Winter Holidays: 2010-2011, 2013-2015, 2017, 2023


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Translation of article in Billed Bladet #08, 2011.
Familielykke i sneen – Family happiness in the snow.
Written by Trine Larsen, who specialize in Joachim and Alexandra.

The sun is shining from a blue sky and everything is idyllic when Billed Bladet meets the royal family from Schackenborg during their holiday in Bretaye in Switzerland, where Princess Marie’s family for many years have had a chalet high on the skiing-terrain. But the Princess and the three skiing-fond Princes could wish for a little more snow.
- “It hasn’t been snowing since New Year, and now the snow that is left is worn out and run down. Several lanes are unfortunately closed and that is quite unusual for this time of year. But we are still managing because we are so high up, so we are skiing from early morning to late in the evening. And those two there are hard pressed to take off their skis”, laughs Prince Joachim and points towards Prince Felix and Prince Nikolai. Even though the two boys only ski once a year, they have been so accomplished that they now can ski on the difficult lanes with their father and Princess Marie.
- “Yes, and now it’s really fun because we can ski together all of us. That’s very cosy (hyggeligt)”, says Prince Joachim and adds that the Princes think this is the best holiday of the year.
- “Prince Nikolai even counts the hours he is skiing”, laughs Joachim, (*) while the sons plaque him for yet another ride with the lift up the mountain on their own.
- “No, you’ll have to wait a little”, says Prince Joachim, who is busy keeping an eye on his two lively sons.

Q: Apropos lively, your brother has overtaken you in regards to the number of children? Can you disregard that challenge/let that one stand?
- “Ha, ha. I take that quietly and easy. But yes, my brother and the Crown Princess sure have their hands full. Not just with the two lovely twins but the other two are a couple of lively creatures as well”, says Joachim and looks lovingly at his own three sons.

Q: Perhaps you should work on having a little princess then?
- “Ha, ha, well, we’ll see. But that’s right, it could actually by fun with a little girl”, says Prince Joachim and look in love at Princess Marie who is helping the little prince with his ski-goggles.
- “He’s a bit sleepy and awed, because he has just woken up after his midday nap”, tells Princess Marie, while Prince Nikolai tries to entice a smile from his kid brother, who is quickly becoming the focus point for the family.
- “He’s so sweet”, determines Prince Nikolai and Prince Felix, who both would like to hold their younger brother.
- “You are just so great big brothers”, commends Marie (**) and says that Henrik has a lovely temperament/character.
- “He is so calm and very easy”, says Princess Marie and adds that the little Prince has also begun to talk a lot.
- “Yes, he speaks many words. He speaks both French and Danish”, says the Princess proudly.

Q: What words does he say?
- “Teddy (bear)… he’s fond of that. And words like milk, cook and that sort of things”, laughs the Princess and hugs her little Prince, who very naturally is the center of attention of the family and the one who charms all of them.

While Prince Joachim and his two sons have had a cosy time on the lanes all afternoon, Princess Marie have been waiting at home in the family chalet for Prince Henrik to wake up from his midday nap.
So the little Prince is still a bit sleepy, when Princess Marie arrives with him wearing moon-boots and a warm ski-suit, a knitted cap and ski-gloves, sitting on a big snow-scooter which has brought them from home and out in the skiing-area.
But the moments he spots his brothers, Prince Nikolai and Prince Felix, the little guy becomes a lot more awake and they immediately un-straps their skis in order to play with him.
- “Henrik is still a too young to ski, but next year he will be old enough to start a little. I was also three years myself when I started skiing”, says Princess Marie who look forward to teaching her little son about the pleasures of skiing, which is something the entire family is very fond of. The brother of the Princess, Gregory Grandet, so much that he makes a living of being a skiing instructor in the area.

Q: As he is yet too small, do you ski a bit yourself?
- “Oh yes, I ski every day”, smiles Princess Marie and explains that her mother, Francoise Grassiot, the grandmother (mormor) of the little Prince is a babysitter.
- “My mother just thinks it’s lovely to look after Henrik. She loves it, of course. Then she has (quality) time with him and she enjoys that”, says Princess Marie, who right from she gave birth to Prince Henrik (***) has often had her mother visiting as a firm support and rock and the grandchild has as such also developed a close and dear relationship to Marie’s mother.

Prince Henrik is, just as the other royal children, used to other people looking after them when mom and dad must work and have official duties.
As such it was also natural that Princess Marie’s mother looked after both Prince Henrik but also Prince Felix and Prince Nikolai, when Joachim and Marie had to interrupt their winter holiday, just a couple of days after it had started.
Prince Joachim and Princess Marie had to go home to Denmark for about a day in order to take part in the 350th anniversary of the Supreme Court last Monday and they left all three Princes in Switzerland with Marie’s mother, and incidentally also with the friends of the couple, Henriette and Peter Steenstrup, who is also on holiday with them, along with their three children, Agathe, who is of the same age as Prince Henrik, and August and Malte, who are of similar age as Felix and Nikolai.
- “Please, can I hold him”, asks Prince Felix, when the family kindly and willingly pose for the photographer.
- “You sure can”, says Marie, while Felix immediately hugs his kid brother lovingly.
- “Well, then we can let the two of you look after Henrik while we go skiing for half an hour”, teases Joachim his tow big sons.
- “Good luck, Felix”, grins Nikolai and gets up as if he is also going away.
The delightful banter doesn’t stop there, because the mood is high on the skiing holiday, which all of them enjoy to the fullest. Especially the Princess who is in her element here on her home turf in Switzerland. Here Marie is fond of gathering family and friends, ski and enjoy the outdoor life, in particular the lanes right outside the door of the family chalet, which can only be reached by snow scooter, because it’s so high up in the terrain that no roads leads up there.

(*) Joachim laughs a lot in this article! A luck there isn’t that much snow this year or he would have started an avalanche with all that laughing.

(**) Doe, a deer, a female deer, re, a…. Sorry, for what ever reason the songs from the Sound of Music pops up in my head.

(***) Now you understand why I insist on calling him bette Henrik? – All sorts of strange images are popping up in my head while translating this article….



And a gallery from Billed Bladet: http://www.billedbladet.dk/Kongelige/ArticleFolder/2011/2/Stor%20billedserie%20Marie%20pa%20skiferie%20med%20prinserne.aspx
 
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PHOTO OPPORTUNITY WITH TRH PRINCE JOACHIM AND PRINCESS MARIE IN VILLARS

On 13 February 2013 TRH Prince Joachim and Princess Marie with children will pose for photographs for members of the press in connection with the family’s skiing holiday.

The photographing will take place at 12.30 at Col-de-Bretaye, where the ski area's mountain railway ends.

By providing this photo opportunity we hope that photographers and the media will respect the couple’s wish of refraining from taking additional photographs of the family during their holiday.


Kind regards,
Lene Balleby
Communications and Press Secretary
Published February 5, 2013​

Source: kongehuset.dk
 
Good for them as well. I wonder if Nikolai and Felix will be there as well : )
 
I'm glad that the royal families are enjoying some time off.
 
I find this announcement more exciting than the photo shoot with the Crown Princely family as we rarely get a chance to see Joachim's children together
 
I find this announcement more exciting than the photo shoot with the Crown Princely family as we rarely get a chance to see Joachim's children together
It´s not confirmed whether Prince Nikolai and Prince Felix are with their father and Princess Marie on winter holiday :flowers:
 
It´s not confirmed whether Prince Nikolai and Prince Felix are with their father and Princess Marie on winter holiday :flowers:

I realise that I'm just being bold and making an assumption based on the wording of the statement. It says "with children" which to me implies all four. If it had said "with their children" then to me that would imply just Henrik and Athena. I could be wrong purely conjecture :)
 
The fact that they chose the regular school-free week for their holidays makes me think that Nikolai and Felix will be there.
 
Those are lovely photographs, they seem like they're all having so much fun. And it looks slightly warmer than the CP-family's photoshoot.

I've always loved seeing Marie with Nikolai and Felix, they've always seemed to have such a warm and affectionate relationship with each other, it's wonderful to see. :wub:

And Joachim often seems a bit stiff and formal to me, so seeing him fool around like that with all his boys is just fantastic:ROFLMAO:
 
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I think it is Isabella's suit re-used.
A very sensible thing to do.
Athena is very cute, love her hat (but the spectacles are ridiculous).
 
I've always loved seeing Marie with Nikolai and Felix, they've always seemed to have such a warm and affectionate relationship with each other, it's wonderful to see. :wub:
I´m sorry, but I really can´t see that they have a warm and affectionate relationship :sad: They are there together, but that´s it.
 
and here...she and Felix seem to have a particularly nice bond.

http://i45.tinypic.com/jl2x43.jpg

http://i48.tinypic.com/29zx09l.jpg

I hadn't seen those two pictures before now, they are precious:wub:

FasterB, I don't understand what you think is missing in the pictures. Right from the engagement there's been pictures and videos of Nikolai and Felix running to give Marie a hug, laughing with her and so on. But more importantly to me, both boys always seem completely natural around her. I don't care who poses together at a photoshoot (especially not when there are babies and toddlers to keep track of) or who walks in together at a christening. When I see Nikolai and Felix with Marie they never seem uncomfortable or like the smiles are just staged for the press and children wouldn't be able to fake that. They seem to genuinely like her and she them. That to me speaks of a really good, warm and affectionate relationship "behind the scenes", which is what is most important.

I don't know if there's a perfect recipe for handling "yours, mine and our" children, but Joachim, Marie, Alexandra and Marting seem to have found a very harmonious solution and the boys seem happy and comfortable with all four adults.

EDIT: I forgot to mention, they also seem really fond of their younger siblings, which I think is another very positive sign.
 
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I just have two things to say.
1. This is one of the most good-looking families ever, royal or not. All of these kids are going to be heart-breakers.
2. I really love the way all of them interact with each other; you can see genuine warmth and affection.

Felix and Nikolai appear to get allong famously with their step-mother and dote on Henrik and Athena. Joachim is amazing with all of his kids, and Marie seems to be a great mother and step-mother. Joachim, Alexandra, Marie and Martin are to be commended with creating a warm, relaxed atmosphere in the family.

My favourite pictures:
- Joachim with his boys
- Prince Joachim playing with Nikolai and Felix
- A great dad-and-me time for Joachim and Nikolai

- Girls' time
- Nikolai, the doting elder brother
- Athena giving a hug to the world
- A wonderful picture of Marie and Felix
 
I've always loved seeing Marie with Nikolai and Felix, they've always seemed to have such a warm and affectionate relationship with each other, it's wonderful to see. :wub:

completely. marie obviously bonded with felix and nikolai extremely well. she seems very affectionate towards them and they obviously like her. beautiful pic of marie and felix.

it's interesting that joachim and marie decide to holiday in villars instead of verbier like frederik and mary who holiday in verbier. seeing it's at the same time i find it most odd that they prefer to part to different resorts.
 
it's interesting that joachim and marie decide to holiday in villars instead of verbier like frederik and mary who holiday in verbier. seeing it's at the same time i find it most odd that they prefer to part to different resorts.

What is odd about siblings with their own families holidaying in different places, especially since Marie's family own the house where they stay? Its not as if they don't see each other on a pretty regular basis as it is, no need to share everything.
 
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it's interesting that joachim and marie decide to holiday in villars instead of verbier like frederik and mary who holiday in verbier. seeing it's at the same time i find it most odd that they prefer to part to different resorts.
Why odd?
1. IIRC Joachim and Frederik haven't had holidays at the same time at the same place since I am watching the DRF (since Joachim married his first wife). The Dutch RF has it's family gathering in Lech in the winter, the Danish RF in Graasten in the summer.
2. Marie's family has a small cottage in Villars where they are staying. From what we have seen of it it's probably too small for both families.
3. Joachim and Marie enjoy the media attention very much (unlike e.g. the Dutch 2nd + 3rd princes). They probably want their own family photoshoot and not stand in the shadow of the CP family.
 
I can't say I agree about Marie and the boys having a unaffectionate relationship either. I think she has managed to do the whole 'step-mother' thing extremely well, probably because she's had a step-mother herself that she wasn't fond of, so she knows how things shouldn't be done. It really warms my heart to see her with Nikolai and Felix because it's obvious that she loves them very much even though they're not "hers", and they love her.

This is my favourite picture, it's obvious to see that Nikolai has inherited his mothers way with children :wub:

Also, there's nothing odd about Marie and Joachim choosing to holiday in Villars instead of Verbier, Marie went to boarding school in Villars so it obviously is a special place to her.
 
Sweet photos of the "patchwork" family!
 
Lovely pictures. Im glad Nikolai and Felix were able to join them. Im sure little Henrik loves having his two older brothers around

is it me, or does Athena's winter suit looks like (or is) the one Isabella wore years ago...

Athena
http://3.t.cdn.belga.be/picture:41295404:preview:watermark?m=cogdhegi

Isabella
http://25.media.tumblr.com/1b4033bab61e17938b0597bdc2aa3d6f/tumblr_mi115nZ3211r9n2z6o3_500.jpg

Josephine wore the same suit as well last year
Princess Josephine of Denmark Photos - Danish Royals on Ski Holiday in Verbier - Zimbio

good recylcling between sisters and cousins :)
 
To me it seams that the mother has a strong preference for the little girl, I always though that...

Hope to see them skiing...
 
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Isn't it normal that the mother takes most care of the youngest child?
Henrik has his father and brothers to take care of him.

And I hope they will be left in peace now as this is the reason behind this photo opportunity.
 
Why is not the father? And we cannot see to mucht interaction between Marie and the other two older boys...different from the first photo shoot we have seen here in Vilars when she was not a mother yet...
 
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