Christian, Crown Prince of Denmark

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For other people called Prince Christian, see Prince Christian.
Prince Christian
Names
Christian Valdemar Henri John
HouseHouse of Laborde de Monpezat
FatherFrederik, Crown Prince of Denmark
MotherMary, Crown Princess of Denmark

Prince Christian of Denmark, Count of Monpezat (Danish: Prins Christian Valdemar Henri John til Danmark, Greve af Monpezat; born 15 October 2005) is a member of the Danish Royal Family. He is the son of Crown Prince Frederik and his wife, the Australian born Crown Princess Mary. He is a grandson of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and her husband Prince Henrik. He has a younger sister, Princess Isabella.

Birth

Prince Christian was born on 15 October 2005 in Rigshospitalet, the Copenhagen University Hospital, in Copenhagen, at 1:57am. He was healthy with an apgar score of 10 (out of 10) after 1 minute. At birth, he weighed 3.5 kg (7.7 lb) and was 51 cm (20 in) long.[1] At noon on the day of his birth 21-gun salutes were fired from the Sixtus Battery at Holmen in Copenhagen and at Kronborg Castle to mark the birth of a royal child. At the same time, public buses and official buildings flew the Danish flag, the Dannebrog. At sunset on the same day beacon bonfires were lit all over Denmark, while Naval Home Guard vessels lit their searchlights and directed them towards the capital. A few bonfires were also lit in celebration in Australia.

Brief hospitalisation

Prince Christian was hospitalised briefly on 21 October 2005 because he suffered from neonatal jaundice, a usually harmless illness and a fairly common one (especially in premature births). The first photographs of the then 3-day-old boy showed a yellow tinge to his face and hands. The prince was examined by doctors and underwent blood tests, then spent time in a light box under special coloured light rays to break down the bilirubin substance which causes jaundice. His parents took him home again the same day and he made a full recovery.

Name and christening

Prince Christian was christened on 21 January 2006 in Christiansborg Palace Church by Bishop Erik Norman Svendsen.[2] Christian has eight godparents. They are Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, his wife Crown Princess Mette-Marit, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, Prince Joachim of Denmark, Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece (Frederik's cousin, son of Queen Anne-Marie), Jane Stephens (Mary's eldest sister) and two friends of the couple, Jeppe Handwerk and Hamish Campbell.[3]

His forenames all have a family significance:

  • Christian is after his great-great-grandfather, King Christian X of Denmark, continuing the Danish royal tradition of the heir apparent being named either Christian or Frederik.
  • Valdemar is after the former King Valdemar IV Atterdag. It is also a common royal name – both the Prince's uncle Joachim and his cousin Felix, Joachim's second son, have Valdemar or Waldemar as one of their names.
  • Henri is after his paternal grandfather, Prince Consort Henrik, whose given name is Henri.
  • John is after his maternal grandfather, John Donaldson.

He received a number of presents on the occasion of his christening, including a pony called Flikflak from the Folketing, Denmark's national parliament.

Succession and the constitution

As the firstborn child of the heir apparent, Christian is second-in-line to the Danish throne; at the accession of Frederik or his premature death, Christian will become heir apparent. Since the 16th century, first-born sons of Danish monarchs have traditionally been alternately named Frederik and Christian; Queen Margrethe II, while naturally interrupting this sequence, treated herself as a "Christian" for the purposes of alternation, coming between one Frederik (her father) and, presumably, another (her son). Prince Christian will likewise presumably be known as "King Christian XI of Denmark" (following his great-great-grandfather Christian X in that name).

The possibility Mary could be expecting a female child motivated Danish politicians to consider the possibility of gender-neutral succession. Formerly Denmark's throne followed absolute male ("salic") primogeniture; this was altered by the 1953 Act of Succession, which introduced male-preference ("cognatic") primogeniture, which gives daughters a place in the succession, but behind their brothers. This change allowed the present queen (Margrethe) to become heiress-presumptive and eventually inherit the throne. While Crown Princess Mary was still pregnant with Christian, the Folketing began the lengthy process (which would need in the end the approval of two parliaments and a referendum) to change the Danish constitution to allow absolute or equal primogeniture, treating males and females interchangeably. The birth of a boy removed some urgency from this drive, but it remains in motion, having received the first necessary parliamentary approval,[4][5] and the referendum is expected to be held on 7 June 2009.

On 11 September 2006, Per Stig Møller, Denmark's Minister for Foreign Affairs, formally wrote and signed a hand-written document naming Prince Christian as heir to the Danish throne in the line of succession. The prince's full name, his dates of birth and christening, and the names of his godparents were recorded as dictated by the Royal Law of 1799.[6][7]

Christian Valdemar Viking

In 2006 Scandinavian Airlines System was in the process of purchasing new A319 aircraft; and in Christian's honor the first of these, delivered on 8 August 2006, was named Christian Valdemar Viking.

Nursery School

On 27 March 2007 Prince Christian started nursery school at Queen Louise's Children's House, located 35 km north of Copenhagen in Fredensborg where the Crown Prince family lives. Prince Christian walked inside accompanied by his parents and is having sessions there to aid his socialisation, according to comments made by his mother.[8] The nursery school bears the name of Christian's ancestor Queen Louise of Denmark.

Christian is the first member of the Danish Royal Family, and first future Danish king, to attend daycare. At the same age, Crown Prince Frederik had a nanny at the palace.

Royal duties

Christian participated in his first official royal duty when he attended the opening of the new elephant house at the Copenhagen Zoo with his grandfather, Prince Henrik, who is a patron of the zoo, and who laid the foundation stone for the new elephant house in October 2006.

Christian was the one who opened the elephant house by pressing a button on an interactive console. The elephants were a gift from the King and Queen of Thailand to Queen Margrethe II and Prince Henrik on their last visit to Thailand.[9][10] The elephant house was designed by Norman Foster and Partners.[11]

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Styles of
Prince Christian of Denmark
Reference styleHis Royal Highness
Spoken styleYour Royal Highness
Alternative styleSir

Title

  • 15 October 2005 – 29 April 2008: His Royal Highness Prince Christian of Denmark
  • 29 April 2008 – present: His Royal Highness Prince Christian of Denmark, Count of Monpezat[12]

His official title in Danish is Hans Kongelige Højhed Prins Christian til Danmark, Greve af Monpezat

Ancestry

Family of Christian, Crown Prince of Denmark
16. Henri de Laborde de Monpezat
8. André de Laborde de Monpezat
17. Henriette Hallberg
4. Henri de Laborde de Monpezat
Prince Consort of Denmark
18. Maurice Doursenot
9. Renée Doursenot
19. Marthe Gay
2. Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark
20. Christian X of Denmark
10. Frederick IX of Denmark
21. Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
5. Margrethe II of Denmark
22. Gustav VI Adolf of Sweden
11. Ingrid of Sweden
23. Princess Margaret of Connaught
1. Prince Christian of Denmark
24. Alexander Donaldson
12. Peter Donaldson
25. Jean Stevenson
6. John Dalgleish Donaldson
26. John Dalgleish
13. Mary Dalgleish
27. Barbara McDonald Baisley
3. Mary Elizabeth Donaldson
28. John Thomas Tait Horne
14. Archibald Horne
29. Henrietta Clark
7. Henrietta Clark Horne
30. William Melrose
15. Elizabeth Gibson Melrose
31. Catherine Smith

References

  1. ^ "TRH The Crown Prince Couple: A Prince is Born".
  2. ^ "TRH The Crown Prince Couple: The Christening ceremony".
  3. ^ "TRH The Crown Prince Couple: Godfathers and godmothers to the little Prince".
  4. ^ "Females get the nod in Denmark".
  5. ^ "Folketingets informationssystem".
  6. ^ "Prins Christian er nu tronfølger".
  7. ^ "Arvefølgen er sikret".
  8. ^ cphpost.dk
  9. ^ Template:Da icon Prins Christian og farfar så elefanterne
  10. ^ Template:Da icon Prins Henrik: Flere børnebørn, tak
  11. ^ Copenhagen Elephant House, Denmark
  12. ^ Template:Da icon Kongehuset - Aktuelt - Nyheder

External links

Christian, Crown Prince of Denmark
Born: 15 October 2005
Danish royalty
Preceded by Line of succession to the Danish throne
2nd position 		Succeeded by
Line of succession to the British throne
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