Mary looks so tanned, really relaxed and amazing, same with Frederik, they were clearly really happy

[Henri M.]

Originally Posted by MissSaga

Aw I was soo sad when I saw that Mary and Frederik weren't there in Holland, but what the heck, look what a GREAT family time they had in Copenhagen with their two beautiful children.
That's what matters, not some bowtie event. Mary looks so tanned, really relaxed and amazing, same with Frederik, they were clearly really happy

It is not 'some bowtie event'. It was a carefully planned and executed stylish and understated royal event at one of Europe's most impressive sites to celebrate the birthday of His Royal Highness The Prince of Orange, the Heir of a proud and illustrious House and future King of the Netherlands.

As I stated on other boards I sometimes doubt if Frederik sees himself as Freddie Laborde de Montpezat or as His Royal Highness the self-conscious and serious and aware Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, Heir to one of Europe's eldest thrones.

His colleague at the other side of the Øresund, Crown Princess Victoria, seems to ooze the future kingship in every DNA-molecule. Not for the first time Crown Prince Frederik has given me (my purely personal opinion, of course) the idea of a spoiled brat. And his wife has never given the impression (again my purely personal opinion, of course) that she does have any idea at all: Copenhagen or Hobart? Ach... as long as there is a Prada shoestore in Main Street...



I might be totally wrong. And I will be the first to admit. And I hope I am terribly wrong. But it is the impression they make on me.

[MissSaga]

Originally Posted by Henri M.

It is not 'some bowtie event'. It was a carefully planned and executed stylish and understated royal event at one of Europe's most impressive sites to celebrate the birthday of His Royal Highness The Prince of Orange, the Heir of a proud and illustrious House and future King of the Netherlands.

It sure still is just a bowtie event. It might mean a great deal to you because you're dutch, but for Mary and Frederik, there will be others. In the last two years, they've attended so many of them, abroad (Anniversaries, Birthdays) and in Denmark(Private friends or other "important" people), and I do not see why it was absolutely vital for them to attend Prince Willem-Alexander's 40th.

[UserDane]

Henri, I am sure that Willem's birthday bash was lovely with lots of good beer and what have you. But still, I cannot but marvel at your ignorance of the other event that kept the crown prince of Denmark - Europe's oldest and finest monarchy (see, chauvanism is contagious... ) from getting their fair share of the undoubtedly fine and illustrious food and to enjoy the megawatt smile of Willem's lovely wife undoubtedly dressed in one of her numerous creations straight from Valentino or Nathan (which is where she shops all the time but she is from the monarchy so it is of course quite acceptable...) - but alas, 'twas not to be so this time.

(*** and silly remarks are contagious too ).....

And this was of course just my opinion

[Marengo]

I think that calling Willem Willie is rather unfortunate. Perhaps you could stick to Prince Pils while Henri can stick to Turbo Freddie...

Though this is not the right forum for it, just to set something straight, Maxima isn´t promoting Dutch fashion, so she doesn´t need to wear dutch designs (thank god, just see what a dutch designer does to poor Laurentien).

[UserDane]

Originally Posted by Marengo

I think that calling Willem Willie is rather unfortunate. Perhaps you could stick to Prince Pils while Henri can stick to Turbo Freddie...

Though this is not the right forum for it, just to set something straight, Maxima isn´t promoting Dutch fashion, so she doesn´t need to wear dutch designs (thank god, just see what a dutch designer does to poor Laurentien).

Marengo, I quite agree! And I only use it as an illustration of how unattractive it is. I do not generally approve of twisting names that way.

...poor Laurentien? Do you mean at this event? I thought she looked gorgeous in the picture I saw of her! And even when she has major fashion slips, I find her charming and extremely likeable.

My reaction was to the apparent necessity of bashing other royals in an never-ending attempt to elevate one's own; I find it rather repulsive, excuse me for saying that.

[Henri M.]

The reaction in Danmark would have been the same.

"Where were the Prince of Orange and Princess Máxima? I missed them at this event?"

"I believe they had an engagement scheduled."

"What engagement?"

"Dunno, it is not on the Court Circular."

"Is it an official act or something, that they remain absent?"

"No. A tournament or something. A competition I thought."

"Too sad the Dutch did not show up on such an event at Frederiksborg!"

[Aurora810]

Is it really that big of a deal that Fred wasn't there? So he missed it. No one from Monaco was there either. Or if they were I missed them. In the end the entire secrecy of the event annoyed me. Its fine if you want to have a private party with your family and friends on government owned property, that seems to be a perk he has rights to. But to invite such well known royals and then stress out your private intelligence services to keep them all in seclusion. Come on, that is not fair to the country/the taxpayers. I think had he had this private event with only a parade of Dutch royals, I wouldn't have a problem with it. But it's the neccessity to invite so many foreign royals in an effort to celebrate in a grand way but at the same time SHHH! it's a secret for the most part. Silly! It's like he wanted to have a grand event for himself but he didn't want to draw comparisons or criticism of acting like a head of state before he is a head of state. So maybe that is why the secrecy and limited access. And besides those are his colleagues from other royal houses those are not his friends. Yes, he's known them for years but to be good ol' chums of all of them, nope, sorry I don't believe it for a second! I would think it would be more like acquaintances that share a similar thing, a royal background. I'm sure that Fred will make a point to be at W-A's 50th.

[Marengo]

I highly doubt that any Dane, apart from a handfull of royalty watchers, would care if the dutch royals would come or not to a royal party in Denmark. Likewise there aren´t many Dutch people who care that the Danish crownprince was not present, only a handfull of royalty wachers.

[Madame Royale]

Marengo, I quite agree! And I only use it as an illustration of how unattractive it is. I do not generally approve of twisting names that way.

I quite agree. And throughout this exchange I've noticed one member in particular who seems to think that an appropriate path to take.

My reaction was to the apparent necessity of bashing other royals in an never-ending attempt to elevate one's own; I find it rather repulsive, excuse me for saying that.

I'm sure a certain indavidual would be the first to over compensate for the qualities of both Willem-Alexander and Maxima (indeed, I believe they already have on occasion) if it were they who were spoken of so poorly.

[carlota]

Originally Posted by Marengo

I highly doubt that any Dane, apart from a handfull of royalty watchers, would care if the dutch royals would come or not to a royal party in Denmark. Likewise there aren´t many Dutch people who care that the Danish crownprince was not present, only a handfull of royalty wachers.

you are quite right, marengo. except from royal watchers, i doubt anyone else gets upset if any other crown princely couple does not attend a certain event with other crown princely couples. just to mention an example, nobody complained in spain (appart from royal watchers) when the princes didn't show up at any of the last birthdays (carl gustav of sweden, the king of thailand - both last year - or king harald or queen sonja's -this year), and i must say spanish press is quite difficult to handle and will complain about everything and anything, the smallest detail...

[COUNTESS]

So what, what harm did it do?

[crisscross1]

I think I must have missed something, was it Fred's 40th or Willem's?
I don't suppose anyone missed the Danish Crown Prince and his wife being at the celebrations and I am sure that the correct appologies were made for them not being able to attend for whatever reason.

[stellam]

William missed the Queen of Norway's birthday and nothing was said about it. So why the fuss because Fred missed William's birthday at least he wasn't sitting at home in front of the tv and twiddling his fingers.

Stellad

[Henri M.]

Originally Posted by Aurora810

Is it really that big of a deal that Fred wasn't there? So he missed it. No one from Monaco was there either. Or if they were I missed them. In the end the entire secrecy of the event annoyed me. Its fine if you want to have a private party with your family and friends on government owned property, that seems to be a perk he has rights to. But to invite such well known royals and then stress out your private intelligence services to keep them all in seclusion. Come on, that is not fair to the country/the taxpayers. I think had he had this private event with only a parade of Dutch royals, I wouldn't have a problem with it. But it's the neccessity to invite so many foreign royals in an effort to celebrate in a grand way but at the same time SHHH! it's a secret for the most part. Silly! It's like he wanted to have a grand event for himself but he didn't want to draw comparisons or criticism of acting like a head of state before he is a head of state. So maybe that is why the secrecy and limited access. And besides those are his colleagues from other royal houses those are not his friends. Yes, he's known them for years but to be good ol' chums of all of them, nope, sorry I don't believe it for a second! I would think it would be more like acquaintances that share a similar thing, a royal background. I'm sure that Fred will make a point to be at W-A's 50th.

Actually the Prince did succeed in his plan: he absolutely wanted an as private as possible party. And indeed a whole bunch of royals, nobles and other guests had the time of their life, even having a relaxed sports and games competition with each other, larded with a lunch in one of the hunting lodges on the Crown Estate. On Friday there was a private program, a banquet and grand royal fireworks in the palace park. They were barely disturbed by public or media. This must have been absolutely great for all the guests.

I'm sure that it was not the Prince's initial idea to 'snub' the public. It was his initial idea to create a careless and "free-to-breathe-because-there-is-no-media-around athmosphere" on his birthday party. And he did succeed.

The interested public finally did got nice videos on the news and lots of pictures in the newspapers, the magazines and on internet. I have not heard anyone so far in the Netherlands complainig that it was so discrete. There was -as always- nagging about the costs, but as this is a private event all costs are for the Prince, except the security which is a responsibility of the State. Since that became clear the nagging ended (except for the occasional die-hard here and there of course).

Prince Albert of Monaco is a head of state, by the way. And he has never had any substantial relationship with the Prince of Orange and/or Princess Máxima. In contrary to Crown Prince Frederik, or Crown Princess Victoria, or the Eearl of Wessex, he has never been private guests on the princely private estate.

[BeatrixFan]

It depends if an invitation was snubbed in my opinion. If Frederick and Mary were invited, turned it down and the only reason was a jaunt in a boat then it's a snub to Willem and Maxima but it isn't a snub to the Dutch as it's hardly a contradiction of foreign policy or government spat. It's more like a family falling out if there is any falling out and I dont think attendance at a birthday party provides a measuring stick for suitability as monarch and just as CP Victoria can be held up as dutiful for going, she could also be criticised for jetting to every party there is. It wasn't a state matter so it's really not that important IMO, though a shame if F and M did turn down an invitation when they had nothing better to do.

[Henri M.]

Originally Posted by stellad

William missed the Queen of Norway's birthday and nothing was said about it. So why the fuss because Fred missed William's birthday at least he wasn't sitting at home in front of the tv and twiddling his fingers.

Stellad

Her Netherlands Majesty herself, also becoming 70 soon, honoured Her Norwegian Majesty with her radiant appearance, together with Princess Máxima. And the Queen had a pair of antique wooden sticks for Nordic walking in her luggage! The Prince was not twiddling his fingers anyway: he was abroad for an executive board's meeting of the Organisation Committee of the Olympic Games, if I remember it correctly.



Earlier this year 6 Duth royals travelled to Norway to honour the King for his 70th birthday: the Prince of Orange, (the heavily pregnant) Princess Máxima, Prince Friso, Princess Mabel, Prince Constantijn and Princess Laurentien. All three of them packed out with glittering jewels and enjoyed the festive atmosphere. It would have been 7 royals from the Netherlands, but The Queen excused her absence because she was hindred due to the formation of a new Government (which went -afterwards- smoothier than expected: the Queen invested all new ministers earlier that week).

The Queen in Stavanger, for Queen Sonja's birthday cruise.

[UserDane]

Originally Posted by BeatrixFan

It wasn't a state matter so it's really not that important IMO, though a shame if F and M did turn down an invitation when they had nothing better to do.

I don't understand the argument that they had nothing better to do It is many many months since it was first mentioned that the Farr 40 World Championship would have some of its races in Copenhagen harbour - and that Frederik and several others had worked hard to attract the competition to Denmark; so how on earth was he to know that his Dutch colleague would celebrate his 40th birthday 3 or 4 months after his actual birthday? I would consider it a greater snub to the organisation in Denmark behind the competition if he just said 'sorry guys; I know we have all have been working our *** out to secure this competition, but this birthday invite just came up....".
The condition for participating in this event is that each yacht must be driven by its amateur owner/helmsman. So a decision to go to Holland instead would affect others than himself - notably the crew of 9 or 10 other people.

In this link - Farr 40 Worlds - Home - from September 2006 - it says at the bottom of the article that "The Rolex Farr 40 World Championship is in its ninth year and will celebrate its 10th anniversary in Copenhagen, Denmark in the summer of 2007".

So what is so wrong with honouring an obligation that is at least one year old??

[lise]

I think this thread this a bit of than overreaction. Frederik had a Farr 40 event last weekend. He was busy he couldn't go.

[lise]

Originally Posted by UserDane

So what is so wrong with honouring an obligation that is at least one year old??

Nothing, I think it would have been offensive to the ogranisers of the Farr 40 World Championship if he didn't compete.