A Prince of Denmark is Born
Denmark has a new princeCrown Princess Mary gave birth to a baby boy in the early hours of Saturday morning with her husband Crown Prince Frederik at her side. The baby, who weighed in at 3,5 kilos and was 51 centimetres long, is expected one day to assume the throne of Europe's oldest reigning monarchy. The royal couple has not announced the baby's name, but it is likely to be Christian in line with Danish tradition. 21 gun salutes were fired on Saturday, Danish flags were hoisted on all government and public buildings and 350 bonfires were lit all over the country to mark the birth of the new heir to the throne. Meanwhile Danes streamed to the royal palace to hand over gifts to the royal couple and their son.
Little prince with a big future
'He doesn't know what's in store for him,' was one of the first comments Crown Prince Frederik made when meeting the press after the birth of his son on Saturday. Frederik was referring to the expectations and public focus that he himself went through as the young heir to the throne, a process that he has made no secret could be a difficult one. Royal experts in Denmark say that the crown prince's own experiences growing up in the public eye will be a valuable tool for his son. Historian Steffen Heiberg expects that the prince's childhood, education, and circle of friends is likely to be a carbon copy of dad's own. 'Elementary school, high school, university degree - likely some kind of political science - and then service as a military officer is my bet,' said Heiberg. Despite the similarities, times and the prince's mother's own background will add a slightly different dimension to the prince's upbringing. Crown Princess Mary, the former Mary Donaldsen, an Australian-born commoner, will play an important role for the prince in a time when the public demands that the royal family be both mainstream and aristocratic, according to sociologist Emilia van Hauen. When the time comes for the new prince to make a lucky girl into a real life princess, Heiberg expects that he will follow in his father's footsteps and marry a commoner. Danish girls, however, are a long-shot in his eyes. 'If it is a common Danish woman, then it's likely that there would be complications,' he said. 'And there would be a lot of digging in her past - even more than we see now. 'Frederik found Mary on the other side of the planet, and it's a real Cinderella story. Marrying someone from a far away land would probably be better for keeping the myth alive than if he married the local shopkeeper's daughter.'
Maybe they, too, will name him after a Star Wars character? What about Master Yoda?
Norwegian Princess Named after Star Wars Princess
Norwegian Princess Leah's name was inspired by a character in a "Star Wars" movie, the mother of the infant princess was quoted as saying Thursday. "I must admit that I have always been a big 'Star Wars' fan, and Princess Leia has always been the most beautiful in the whole world," Princess Martha Louise said in an interview with the Norwegian daily Aftenposten. Princess Leah, born on April 8 this year and fifth in line to the Norwegian throne, was due to be baptized Thursday. In the "Star Wars" movies, Princess Leia is the twin sister of Luke Skywalker and the daughter of Darth Vader. Princess Martha Louise did not explain the slight difference in spelling of the two names, both pronounced the same way.
posted by Unknown @ 12:46 PM
1 Comments:
Irene: Yes, she likes chicken dresses, hideous hats and Star Wars. Anyway, her brother, our Crown Prince, is married to a girl whose father lives in a trailer. He is married to a stripper, and maybe soon divorced again. Or maybe not. Lotsa fun for the tabloids, that one. We Europeans keep the royal families just to have something to gossip about, you know. You Yanks only have Clinton and Monica.
As for Hamlet: Err, didn't he sort of die in the end, along with pretty much everybody else? And the state of Denmark is among the least rotten in Europe, so it doesn't fit.
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