Christening of Prince Henrik: July 26, 2009

[Viv]

Originally Posted by CharlotteAmalia

I liked the atmosphere at the christening. But it was sad, that about 50 % of the guests could not follow the service as it was in Danish. During the first choral you could see that only half of the people were singing and the other half looked bored or distracted.
It also seemed to me that Marie was not able to follow the service completely.

Each guest was given a booklet, and I am 99 percent certain that it had either an English or French translation of the order of the service*. The event took place in the Church of Denmark in Denmark! CoD services are celebrated in Danish, it can hardly come as a surprise for the guests from abroad!

IMO the sorry thing was that some of the Danes didn't even attempt to sing along, even if they understood the language, like Caroline Fleming, who was chatting up her neighbour during one of the hymns. To the manor born perhaps, but no style! IMO, I hasten to add !

Viv

* The one booklet I have seen from a royal service had an English translation!

[Emmily]

Originally Posted by Atene

I`m the only one who liked Marie`s dress?

No, I thought it was beautiful and she looked wonderful in it.

[UserDane]

Originally Posted by CharlotteAmalia

But they should have an eye on Isabella's build. She seems to me quite plump.

She is two years old! - most children are 'plump' at that age - they are supposed to be, it's part of their charm. She does not strike me as being unsual in build for a toddler; she resembles her dad a lot, in build and in looks, at the same age.

[Emmily]

Originally Posted by CharlotteAmalia

Christian was very funny and seems to be a very nice kid. But they should have an eye on Isabella's build. She seems to me quite plump.


To me it is strange, that they bought a new christening robe. Why did they not use one already used by family members???
(Here you may see, that the one Nicolai and Felix wore is different to the one yesterday:
Kongehuset - Kongehuset - HH Prins Nikolai - Fotogalleri pic no 19. (tulle with satin bands)
Kongehuset - Aktuelt - Billedkalender (cotton) )

Isabella looks like a normal size little girl to me! Is she even two yet?

I don't find it strange that the baby used a new christening robe. This is Marie's first child with Joachim. I would find it odd if she used the one the two boys with her husband's first wife wore.

[Lumutqueen]

Originally Posted by Emmily

Isabella looks like a normal size little girl to me! Is she even two yet?

Yes Isabella turned two in April.

[rylt11]

Does this mean that Christian and Isabella wore a different robe than Nikolai and Felix? I thought all of these 4 grandchildren wore the same one, that is my confusion.

If all of the queen's grandchildren wore the same robe it would simplify matters, I just don't understand why the new Prince Henrik wore one that was different.

Maybe the stepbrothers wore a new christening robe bought by their parents (Joachim and Alexandra) and the new little prince has to have one bought by his parents (Joachim and Marie).

They are all grandchildren of the monarch, why not all wear the same christening robe?

[Lumutqueen]

Isabella wore the family christening gown that was also worn by Christian. It was ordered to be made for the christening of Prince Christian (b. 1870, later Christian X) by his mother Queen Lovisa, originally Princess of Sweden and married to Frederik VIII. The gown is made of Brussels lace and was ordered from Belgium. Queen Margrethe's grandfather Christian X was the first to be christened in the gown in 1870 and then Margrethe's father Frederik IX in 1899, Frederik's brother Prince Knud, then Margrethe, Benedikte, Anne-Marie, Crown Prince Frederik, Prince Joachim and Prince Christian. Others to be christened in the gown were

Carl (from 1905 King Haakon VII of Norway)
Prince Harald
Prince Gustav
Princess Louise
Princess Thyra
Princess Dagmar
Princess Elisabeth
Count Ingolf of Rosenborg
Count Christian of Rosenborg

Nikolai and Felix were christened in a new christening gown specially designed by Henrik Hviid.

[rylt11]

I see, so all of the grandchildren could have been christened in the traditional robe, but Nikolai and Felix broke the tradition? And then, the tradition was broken yet again with Prince Henrik?

It's a shame Prince Henrik didn't go back to wearing the traditional robe instead of this one. Perhaps once the tradition is broken, that's it for those parents !

[sgl]

Billed Bladet has an article that features photos of the guests:

Billed-Bladet - Smukke gæster og farverige kjoler til barnedåb

And BT.dk is reporting that the christening received the lowest amount of television viewers for a royal event:
http://www.bt.dk/royale/kongelig-daa...touren-baghjul

The article points out that among men and viewers age 21-50, the preferred program was the Tour de France. Female viewers age 50 and up made up the majority of the viewing audience. It compares the number of viewers for yesterday's event (863,000) with Isabella's christening (1.1 million) and Christian's christening (1.9 million). The reporters blame this on the Tour de France.

[Madame Royale]

Shame about the name, imo. I think a name of his own would have been good, and not that of a grandfather. Certainly it's not as if there's any lack of boys name that would be fitting for a minor Prince of Denmark and consequently my initial impression was that of a 'suck job'. Not that my opinion counts for much...haha.

Marie looked quite lovely, as did the Crown Princess. Nice that Mary was made a godmother.

[sgl]

Billed Bladet is talking about the recent transformation of Princess Marie. She has grown into a confident and self-assured woman as she has taken on the role of motherhood. The article praises her for being a good hostess during the christening celebration yesterday:
Billed-Bladet - Prinsesse Marie - en smuk og lykkelig mor

I am in the minority, but I actually liked her dress. She looked radiant and beautiful yesterday, and it was lovely to see her holding the baby and comforting him when he started to cry. She just seemed so relaxed.
And here are some more photos from yesterday:
http://www.noblesseetroyautes.com/nr01/?p=16408

[Royal Fan]

I Loved everything about lol cute baby great name!

[rylt11]

While part of the disinterest, or lack of viewing audience, could genuinely be the Tour de France, I think that there is an underlying desire to be private, especially from Marie, that there are very few opportunities for the Danish to get to know her.

When she is at events like the christening, she gives her very wonderful smile, lights up her eyes, seems engaged with others. Then, up goes the drawbridge till the next public engagement or obligation.

Granted, she is still on maternity leave. However, she could have taken the time to learn some of the hymns and prayers in preparation. She knew that the event would be telecast live, and could have done that. She didn't even know The Lord's Prayer in Danish. Three months have passed, it's not that long a prayer.

A beautiful woman, definitely, one that is engaged in her new role as princess, or even tries to prepare herself for times when she is the absolute center of attraction, I don't think so. Will this change? Who knows? Joachim is besotted, so it is unlikely he will say anything.

[robby86]

Who knows the name before it is made public? I mean did Prince Henrik know the little prince was to be named after him? Did the Queen know or was it just Marie & Joachim?

[Leslie2006]

I'd imagine the people for whom little Henrik was named knew before it was made public, as well as the Queen and obviously, the parents.

[eireann]

Did anyone notice that Marie was not wearing her engagement ring. She had a large blue ring (stone from the original ring??) on her right hand and on her left was a smaller ring together with her wedding band.

As for the ceremony, thought it was a lovely although Fred and the boys with their paper airplanes seemed rather inappropriate during a ceremony. At Isabella´s christening Christian was so well behaved for such a young boy. Nikolai and Felix are older and at an age when they should know what´s appropriate in these circumstances and what´s not. They seem to be two very active boys but nonetheless they need to learn that in some circumstances this kind of behaviour is not on.

As for the name, I am a little disappointed. While it´s nice to name him after his grandfather, I don´t really agree with naming children after close relatives as I feel the child ends up being compared to or feeling they have to live up to this person.

[kthomas306]

http://royallife.web-log.nl/photos/u.../26/doop_4.jpg

eireanne,
It is definitately not her engagement ring. Perhaps Joachim gave it to her after the birth of Henrik.

[Royal Fan]

is it on YouTube yet?

[rylt11]

A beautiful christening with all the trimmings.

A few bumps in the road: older siblings should have been prepared about proper behavior in church. I'm sure Joachim was mortified, if he realized what was going on.
The little cousin then started copying what he saw the older boys doing, now having three paper airplanes going.

Isabella should have been taken by her father,nanny, lady-in-waiting, or someone who was not in the godparents' circle. Poor Mary was even doing sign language to her husband to relieve her. This showed a certain amount of disrespect for the parents, the occasion. Why did the nanny go in the church if not to take care of the kids?

Marie should have known enough to sing along with the hymns and the Lord's Prayer by heart. Could have, should have, been part of the Danish lessons she's taking. Knowing that the cameras will be focused on you and your baby at least 90% of the time requires stepping up to the plate and doing the homework - there have been about 3 months to prepare this ceremony, right? She pronounced the 4 names correctly, which is great, but more was needed. At one point, she just stopped trying and seemed to look off into the blue. The camera was on her the whole time.

Did she have a translation of what the minister was saying, could she have had one, so that she would have felt more included?

[Royal Fan]

wheres the guestlist.