Prince Christian of Denmark

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Prince Christian
Count of Monpezat
File:Prince Christian.jpg
Christian on his first day of school in August 2011
Born 15 October 2005 (age 10)
Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark
Full name
Christian Valdemar Henri John
Father Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark
Mother Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark
Religion Church of Denmark

Prince Christian of Denmark, Count of Monpezat (Christian Valdemar Henri John; born 15 October 2005) is the elder son and eldest child of Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary. He is a grandson of Queen Margrethe II and her husband Prince Henrik. He has a younger brother, Prince Vincent and two younger sisters, Princess Isabella and Princess Josephine. He is second in the Danish line of succession, after his father.

Birth and baptism

Prince Christian was born at 1:57 am in Rigshospitalet, the Copenhagen University Hospital, in Copenhagen on Saturday, 15 October 2005. 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. Bonfires were also lit in celebration in Australia.[1]

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 6-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.[2]

Christian was christened on 21 January 2006 in Christiansborg Palace Chapel by Bishop Erik Norman Svendsen.[3] Christian's godparents are his paternal uncle, Prince Joachim of Denmark; his maternal aunt, Jane Stephens; the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Norway; the Crown Princess of Sweden; the Crown Prince of Greece; and two friends of the couple: Jeppe Handwerk and Hamish Campbell.[4] He was named Christian Valdemar Henri John, continuing the Danish royal tradition of alternating between the names Christian and Frederick in direct line.

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

Succession and the constitution

Christian is second-in-line to the Danish throne. Since the 16th century, first-born sons of Danish monarchs have traditionally been alternately named Frederick and Christian; Queen Margrethe II, while naturally interrupting this sequence, treated herself as a "Christian" for the purposes of alternation, coming between her father, Frederick IX, and her son, Crown Prince Frederik. Prince Christian will likewise presumably be known as "King Christian XI of Denmark" (following his great-great-grandfather Christian X in that name).[citation needed]

The possibility Mary could be expecting a female child motivated Danish politicians to consider the possibility of adopting absolute primogeniture. Formerly Denmark's throne followed agnatic 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 to become heir presumptive and eventually inherit the throne. While the Crown Princess 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 primogeniture. The birth of a boy removed some urgency from this drive.[citation needed]

On 11 September 2006, Per Stig Møller, Denmark's Minister for Foreign Affairs, formally wrote and signed a hand-written document confirming Prince Christian's place 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.[5][6]

Upon succession to the throne, Prince Christian will become the first monarch of Australian ancestry to hold the throne of any dominion.

Christian Valdemar Viking

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

Education and royal duties

Christian was the first member of the Danish Royal Family, and first future Danish king, to attend nursery school. At the same age, the Crown Prince had a nanny at the palace. He is also the first member of the Danish Royal Family to attend a public state school.[citation needed]

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.[citation needed] 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 the Queen and Prince Consort of Denmark on their last visit to Thailand.[7][8] The elephant house was designed by Norman Foster and Partners.[9]

On 19 June 2010, he served as a page boy at the wedding of his fourth cousin and godmother, the Crown Princess of Sweden, to Daniel Westling.[10]

On 17 November 2010, he accompanied his mother and grandfather to the unveiling of a painting of Prince Ulrik at Rosenborg Castle.[11]

Christian accompanied his parents on most of their engagements during the family's official visit to Greenland on 1–8 August 2014.

Titles and styles

  • 15 October 2005 – 28 April 2008: His Royal Highness Prince Christian of Denmark
  • 28 April 2008 – present: His Royal Highness Prince Christian of Denmark, Count of Monpezat

Christian is styled as "His Royal Highness Prince Christian of Denmark, Count of Monpezat". He has been Prince of Denmark since birth and Count of Monpezat since 29 April 2008, when Queen Margrethe granted the title to her male-line descendants.[12]

Honours and decorations

Medals
  • Denmark 11 June 2009: Commemorative 75th Birthday Medal of His Royal Highness The Prince Consort
  • Denmark 16 April 2010: Commemorative 70th Birthday Medal of Her Majesty The Queen
  • Denmark 14 January 2012: Commemorative Ruby Jubilee Medal of Her Majesty The Queen
  • Denmark 16 April 2015: Commemorative 75th Birthday Medal of Her Majesty The Queen

Ancestry

Family of Prince Christian of Denmark
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
16. Count Henri de Laborde de Monpezat
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
8. Count André de Laborde de Monpezat
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
17. Henriette Hallberg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4. Count Henri de Laborde de Monpezat
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
18. Maurice Doursenot
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
9. Renée Yvonne Doursenot
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
19. Marthe Gay
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2. Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
20. Christian X of Denmark
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
10. Frederick IX of Denmark
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
21. Duchess Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5. Margrethe II of Denmark
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
22. Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
11. Princess 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. [citation needed]
  2. [citation needed]
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  7. (Danish) Prins Christian og farfar så elefanterne
  8. (Danish) Prins Henrik: Flere børnebørn, tak
  9. Copenhagen Elephant House, Denmark
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  11. Afsløring af Hertug Ulriks portræt på Rosenborg Slot
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External links

Prince Christian of Denmark
Born: 15 October 2005
Lines of succession
Preceded by Line of succession to the Danish throne
2nd position
Followed by
Princess Isabella of Denmark
Line of succession to the British throne
descended from Arthur, son of Victoria
Followed by
Prince Vincent of Denmark