General News about Frederik, Mary and Family 10: December 2011 - January 2013

[camelot23ca]

This has actually bothered me for a while now, I know Frederik is the heir and obviously that equals much more publicity and focus than Joachim will ever get. That being said, Joachim and Marie are members of the royal family too, why only concentrate the criticism on Frederik and Mary? This has nothing to do with me liking Frederik and Mary, I do, but justice must be justice, and it can't always be them who are being slaughtered for accepting free gifts.

On another note and speaking of the diapers, just by the way, when Frederik and Mary were offered a years (I think) supply of diapers at the time of Christian's birth, they kindly refused it. I can't remember if they did the same with the twins though.

It's not about fair, though, it's about who will sell the most papers. I'm sure BT would make the argument that, no, no, it's Frederik's position as future king that causes the focus to be on him, and I'm sure there's some truth to that. But if, for whatever reason, Joachim suddenly became more popular and high profile than his brother then he, not Frederik, would be the focus of these sorts of articles.

 

[King of the Jungle]

Didn't the particular electric car that Frederik returned have a problem with catching fire?
It might have been bad publicity for the electric car to have that stated as the reason as to why it was returned. The model was not perfected and I think that some were recalled?? It would have been very bad form for Fred to have been engulfed in a burning car. It was polite for him not to say why he returned it; the manufacturer was trying it's hardest to correct the fault I'd imagine.
Many electric cars are not yet suitable for every type of family or lifestyle.

I would prefer a Land Rover Discovery - diesel is quite environmentally okay. It might be used to carry many people, prams, bikes and pets and to tow a boat or horse float. There is also the safety rating, how many kilometres are travelled, to where and at what time of day. Electric cars are not for everyone even if they are becoming better.

Mary and Fred are used to display many Danish produced items - from fashion to food and I can only see that as great for Denmark and it's people. I think that it is right and proper for Mary and Fred to support, and to be seen to support, Danish industry, tourism, charities, sports teams and anything else that Denmark proudly stands for.
It is sensible that some of those items are gifts - as the variety shown to the outside world will then be greatly increased and provide more publicity for hard working Danish firms.

As to free holidays. Well, if it means privacy and security and if there are no strings attached and if the gifted holiday is declared - I see no problem at all.

 

[Muhler]

It's not about fair, though, it's about who will sell the most papers. I'm sure BT would make the argument that, no, no, it's Frederik's position as future king that causes the focus to be on him, and I'm sure there's some truth to that. But if, for whatever reason, Joachim suddenly became more popular and high profile than his brother then he, not Frederik, would be the focus of these sorts of articles.

Absolutely, BT and Ekstra Bladet as well as the weekly magazines target M&F because they at present are the highest profiled royals in DK.
And they do it primarily to sell.
It would be much more interesting if one of the more serious papers ran a feature on the subject.

Joachim and our Marie has a much lower profile and what they do and how they live doesn't stand out.
However Joachim too has had his share of bad press. In the aftermath of the divorce he was very much the villain and even the small detail of the car and the racing suit he is wearing while racing with his team has been critizesed by a few, because there are sponsor adverts and the DRF shouldn't advertize for anything. - A thing that is beyond trivial.

However a couple of weeks ago BT ran a few indirect articles about the Regent Couple.
Kongelige i gaveregn: Schurs vej til kongehuset - Danmark | www.bt.dk
That was because a book was written by one of the most influential businessmen right now, Fritz Schur.
The book basically accused him for buying (and bullying) his way to the top of the society. Now also by sucking up to the Regent Couple, with whom he has been very generous in regards to presents and services. - I remember reading somewhere else that it's now Fritz Schur who handles the investments of the at least the Regent Couple. (Beforehand it was the late Mærsk).
Fritz Schur and the Regent Couple, especially Prince Henrik has become friends within the past couple of years.

I didn't write about that at the time, because honestly I don't know much about the subject and the book was one-sided. It was obvious to me that Fritz Schur has many enemies - which is hardly surprising.
Fritz Schur was in the BT articles hinted as a person, the DRF should perhaps be careful about having too close a relationship with.
I don't know enough of the subject to form an opinion at present.

However, as far as I can tell M&F do not have that close a relationship with Fritz Schur and it is nowhere nearly as close a relationship as the one they had with the late Mærsk.

Joachim doesn't need Fritz Schur. He is personal friend with some of the richest families in DK. I.e. the owners of LEGO and Grundfoss.

 

[Naggi]

I think royals regardless of their high or low profiles in the public eye need to be very careful of their actions and think through all details before going public. Just have a look to other royal houses... British Prince Andrew or the husband of Spanish Princess Cristina with their dubios business relationships were scandalls and did not good to the image of the royal family as a whole.

 

[Duke of Marmalade]

Accepting gifts for royals must be a thin line they must walk on, but i dont think the DRF have much to worry about.

In general, they should not accept ANYTHING. Or take it and pay for it.

At the end of the day royals are funded by the state, many state employees cannot even accept a bottle of whine without the risk of being fired, its ridiculous that royals can accept all kinds of things like clothes, cars, free holidays. Its wrong.

 

[MARG]

It is a little difficult to define what exactly is a "gift" as far as I can see. Some old friends are also prominent citizens and when time is spent together on holiday or a friend makes a holiday home available, the use of a car, an aircraft or the chance to obtain something at cost (which is the sort of good fortune that many people of all socio-economic levels enjoy), is there something improper going on or are muckrakers just taking another class in creative writing on a slow news week with Frederik and Mary pushing it to the front page.

 

[ashelen]

In general, they should not accept ANYTHING. Or take it and pay for it.

At the end of the day royals are funded by the state, many state employees cannot even accept a bottle of whine without the risk of being fired, its ridiculous that royals can accept all kinds of things like clothes, cars, free holidays. Its wrong.

and you forgot the jewellery! I imagine most of her jewellery that Mary usses is presents in echange of publicity! Royals like celebrities they get so much staff for free in exchange of publicity when really they have the financial to buy it themselves if they want too! When I see the pricesof some of Mary's jewellery I can not imagine Fred buying all that , I know he can financial to do so but it is so much she has that goes beyond commun sense!

 

[Spheno]

most of Mary's modern jewellery are loans
she advertises local jewellers
it's part of her job

 

[Archduchess Zelia]

and you forgot the jewellery! I imagine most of her jewellery that Mary usses is presents in echange of publicity! Royals like celebrities they get so much staff for free in exchange of publicity when really they have the financial to buy it themselves if they want too! When I see the pricesof some of Mary's jewellery I can not imagine Fred buying all that , I know he can financial to do so but it is so much she has that goes beyond commun sense!

As Spheno said, most of the jewelry Mary uses (that isn't her own) are loans from "jewelry houses" (or whatever such firms are called) that benefit from having her wear their jewelry at events where everyone can see it. Also, she often wears Danish-made creations and let's say Mary attends a royal wedding abroad, a lot of people from different countries see her and maybe someone love one of the jewelry pieces she's wearing and they decide to buy one, that benefits the Danish export and gives publicity to the Danish jewelry business. Your criticism isn't quite fair.

 

[Tarlita]

I agree with everything King of the Jungle said post 333. I thought it was said a long time ago that Mary and Fred received a lot of money as wedding gifts and used this money to set up the charity Mary Foundation. If this is correct then they certainly have earnt some freebies in return for there charitable donation. And I am sure the palace vets all free goodies that come in so as not to create a conflict of interest. I don't have a problem with free stuff. Just look at what Celebrities get. I don't see anything wrong with it.

 

[ricarda]

In general, they should not accept ANYTHING. Or take it and pay for it.

I think that's easier written than done.
E.g. I remember when the Prince of Wales & Duchess of Cornwall visited Denmark in March, Mary and Camilla visited the set of "The Killing" and were gifted with a sweater and a jacket. What were they supposed to do in such a moment? Say: No. Thank you" or "Wait. We want to pay for it".
Or what about all the flowers Mary receives? As a flower lover I am very envious that Mary probably never has to buy flowers for her private home.

I personally don't have a problem with royals accepting gifts in general, even bigger ones in connection with special occasions (weddings, christenings), but they should be very careful about it, especially regarding the bigger ones.

 

[cepe]

In the UK, any flowers given to royals are immediately passed to hospitals, care homes etc and not kept. Gifts (such as the sweater given to Camilla) will be listed and published - the same applies to all formal gifts.

But the BRF do not accept "freebies" from commercial organisations, including dress makers. A good example of this is the announcement made on behalf of the Duchess of Cambridge that she would not accept free fashion items. All clothes are paid for.

Taking gifts would be frowned on (such as cars).

This shouldn't be confused with the commercial work undertaken by Peter and Zara Phillips. Peter was frequently pictures wearing clothes with the RBS logo when he worked for them, and Zara has sponsors for her professional riding career. They are not working as royals and are self employed.

I dont know much about the Danish Royal Family but how popular are Frederick and Mary? If this question is answered somewhere else, can someone point me to it?

Many thanks

 

[Muhler]

Well, lets start with the DRF. A quick Google search brought up the result made by the renowned poling institute Megafon for the serious paper Politiken, published in December 2011: 8 af 10 danskere vil bevare kongehuset - Politiken.dk

77 % wish to keep the monarchy, while 16 % prefer a republic, that is a drop from 25 % the year before. (Made in the aftermath of the equal succession vote, which was combined with another referendum).

Mary is in the article singled out as having the added advantage of being foregn, and therefore unknown, exotic (she's from Australia) and an "ordinary" girl. Apart from doing her job very well.

You can also see i figure showing the percentage of Danish wishing to keep the monarchy during the reign of QMII. The figure culminated in 2001. Because things happened in the DRF. The glamour of Joachim and Alexandra, who on top of that had a child, Nikolai. - (And perhaps also the nostalgic effect of the death of Queen Ingrid).

--------

Here is another opinion poll from January 2012, made by Voxmeter for the news agency Ritzaus Bureau: Danskerne er vilde med kongehuset | CEM Institute
Here 82 % are in favour of the monarchy, while 12 % want a republic. - Again Mary is singled out.

------------

On top of that there are the reader polls made by the magazines, but I omit these and try to locate only the serious polls.
Perhaps others would like to keep looking? I have a few things to look into right now.

-------------

ADDED.

Here is a poll made by Megafon for TV2: http://nyhederne.tv2.dk/article.php/id-22826822:mary-og-margrethe-er-mest-populære.html Made in 2009.
As you can tell Mary has the exact same score as QMII.

The question was how well do you think X is doing his/her job?
Godt eller meget godt = Well or very well.
Hverken/eller = Doing okay.
Dårligt eller meget dårligt = Bad or very bad.
Ved ikke = Don't know.

However if you break down the poll, the result for those who believe Mary and QMII do their job very well, was 52 % for Mary and 41 % for QMII.

 

[cepe]

many thanks Muhler - that is really helpful.

 

[camelot23ca]

It is a little difficult to define what exactly is a "gift" as far as I can see. Some old friends are also prominent citizens and when time is spent together on holiday or a friend makes a holiday home available, the use of a car, an aircraft or the chance to obtain something at cost (which is the sort of good fortune that many people of all socio-economic levels enjoy), is there something improper going on or are muckrakers just taking another class in creative writing on a slow news week with Frederik and Mary pushing it to the front page.

Yes, and also I think part of the problem is that there's a large grey area between the extremes of "entirely a private gift from a friend" and "a commercial entity essentially using the royal family as walking advertisements." One example I can think of is when Christian was born, (all the Crown Prince's children, really, but especially Christian), and impressive gifts poured in from various government entities and Danish businesses. How do you decide which of those gifts are acceptable and which are not?

I don't have a problem with the gift giving as such, but I think if a royal is going to take on a cause then they do need to make an effort to be seen walking the walk in addition to talking the talk. The problem with promoting a cause like environmentalism and sustainability is that it's a broad and unwieldy topic. You can tell people about the great things you do to reduce your carbon footprint or help the pandas, or whatever, but, guaranteed, critics can come back at you with other things you're doing that are making things worse, (living in general is bad for the environment).

In the UK, any flowers given to royals are immediately passed to hospitals, care homes etc and not kept. Gifts (such as the sweater given to Camilla) will be listed and published - the same applies to all formal gifts.

But the BRF do not accept "freebies" from commercial organisations, including dress makers. A good example of this is the announcement made on behalf of the Duchess of Cambridge that she would not accept free fashion items. All clothes are paid for.

Taking gifts would be frowned on (such as cars).

This shouldn't be confused with the commercial work undertaken by Peter and Zara Phillips. Peter was frequently pictures wearing clothes with the RBS logo when he worked for them, and Zara has sponsors for her professional riding career. They are not working as royals and are self employed.

Are private gifts published?

 

[NGalitzine]

Are private gifts published?

If you mean private as in gifts between family members or from close friends or wedding presents then no they are not published. Gifts received on overseas tours or from state visitors are published and remain the property of the receiver only during their lifeteime after which they constitute part of the Crown Collection (held in trust by the crown for the nation).

 

[nwinther]

Moreover I don't see why driving a Land Rover is more a silly goof than wearing a lot of unsustainable expensive outfits.

Because it doesn't say on the tag of the clothes (or written anywhere else on it) "Emitted X kg of CO2". It says so on the car (more or less). While wearing CO2-"heavy" clothes may be just as "goofy" it doesn't shout it out.

Either you do what you preach or you don't.

YES!!! That's why Frederik should have stayed away from that CO2 business in the first place. It's controversial and it's impractical (because being ascetic isn't very applicable to being a prince).

First - Mary too has made it her thing to preach the environment.

Nowhere nearly as much as Frederik!

And I don't agree that Frederik has little else going for him.

Care to elaborate?

Second - Do you suggest it's not a goof because the ordinary citizen can't figure it out?

Yes! Well, almost. That's why I wrote "blatant". If you sin, be discrete or make sure you can claim "Plausible deniability" (aka ignorance).

And taking an (apparantly) enviromental friendly car, and changeing it for a gas-guzzler screams bloody murder. Mary (and everyone else) will need all sorts of clothes and we are not surprised to see her in one thing on monday and another on tuesday. After all, It's not like we see Mary toss the "sustainable" dress only to fill her closets with - whatever clothes takes a lot of energy to produce (I have no idea what clothes cost CO2-wise).

Third - If they (both Mary and Frederik) don't know enough about a topic they should stay away from promoting it.

Absolutely agree!!!

And I assume the Land Rover is also used by Mary (who has attended school as well).

Yes - but again, Mary hasn't promoted CO2 awareness (at least no way near the extent of which Frederik has promoted it/himself). It wasn't Mary go got the electric car - it was Frederik. It wasn't Mary who picked up the Land Rover - it was Frederik.

 

[polyesco]

It wasn't Mary go got the electric car - it was Frederik. It wasn't Mary who picked up the Land Rover - it was Frederik.

Maybe on Mary's command

I think the bigger car just fits better with their large family.
And i don't see Frederik preaching on this subject or hitting us over the head with the subject. he is involve with Climate change as are many, because i think he cares for the environment especially i think for him Greenland. it doesn't mean he can follow everything 100% but i think he tries and does bring attention to the subject by the conferences and meetings he attends too.
also he bikes alot to places (as do many Danes i would assume ) so that helps

 

[dbarn67]

Clothing is a tricky matter in terms of climate change. In actuality, the more expensive and exclusive clothing is in theory better for the environment than the mass produced clothing we can afford and buy. The most effective environmental choice would to be to NOT be new clothing at all, ever. That makes Princess Anne and Queen Margrethe and Queen Sonja the most environmentally friendly of all the royal ladies because they recycling their clothes back to the 70's and 80's. More exclusive clothes are generally made with natural materials (I have no idea where they're sourced and I think the exception is shoes) and European brands that a actually made in Europe are a better environmental choice if Mary doesn't want to go the no new clothes ever route. In fact, couture clothes that a made bespoke (or something close because I remember reading the Prince Charles change some of his royal warrants from haberdashers who made his suits to order to retailers who were slightly more mass-produced but still very high end but made in England) like QE2 may be the better choice if you're going to buy new clothes. I suspect that most higher end designers make the clothes in-house for certain important clients so the clothing isn't traveling from Bangledesh or China eating up CO2 emissions just in shipping not to mention synthetic materials' environmental drag.

The stronger argument can be made on the cost-end with respect to Mary's clothes but I don't know how far the argument goes on the environmental end.

 

[Sun Lion]

I guess we can place this here: Marys tasmanske djævle er døde - TV 2 Nyhederne

In 2006, in connection with the birth of Christian, Mary got as a present four Tamanian Devils, - you know the aggressive marsupials. Google hasn't got a translation for pungdjævle, and I can't remember what they are called in English.
Aaaanyway, these four critters were billeted in Copenhagen Zoo. Now, alas, they have all passed away. Having died from old age.
But as this is written four new Devils have been flown in from Tasmania to start a new life in Copenhagen Zoo, where they will hopefully also die of old age after a long and happy life growling at anything else.

Hi Everyone - today's Sydney newspaper, Thursday 28th Nov., has a photo of "Princess Mary" and the headline "Mary's a new breed of devil".

"She's genetic royalty" it says, and it's hoped she'll have up to 12 new babies over the next three breeding seasons.

She's just moved to a conservation area in NSW, and is from a part of Tasmania where the wild population is down to 1 to 3 percent of what it used to be - so they're trying not to lose these particular genes, as this Princess Mary is genetically diverse to those already saved.

Cheers, Sun Lion.

 

[Emmily]

Maybe on Mary's command

I think the bigger car just fits better with their large family.
And i don't see Frederik preaching on this subject or hitting us over the head with the subject. he is involve with Climate change as are many, because i think he cares for the environment especially i think for him Greenland. it doesn't mean he can follow everything 100% but i think he tries and does bring attention to the subject by the conferences and meetings he attends too.
also he bikes alot to places (as do many Danes i would assume ) so that helps

A great example would be Prince Charles, who is very vocal about the environment but look at all the miles he flies, etc. Not sure it is realistic to expect 100% of anyone But as you say, these two gentlemen bring attention to the subject.

 

[ricarda]

Because it doesn't say on the tag of the clothes (or written anywhere else on it) "Emitted X kg of CO2". It says so on the car (more or less). While wearing CO2-"heavy" clothes may be just as "goofy" it doesn't shout it out.

YES!!! That's why Frederik should have stayed away from that CO2 business in the first place. It's controversial and it's impractical (because being ascetic isn't very applicable to being a prince).

Nowhere nearly as much as Frederik!

Care to elaborate?

Yes! Well, almost. That's why I wrote "blatant". If you sin, be discrete or make sure you can claim "Plausible deniability" (aka ignorance).

And taking an (apparantly) enviromental friendly car, and changeing it for a gas-guzzler screams bloody murder. Mary (and everyone else) will need all sorts of clothes and we are not surprised to see her in one thing on monday and another on tuesday. After all, It's not like we see Mary toss the "sustainable" dress only to fill her closets with - whatever clothes takes a lot of energy to produce (I have no idea what clothes cost CO2-wise).

Absolutely agree!!!

Yes - but again, Mary hasn't promoted CO2 awareness (at least no way near the extent of which Frederik has promoted it/himself). It wasn't Mary go got the electric car - it was Frederik. It wasn't Mary who picked up the Land Rover - it was Frederik.

I do not agree with you about discretion or ignorance making things better and Frederik more to blame or less intelligent than Mary (IIRC that's how this discussion started)....but I don't have the time to elaborate. Anyhow, I already stated my opinion in several posts.

The only thing I do agree is that Frederik and Mary and royals in general should stay away from this topic because IMO it simply doesn't go well with the royal lifestyle (the palaces, the car-parks, the helicopters, the large wardrobes etc.).

 

[polyesco]

A great example would be Prince Charles, who is very vocal about the environment but look at all the miles he flies, etc. Not sure it is realistic to expect 100% of anyone But as you say, these two gentlemen bring attention to the subject.

yes. this is my point. its better than doing nothing. its very hard to be 100%.

 

[nwinther]

Maybe on Mary's command

Or maybe on the leprechauns command. The family has several cars. Why would Mary "command" him to change the electric car for a gas-guzzling monster?

I do not agree with you about discretion or ignorance making things better

No, not better. The key to the whole matter is "don't get caught". That's why you go about it discreetely. You won't get caught cheating on your wife if you haven't got a wife. You won't get caught speeding in your car if you haven't got a car and so on and so forth.

You won't be deemed a hipocrite if you don't get involved in initiatives that preaches a certain way of life.

But if you DO have a wife, if you DO drive a car or if you DO get involved in preaching - you don't show up in town with a strange girl on your arm, you don't exceed the speed-limit in a populated area and you don't preach one thing and obviously practice another. You keep it discrete!

It doesn't make you any less of a hypocrite - but no one else will be the wiser.

 

[polyesco]

Or maybe on the leprechauns command. The family has several cars. Why would Mary "command" him to change the electric car for a gas-guzzling monster?

Sorry I was being sarcastic in my response.
What i was trying to get across is that i think it was a discussed joint decision between Frederik and Mary over the cars.

 

[dazzling]

Prime Minister pickled Crown Prince Frederik
BB translated article ** Sporten.dk article

 

[Muhler]

Prime Minister pickled Crown Prince Frederik
BB translated article ** Sporten.dk article

Thanks, Dazzling

These really belongs in Frederik's IOC thread and it's somewhat weird.

To sum up: The Danish Athletics Association (DIF), which Frederik is a member of in his capacity as IOC member, wanted to establish an advisory committee with considerably more power to take decisions and to do so faster. As such DIF recommended that Frederik should be a part of that committee.
However, not knowing the procedure when recommending a royal like Frederik DIF decided to address the recommendation directly to Statsministeriet (the PM's office), rather than at the Ministry for Culture.
This was about a year after Frederik became a member of the IOC after some controvercy and the government had made it clear that the government (and Parliament) would be close behind Frederik "advising" him when there were questions and doubt.

The request from DIF was ignored. Completely ignored, not even recieving the request was confirmed.
Some time later the DIF sent out a reminder, which was completely ignored as well.
After which the DIF scrapped the plans and came up with an alternative, without Frederik.

It's really odd!
I can imagine all sorts of reasons why the PM, who was back then Anders Fogh, reacted in this very peculiar way but that would be pure guesswork and I hope some more details will be dug up soon.

- One of the primary roles of the Prime Minister is to protect and shield the DRF, if need be from themselves. The usual way is to "advise" against something. Simply because the government through the ministries have direct access to the (supposedly) best information on various subjects. It is after all a limited how well informed the DRF's own advisors are, especially outside the normal channels like the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Commerce.

 

[Archduchess Zelia]

Well it really isn't a wonder in a sloppy government like the last one we had. It's really weird, but it can only be one or two things: them not wanting to Frederik to be a member of that committee thingy or just pure laziness and disorganization by the government. Either way it's a shame and quite embarrassing.

So he never became a member of that committee? That's sad for Frederik, especially considering all the critique he has received surrounding his role in IOC.

 

[Roskilde]

I've been in Copenhagen all day and didn't return home in time to watch TV2's "Year of the Danish royal family." I must be unlucky this year
But I found this article (and clip in danish) from the program at Tv2.dk where 'Billed Bladet's' managing editor, Annemette Krakau tells about Mary and Frederik


TV 2 GO' | Fornøjelse - Chefredaktør: Mary er gået op i gear

 

[Muhler]

I've been in Copenhagen all day and didn't return home in time to watch TV2's "Year of the Danish royal family." I must be unlucky this year
But I found this article (and clip in danish) from the program at Tv2.dk where 'Billed Bladet's' managing editor, Annemette Krakau tells about Mary and Frederik


TV 2 GO' | Fornøjelse - Chefredaktør: Mary er gået op i gear

You didn't miss much.
Even though it covered all major royal events, like QEII's jubilee and the wedding in Luxembourg, it wasn't as informative as DR1's coverage.
Ulla Terkelsen had some good inputs as always.

Yes, Annemette Krakau basically pointed out that Mary is now so well established in her work that she is now focusing not only on being a good representative for DK but also on how she can genuinely make a difference. Hence her recent commitment in Africa.