Marty91charmed
Majesty
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2011
- Messages
- 6,066
- City
- Near Verona and Venice
- Country
- Italy
That's the point: she does want to be in the spotlight and "public figure"
You say that as if it was a bad thing!That's the point: she does want to be in the spotlight and "public figure"
You say that as if it was a bad thing!
Okay, just yanking your chain, but it has occurred to me that perhaps her evil ease with the media could be turned to good? (still yanking) But Carl Philip may benefit from having a wife who is at ease in the public arena and she has the potential to actually become a great asset to the SRF.
Okay, so Princess School will definitely have to rub a few edges off and refine the raw material but nevertheless, she has potential.
You say that as if it was a bad thing!
Okay, just yanking your chain, but it has occurred to me that perhaps her evil ease with the media could be turned to good? (still yanking) But Carl Philip may benefit from having a wife who is at ease in the public arena and she has the potential to actually become a great asset to the SRF.
Okay, so Princess School will definitely have to rub a few edges off and refine the raw material but nevertheless, she has potential.
I agree with that. CP is known to be shy and a bit uncomfortable at official events. Sofia could help putting him more at ease. It could be like in the Netherlends, where Maxima did something similar with Willem Alexander. He has become more outgoing since he's married.
And no, I didn't want to compare Sofia with Maxima. I just compared the situations.
Margaret was never a looker? The woman was stunning! She was the British version of Elizabeth Taylor and Grace Kelly. Sofia can't hold a candle to her. I don't know how the Swedish press are but I fear Sofia getting to comfortable with them especially of they have a habit of turning on you like the British press.
TBH,I find these stories of a shy man blossoming due to a strong wife slightly over-exagerated. It makes a nice story for female magazines but it can't be the truth. Overcoming shyness has more to do with maturing, getting more secure with your carreer/life etc. A wife plays some part in this but to credit f.e. Mathilde for any succes that her husband has, is not fair to him at all. WA was never a wall flower btw, but as he grew older he also became more comfortable in his role, as most people do.
I don't think CP's shyness is a problem perse, he just doesn't seem to bright and doesn't seem to have much to say. Which is fine and the generation of his great uncles were known for that too. When Dutch diplomats looked for a husband for Juliana the results were: they are only interested in fast women and cars. Not much changed.
TBH,I find these stories of a shy man blossoming due to a strong wife slightly over-exagerated. It makes a nice story for female magazines but it can't be the truth. Overcoming shyness has more to do with maturing, getting more secure with your carreer/life etc. A wife plays some part in this but to credit f.e. Mathilde for any succes that her husband has, is not fair to him at all. WA was never a wall flower btw, but as he grew older he also became more comfortable in his role, as most people do.
I don't think CP's shyness is a problem perse, he just doesn't seem to bright and doesn't seem to have much to say. Which is fine and the generation of his great uncles were known for that too. When Dutch diplomats looked for a husband for Juliana the results were: they are only interested in fast women and cars. Not much changed.
My hope-my prayer-is that after the wedding he and his wife go to live in their lavishly renovated villa rarely to be seen or heard from again. That sort of life probably holds no appeal for someone like SH, but the face and image of the SRF in the future needs to be CP Victoria and her family, imo.
TBH,I find these stories of a shy man blossoming due to a strong wife slightly over-exagerated. It makes a nice story for female magazines but it can't be the truth. Overcoming shyness has more to do with maturing, getting more secure with your carreer/life etc. A wife plays some part in this but to credit f.e. Mathilde for any succes that her husband has, is not fair to him at all. WA was never a wall flower btw, but as he grew older he also became more comfortable in his role, as most people do.
I don't think CP's shyness is a problem perse, he just doesn't seem to bright and doesn't seem to have much to say. Which is fine and the generation of his great uncles were known for that too. When Dutch diplomats looked for a husband for Juliana the results were: they are only interested in fast women and cars. Not much changed.
The past is another country, and we are all strangers there! Sofia has moved on!
Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon was the making of Prince Albert, in 1923, and I'm hoping Sofia will do the same for Carl Philip, and surprise everyone!
I would hope that "middle class families" can also be able to look at a person's present behavior and not be blinded by someone's past.
If not, I'd rather not belong to that family at all or at least have my (future) spouse stick up for me.
Of course we don't know for sure how their majesties feel about Sophia, because the family is wise enough to keep certain things private.
I think some posters are upset about the fact that Daniel wasn't included in the family that easily, there were objections, some powerful gestures done by the King, showing that Daniel wasn't exactly welcome for many years. Even at the engagement, there was a very, very awkward interview, especially the King seemed uncomfortable and stiff with Daniel, and even today you have to look very closely to find (if at all) both interacting warmly with each other.
It is not weird that a King has second thoughts about a fitness instructor becoming spouse to a Queen and father to a future Heir.
We should take all of that in context: what father is totally overjoyed with his beloved eldest daughter's choice of mate? Especially in this case - with one's heir to monarchy - other factors could have supervened - potentially the King feeling Victoria was being used by someone unworthy of her, maybe someone 'ambitious' in the worst sense, though that is unlikely.
I do recall stories reporting that Daniel was apparently totally silent in the presence of Victoria's family - literally was unable to converse - with the King wondering how Daniel would be able to handle a public life, requiring an ability to engage in small talk and put other's at their ease. Clearly, Daniel has demonstrated success in this area - but when the King first met Daniel we can assume that Daniel was hiding his light under a bushel. The King rightly despaired for Vistoria's monarchy with such a consort.
Yet, the story Victoria tells is that her father told her to make her choice based on love and private life considerations - since the monarchy was never a certainty. That sounds like a very pragmatic father. As for maybe being uncomfortable with his daughter's choice on a personal level - well, wouldn't be the first time that story's been told, not so?
Daniel's friends have told many times that Daniel has all his life been very social, even if he didn't use hardly at all alcohol or beer at the parties like his friends, because of the problem with his kidneys, which he found out when he was sixteen. One of Daniel's friends told at the TV-documentary, that Daniel could hold a conversation course to anyone, anytime, he has never had trouble of discussing with people. Also Victoria said at the documentary that Daniel is a very easy person to be with, she thinks that most of the people think like that. And we have seen from various videos and photos that Daniel is a very eager conversationalist. It must be in his nature, one can not learn all that. The press chef of the former president of Finland had seen Daniel in 2007 at his gym where he introduced the gym to her entourage and held a lecture of a healthy way of life and exercising. The press chef said that she was very impressed about how Daniel spoke and how self-confident he was.
I think that the king's problem with Daniel is that he wanted Victoria to marry a noble man or a son of his friends. The king is a little snobbish and doesn't want to admit that someone from the middle class, a self-made man, can be a better husband to his daughter than the sons of some of his rich friends. And the king was possibly worried about Daniel's illness, which was nonsense, because he had doctors to tell him all about it. Of course it is different to be the husband of the future queen than the wife of the prince third in line to the succession. But there hasn't been headlines like "the stripper sister-in-law for the first time at Victoria's birthday" or "Sofia Hellqvist, the good girls go to heaven and the bad to the royal court of Sweden" of Daniel.