AND ABOUT. Queen: Margrethe II watches as Crown Prince Frederik handles her duties

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For a month now, the eldest son of Queen Margrethe has been performing royal duties in Denmark. II Crown Prince Frederik. The 82-year-old monarch, who celebrated her 50th anniversary last year, is recovering from a major operation and is watching how her heir behaves on the royal throne. It’s time to tell who he is — future Danish king Frederik X.

He was born on May 26, 1968 in Copenhagen in the family of Crown Princess Margrethe and her husband Prince Henrik, before the marriage of the former French Count Henri Laborde de Monpezat. The name of the heir to the throne was known long before his birth, because Fredericks and Christians alternate on the Danish throne for centuries. Considering that Margrethe’s father had no male children, and after him she was to take the throne, the monarch decided that she could afford to combine both names in one child. The baby was named Frederick Andre Henrik Christian (the other two of the four names belong to his grandfather and father).

The genealogy of this Danish prince can only be envied: he is a descendant of Russian emperors, British kings, and his great-grandfather Gustav VI Adolf at the time of his birth was still the king of Sweden. Therefore, he received primary and secondary education according to the highest standard, moreover, in turn, both in Denmark and in France. Queen Margrethe tried not to offend her husband’s vanity, and in this international family the children spoke his native French. In the summer, the parents took Frederick and his younger brother Joachim to their Château de Cailles in France, and the family spent the winter holidays in the Danish residence of Marselisborg.

In 1986, the heir to the throne began to study political science at Aarhus University. The program included a year of study at Harvard. The prince went to Britain incognito, he was listed as Frederick Henriksen in the lists of students. Then, in 1994, he spent three months on probation at the Danish Mission to the United Nations in New York. And finally, in 1995, he became a master of political science — the first of its kind in centuries. In parallel, he served in various units of the Danish army. And from October 1998 to October 1999 he worked as First Secretary of the Danish Embassy in Paris.

His personal life was no less fruitful. It would be naive to believe that such an attractive, educated, athletic man, moreover, a prince, will not use all these trump cards in relations with women. Among his girls were a classmate, a classmate, models, a singer. And the first woman to whom he offered his hand and heart was underwear model Katya Storkholm. This is detailed in the book 1015 Copenhagen K by longtime royal reporter Trine Willemann. According to the expert, Katya was for Frederick the “true love” of his life. They dated when the prince was in his twenties and was undergoing military training. V Royal Danish Defense College.

When he had to go somewhere to perform royal duties, which he did not like, she helped him prepare a speech, suggested improvements, and rehearsed with him. They were a real team.

After more than two years of “falling in love” Frederic secretly proposed to Katya, and she said: “Yes.” But Queen Margrethe forbade her son to marry a model, because, as Villeman assures, marriages with Danes are contrary to the traditions of the Danish royal family. Indeed, the grandfather of the crown prince — King Frederick IX — was married to Princess Ingrid of Sweden, daughter of the monarch of a neighboring country. Margrethe herself married a French count. Frederick’s brother Joachim was married for the first time to an Englishwoman, and he entered into a second marriage with a native of France. Katya Storkholm did not fit into this international family.

But the Scottish woman from Australia, Mary Donaldson, whom he met in 2000 during the Olympic Games in Sydney, was ideally suited for the position of Frederick’s wife. They bumped into each other at one of the waterside bars that Mary dropped by after work. Miss Donaldson was then an advertising manager for a local company. The young people started talking. She, of course, did not know who the man who introduced himself as Fred was.

When they exchanged phone numbers and said goodbye, one of the members of the Danish delegation who were in the bar told the girl that her interlocutor — future king. But Mary was not afraid. A romance began that lasted four years — before the wedding, which took place on May 14, 2004 in the Cathedral of Copenhagen. But Villeman claims that Mary, who has been conscientiously and selflessly fulfilling her role as Crown Princess of Denmark for almost 19 years, felt like a third wheel for a long time, since Frederik remained in constant contact with Katya for a long time. She married five years after the crown prince married Mary Donaldson.

Anyway, Mary and Frederick’s marriage looks very happy today. On October 15, 2005, they had a son, who, of course, was named Christian, in order to restore the family chronology interrupted by Margrethe II. In total, they have four children in the family. Since 2010, they all live in the palace of his grandparents, converted for the crown prince. — Frederic IX and Ingrid of Sweden. This residence is part of the Amalienborg Palace complex, where the Queen lives.

The 82-year-old monarch has been feeling worse lately. On February 22, she was admitted to the Royal Hospital in Copenhagen, where she underwent major back surgery. On March 2, the press service of the royal court reported that Margrethe II discharged home — to the palace, and will be cured in the circle of relatives and friends. All this time, her duties are performed by Crown Prince Frederik, who is assisted by Crown Princess Mary. This is not the first time for Frederick. — his whole life has passed next to the queen, and he is well aware that the day is not far off when a crown will be put on his head. And Queen Margrethe, in her recent interview with Weekendavisen, said of him:

When I let go of the reins, he immediately picks them up. I am a link in a very long chain that must not be broken, and I think he is aware of this.