What is your opinion of Frederik and Mary

[Jo of Palatine]

Originally Posted by royaltywatcher

The things you mention are inconveniences. The truth is, most of us mere mortals have only a few people we can trust. Most of us have only a few really close friends. There are people who would not be able to deal with always having to look good in public, but there are those for whom dressing up is natural and fun. (I know women myself that would not dream of leaving their homes for anything without their makeup perfectly applied.) As far as freedom goes, she loses some forms of freedom but gains others--the freedom to travel and see things that most people will never see, the freedom to learn languages, etc.

The only thing that would give me pause is the possibility of divorce, because that is a humiliation for a woman that marries into a royal family that it really isn't for a woman in an ordinary situation.

Mary, an ordinary middle-class woman from Austrailia, will be Queen of Denmark, the oldest continuous monarchy in the world. Her child will be King. What more can you say?

What more can I say? That divorce is the last straw in a situation that is so unbearable that nothing can save you except of giving all up to regain your freedom? Even though you know what your solution means to other people - and millions of them?

As for the freedom of travel: have you ever travelled extensively? Have you had the chance to enjoy things at your own, without people starring, without people trying to help you appreciate things? Maybe it's because I'm so individualistic and like to do things "my way" - but the idea of having to do traveling like Mary does gives me the creeps.

As for her son being the future king: that does mean that Christian will never be able to live a "normal" life. What if he turns out to be gay? Would the Danes accept that or would he need to make a secret out of it? Okay, that's a very extreme thing to happen (or is it? I'm thinking of the Royal Wuerttembergs...) but still as a mother I'd have thoughts like that. What if terrorism starts focussing on Denmark and a baby prince as a convenient victim? Noone would target the son of an unmarried Ms. Donaldson but the son of the Crown Princess of Denmark? There are so many potential problems - and I'm afraid money and status does not have the healing potential needed if just one of them in fact appears.

Inconveniences? Maybe. Suddenly I start hoping that the princess is the shallow personage a lot of people think she is. After reading her pre-wedding interviews I've thought she isnt. Maybe she would be better off if she was just what you are thinking she is.

[Roxsteve]

Originally Posted by Zonk1189

I never called Mary a heroine..and please don't speak for me :)

You are totally missing my point..and you are certainly entitled to your opinion. I was speaking on the aspect of Mary's friends. I said nothing about her son, or having a beer with her father. I simply said...that yes Mary does have a lot of material thing btu who is to say she doesn't have problems. I am not comparing her to a single mother with two jobs and no way to pay the bills or an average family from anywhere in the world. I simply said that she may problems of which we have knowledge. No one on this board does.

The point of my email was the add to what Jo said about friends and Mary's position.

I don't speak for you or anyone else. It was not my intention to do that!

[luli289]

They are a cute couple

[tundra]

A pictures says a thousand words but the flip side of that would be, there are a thousand ways to interpret a picture.

[denice]

I like Mary. I find her style very unique and refreshing. In my opnion she & Frederick radiate happiness together.

[Sashabella]

I feel badly for Mary re: the Nordic Imelda Marcos articles. When you are popular with the press to start, they will turn on your eventually.

I can't imagine how hard it must be to leave all your family and friends, give up your citizenship, learn a new language and do it all in the public eye knowing you have an iron clad pre-nup that isn't in your favour if it all doesn't work out.

I do like Mary's clothes and I understand the criticism that she may be too consumed by fashion. However, her life requires a significant amount of clothing and unlike many other princesses she does not come from money and probably had an average wardrobe to start. An average wardrobe would not be suitable for a princess and she probably needs to accumulate many items. She just had a baby and perhaps her size has changed which would necessitate even more clothing. She is seen recycling clothing so I would like to give her a chance!

I think the jury is still out on Mary and only time will tell.

[stellam]

I'm very sure the same people who critise Mary for spending too much money on clothes will critise Mary if she is seen wearing the same outfit 2 or 3 times. Again, she's damned if she does and damned if she doesn't. No matter what Mary does, there'll be people who will critise her because she is a commoner who met a Prince, he fell inlove with her and she with him and they actually got married.

Stellad

[mirrjam]

Mary does not have freedom to travel wherever she wants to, and when she is traveling, she ofcourse is seeing beautiful things, but it will be all so formal and planned, she will not be able to just go out and walk in a strange city to really experience a new and different country. That is just not how it is.
And of course everything is being care off, she really does'nt have to clean the house, or wash her own clothes, she really does not have to watch the prices of clothes or jewelry before buying... Really nothing of this all.
And there are al lot of profits of nice and good things about being the princess... but the only thing I could envy her for.. is her really loving and really caring husband and a little boy who is adorable..!
And I am not kiddin; I LOVE clothes, shoes, jewellry etc. and I of course would love to have all the money to spend on myself, and have a cleaning lady, and a cook and a driver etc. But everyone here still knows, at least I am very well aware of it: This is not what makes you happy, this is not what you wish for in life...
ps:
What is with all the glamourous stuff, being famous or something, what is so fun about that, what is so fun of being always photographed?? Everyone in Danmark knows you and everyone watches you, everone has an opinion about you.. Is THAT glamour?

[Opal]

Originally Posted by Roxsteve

I respect your observations, but disagree. I dont' believe for a minute that her life is soooooo difficult...she has help, she is the center of attention, she is well taken care of, her son is privileged, and her father?...no I would not want to have a beer with him...I don't get your point. Regardless, I think you are making her a heroine. She is not.

I don't think anyone's life is as great as it seems... no matter what the circumstances.

[lise]

Originally Posted by mirrjam

ps:
What is with all the glamourous stuff, being famous or something, what is so fun about that, what is so fun of being always photographed?? Everyone in Danmark knows you and everyone watches you, everone has an opinion about you.. Is THAT glamour?

I can't see anything fun or glamourous about it. Always being photographed and everyone having an opinion of me sounds like a nightmare situation for me.

[Aussie Princess]

Originally Posted by stellad

I'm very sure the same people who critise Mary for spending too much money on clothes will critise Mary if she is seen wearing the same outfit 2 or 3 times. Again, she's damned if she does and damned if she doesn't. No matter what Mary does, there'll be people who will critise her because she is a commoner who met a Prince, he fell inlove with her and she with him and they actually got married.

Stellad

Actually you're wrong. Why would they do that? I certainly never have. why would she be criticed for wearing the same outfits? when has anyone ever done that? A lot of people, including me would be glad to see her waste a little less money of frivulous things she doesn't need! I for one would be furious if I had to finance someone living like that.
I thik the assumption that people would criticise her because "she is a commoner who met a Prince, he fell inlove with her and she with him and they actually got married" is also completley untrue. what evidence have you seen of that? people who have criticised Mary have damn good, and valid reasons too. And we don't criticse every other woman who is a commoner who became a Princess. In my opinion, every royal should marry a commoner. But ones who are suitable for the role of Princess.

[Alexandria]

Originally Posted by Aussie Princess

Actually you're wrong. Why would they do that? I certainly never have. why would she be criticed for wearing the same outfits? when has anyone ever done that?

I agree with your points Aussie Princess. To some degree all the royals recycle their clothes, in some families more than others. Princess Anne for example is notorious for wearing suits or dresses or hats she originally wore in the seventies (good for her to have been able to maintain such a figure however!).

I would say that Mary is criticized the least for recyling her clothes when she does as if you read around here, she accessorizes the same outfit differently or mixes and matches her outfits so that she isn't carbon copying an outfit from head to toe from one occasion to the next. This is a quality that Mary is quite often praised for: Her innovative ability to repurpose items from her closet even if she is reusing them in some manner. She has worn her engagement ball dress (the one shoulder green one) on at least three occasions now, but I don't recall a single complaint about that.

And as Mary has a pretty nice wardrobe, who would complain about seeing a beautiful evening gown or a well-made suit again?

[soCal girl]

Personally, I don't see what's so refreshing about royal ladies recycling clothes. Sure it's nice to know that even royals recycle like we do but it's not a rare thing. Basically all of the royal ladies do it. There are recycling threads for almost if not all the Crown Princesses of Europe in the Royal Fashion section. I think Mary sets herself apart from recycling is that she doesn't copy the exact same outfit twice like Alexandria said. Many times she mix and matches skirts, coats, blouses, and accessories to obtain a new look even though she uses pieces over and over again. A lot of the other princesses usually wear an outfit the same way most of the time. I'm not saying one is bad or good, just different in terms of recycling. So this whole clothes thing with Mary has really reached a moot point IMO.

[Hotdog]

There isn't any great big deal about recycling outfits. Virtually every member of the modern monarchies do it.
Mary (or her stylist) is particularly skilled at it, breaking apart outfits so we are not aware that we have seen that skirt and that jacket before just not together.

The media like to make mention of this because:

1. It gives them copy and sounds so much better than here comes Mary/Victoria/Alexandra etc in an outfit we've seen six times already.

2. People want to be reminded that they have a modern monarchy that is aware that it can not spend like it's going out fashion.
The public want to see that the royals have a budget too even if it is a very big one.

3. Tabolid magazines sell clothes to women.
Expensive Clothes sell better if the reader is thinking "that skirt may cost $500 but you can wear it over and over just like she is".
Of coarse we don't have the same long list of public engagements that a Princess has and the skirt is likely to never see daylight more than once.

[Lexy]

Originally Posted by Sashabella

I feel badly for Mary re: the Nordic Imelda Marcos articles. When you are popular with the press to start, they will turn on your eventually.

I can't imagine how hard it must be to leave all your family and friends, give up your citizenship, learn a new language and do it all in the public eye knowing you have an iron clad pre-nup that isn't in your favour if it all doesn't work out.

Without being too blunt, people all over the world leave their families and friends to migrate to foreign lands to make a new life for themselves. Chinese, Spanish, Ukranians, Germans, Greeks, Italians etc.

People leave war striken countries for a better life without a cent in their pocket, no knowledge of the language of the new land their are adopting and some mothers and fathers have many children to support. No family and friends to support them and they still pull through. Mary made an effort to relocate and mind you she is mega rich. Therefore why do we always use is excuse that "..i don't know how she did it".

What on earth has she done that has not been done before? How can you possibly say it was such a huge deal? If people pose such simple questions then you really do not know what hard is!!! It is not easy to relocate but for Mary it was certainly not hard compared to billions of people who have done the very same thing for centuries and mind you they were not all Princesses and Princes.

[Hotdog]

Unforunatly the media and the public likes to martyrise Mary and other prosective Princesses.
The media and us the gullible public like to hear the fairytale romance.

The farytale needs sacrifice, hardship with true love fixing all for a life of "happy ever after" with no problems ever again.

Since no-one fits this mould you end up with two warring factions. (suporters v opponents)

Mary did move many thousand of miles away from Australia to a cold land where she couldn't speak the native language. Yes many have had to give up even more. With the modern telephone at least she could ward against loneliness.

As a migrant myself it certainly can be done but she would have been very homesick at times.

I think the hardest thing would have been to have the media spotlight on you the whole time while you are still trying to find your feet in a new country and work on building a relationship with the man you came to the country to be. Up until then they only saw each other in holiday situations.

[soCal girl]

Originally Posted by Lexy

Without being too blunt, people all over the world leave their families and friends to migrate to foreign lands to make a new life for themselves. Chinese, Spanish, Ukranians, Germans, Greeks, Italians etc.

People leave war striken countries for a better life without a cent in their pocket, no knowledge of the language of the new land their are adopting and some mothers and fathers have many children to support. No family and friends to support them and they still pull through. Mary made an effort to relocate and mind you she is mega rich. Therefore why do we always use is excuse that "..i don't know how she did it".

What on earth has she done that has not been done before? How can you possibly say it was such a huge deal? If people pose such simple questions then you really do not know what hard is!!! It is not easy to relocate but for Mary it was certainly not hard compared to billions of people who have done the very same thing for centuries and mind you they were not all Princesses and Princes.

You make a very good point, Lexy. Many people leave their homelands for different countries sometimes with no knowledge of the new language and even no money. Granted, they didn't have an entire country or even the world watching their every move. Mary is very privileged in many ways but it comes with a price. She can't do things simply because she wants to. So even though Mary didn't so anything spectacular in that respect, I think she still deserves credit for being a wonderful Crown Princess to the Danes and dealing with the media exposure with composure.

[Lexy]

Originally Posted by soCal girl

You make a very good point, Lexy. Many people leave their homelands for different countries sometimes with no knowledge of the new language and even no money. Granted, they didn't have an entire country or even the world watching their every move. Mary is very privileged in many ways but it comes with a price. She can't do things simply because she wants to. So even though Mary didn't so anything spectacular in that respect, I think she still deserves credit for being a wonderful Crown Princess to the Danes and dealing with the media exposure with composure.

I understand your point however this is how I see it. There is a risk and return effect here. If you consider the media attention a high risk factor for Mary then her return has certainly doubled (or more) in the case of money, opportunity and fame.

For those who have relocated and have no risk factor media hounding their return is segnificantly lower.

I hope you understand my point of view. You give and take and somehow it has to balance out. You cannot always have both.

So Mary decided to have what she has millions do not have that decision to make and their lives are dictated to them. Frankly I do not feel sorry for Mary and the media attention because she chose it and she certaily is well taken care of.
:)

[soCal girl]

Originally Posted by Lexy

I understand your point however this is how I see it. There is a risk and return effect here. If you consider the media attention a high risk factor for Mary then her return has certainly doubled (or more) in the case of money, opportunity and fame.

For those who have relocated and have no risk factor media hounding their return is segnificantly lower.

I hope you understand my point of view. You give and take and somehow it has to balance out. You cannot always have both.

So Mary decided to have what she has millions do not have that decision to make and their lives are dictated to them. Frankly I do not feel sorry for Mary and the media attention because she chose it and she certaily is well taken care of.
:)

I agree, I don't feel sorry for Mary. She is a very lucky woman in interesting circumstances. Maybe in a certain situation I might feel sorry for her if the press are chasing her down the street or whatever. She did willingly put herself in a situation where she knew it was going to be a give and take situation. I think she has done very well during her first two years as Crown Princess. I don't think anyone could have asked more from her from these two years.

[JessRulz]

Originally Posted by Lexy

...Mary made an effort to relocate and mind you she is mega rich...

How is Mary mega rich? She gets 10% from Frederik's annual allowance which stands at 14,525,727 Danish Kroner (AUD = 3,244,596.31, USD = 2,436,113.32, GBP = 1,335,134.29, EUR = 1,946,967.32); which effectively gives her 1,452,572.7 Danish Kroner (AUD = 324,386.98, USD = 243,560.04, GBP = 133,539.60, EUR = 194,722.45) a year. I agree that she does get fair amount of money from the Danish government, but I wouldn't go as far as saying she's "mega rich". Mega rich to me would be someone like Bill Gates, or the guy who created IKEA, or Oprah, or a movie star who can command $25million+ per movie. $324,000 a year doesn't make someone mega rich, it just makes them rich, and there are lots of rich people in the world. And if you think about it, the money isn't really given to Mary, it is given to Frederik, who then passes some on to his wife.

*Stats on how much money Frederik receives come from the Official Danish Royal Family website, www.kongehuset.dk, and then I converted the amount through a currency converter, so the stats are correct when I did them at around 7:30pm, Tuesday July 18