Crown Prince Frederik, who rose from a rebellious teenager to a respected family man, became Denmark’s king on Sunday and epitomizes the country’s relaxed, liberal monarchy.
The 55-year-old is passionate about environmental issues and has carefully positioned herself in the shadow of her hugely popular mother, Queen Margrethe II. Queen Margrethe II announced her plans to abdicate in a televised speech on New Year’s Eve after her 52 years on the throne.
The prince, who enjoys the support of more than 80 percent of Danes according to recent polls, will become King Frederick X when his mother abdicates on Sunday.
“When the time is right, I’m going to lead the ship,” he said in a speech marking the half-century anniversary of his chain-smoking mother’s accession to the throne in 2022.
“As you followed your father, so I will follow in your footsteps,” added Crown Prince Frederik, who led the thousand-year-old organization.
But this cautious certainty is very different from what he was in his youth.
Gitte Redder, an expert on the Danish royal family, said: “Strictly speaking he was not a rebel, but as a child and young man he was very uncomfortable with the media attention and the knowledge that he would become king.” ” he said.
She told AFP that he “didn’t start to feel confident until he was in his mid-20s.”
～Loneliness and suffering～
A lonely and tormented teenager, Frederick resents his parents for neglecting him as he fulfills his royal duties.
He sought solace in fast cars and a simple life, and was considered a spoiled party prince in the early 1990s.
But that view began to change after he graduated from Aarhus University in 1995, becoming the first Danish royal to complete a university education.
During his college years, he enrolled at Harvard University in the United States under the pseudonym Frederik Henriksen.
The fake surname was given to him after his father, Henri de Montpezat, a French diplomat who became Prince Henrik at the time of his marriage to Margrethe.
But Frederick, who speaks English, French and German in addition to Danish, really began to mature into the role while training in three branches of the Danish military.
The prince served in the Navy’s Frogman Corps, where he received the nickname “Pingo” (Penguin), and was one of only four recruits out of 300 to pass all exams in 1995.
In 2000, he took part in a four-month, 3,500-kilometer (2,175-mile) skiing expedition across Greenland.
～Complete the Queen～
His daredevil side has seen him end up in the hospital after sledding and scooter accidents, but his popularity has skyrocketed thanks to the Royal Run, an annual fun run across Denmark he started in 2018. There is.
“He’s a sportsman and goes to concerts and football games, so he’s even more relatable than his mother,” royal expert Redder said.
“I don’t want to confine myself to a fortress. I want to be myself, a human being,” he once said, and insisted he would continue to do so even after assuming the throne.
He met his wife, Mary Donaldson, an Australian lawyer, in a Sydney bar during the 2000 Olympics.
They try to give their four children as normal an education as possible, sending them primarily to state schools.
Their eldest son, Prince Christian, who recently turned 18, became the first Danish royal to attend nursery school.
Historian Sebastian Olden-Jorgensen said the couple had gradually taken on more royal duties in recent years as the Queen entered her 80s, but “very slowly and dependent on the Queen’s health.” ” he said.
He added that the couple are “modern and awake people who love pop music, contemporary art, and sports.”
He said they were “less indicative of revolutionary potential than the Queen,” but a prudent transition adapted to the times.
Mr. Frederick has, among other things, championed Denmark’s efforts to find solutions to the climate crisis.
He said he considers himself a complement to his mother, who is a polymath and an accomplished writer and artist.
“You paint, I exercise. You search for past burials, but while I was in the army I buried my head unnoticed. You are a master of words. I am at a loss when I think about them sometimes,” he joked at the Queen’s coronation ceremony.
– Advertisement –