A year of changes in Denmark. For the first time in 50 years, the Scandinavian country will see a king sit on its throne: Crown Prince Frederick will become Frederick X on January 14, succeeding Queen Margaret II.
The latter, the only reigning queen in the world and the longest-serving monarch in Europe, decided to pass the torch, 52 years after her own accession to the throne.
“I decided it was the right time.”
Queen Margaret, 83, declared live on television during her traditional New Year’s speech this Sunday, December 31, that the back operation she underwent in early 2023 led her to “reflect on the future.” “I decided it was the right time,” she said.
Frederik André Henrik Christian, Count of Monpezat, was born on May 26, 1968. As a child he had difficulty finding his place in the royal family. His role as crown prince was unclear to her. He felt that his parents – his father, Henri de Laborde de Monpezat, a French diplomat who died in 2018 – had not transmitted the necessary keys to him.
“In my childhood, our parents weren’t very good at it. They were kind of distraught, indecisive, and didn’t really know how to tell us,” he says in one book. under the beam (Under the Beam), published in 2017 and which paints his portrait.
He adds: “It was a big inconvenience. It made me feel insecure and sometimes shy and awkward, and then the press criticized me for behaving strangely.”
A sports enthusiast.
It was his military training that allowed him to assert himself. Passionate at the time about discos, beautiful cars and speed (he made headlines for driving the wrong way in France in 1988), the prince was part of the elite corps of combat swimmers.
Your last name? “Pingo”, who according to the DailyMail was earned by trying to remove a wetsuit filled with water, wriggling like a penguin, during a diving course.
“Life as a recruit was a rude awakening, both physically and mentally. Especially when it came to trying to fend for yourself, to structure your day, at least outside the barracks,” he confesses in the book written by Jens Andersen. “It was completely new to me and quickly became a fierce freedom that I had to learn to master.”
The future King Frederik, who graduated in Political Science in 1995, after spending a year at the prestigious Harvard University in the United States, became passionate about sports. A passion that allowed him to improve his image, in particular finishing the Copenhagen marathon in 1992.
He also distinguished himself by participating in a four-month, 2,795-kilometer dog sledding expedition in Greenland in 2000, according to the royal family’s official website. Then, he created, in 2018, the Royal Run, a popular race that invites all Danes to practice physical activity. From 2009 to 2021, the Crown Prince was also an active member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
“It will adapt better to its times”
Your other passion? The environment and the climate cause. This father of four children has promised, in 2022, to “steer the ship” of Denmark into the future.
“In addition to sustainability and innovation, entrepreneurship, science, learning and technology play an important role in the Crown Prince’s commitment to society,” says the official Danish website. Frederik, who speaks French, English and German, is also still active in the defense sector.
The future king is synonymous with modernity for the Danes. Both in the education that he gave, together with his wife, Princess Mary, to his children, trained mainly in the public sector, and in his style of dress. He does not hesitate to appear publicly wearing sneakers and jeans.
The queen’s husband had declared during his lifetime that “Frédérik would be a good king. A wise and humane regent,” notes the newspaper Nordjyske Stiftstidende. What his mother agrees on: “He has a sense of people. And he talks more easily with all kinds of people,” he said in the 2012 documentary. Erindinger eng Denmark (Denmark souvenir).
Like the queen, the future King Frederick unites the 5.9 million inhabitants of the Scandinavian country. According to a study carried out by the Danish institute Epinion for Danmarks Radio, 84% of them say they have a positive opinion of the crown prince.
“Many would say that it will adapt better to the times,” said journalist Ulla Terkelsen on TV2.
Your Achilles heel? The speeches. “It is well known that he is not as good as his mother in this area,” says Lars Hovbakke Sørensen, historian and expert on the royal house of the Danish television channel.
Source: BFM TV
