Two New Stamps in Denmark

Two new stamps in Denmark feature the royal Crown Prince Couple and their child, Prince Christian. One stamp is a normal stamp on which the Crown Prince family is featured in traditional Greenlandic dress. The other stamp is a charity stamp with has a surcharge included in the price. The surcharge benefits an organisation that is devoted to charitable work or to combating disease. In this case the money raised will go to Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary's Fund for Charitable and Humanitarian purposes. This stamp on which the threesome is featured marks the happy fact that Denmark has a new heir to the throne, Prince Christian.

Wills' Kate

Over the weekend Prince William's girlfriend Kate Middleton was on hand to support Wills as he took part in a Gloucestershire polo match on a weekend off from his Sandhurst course. Kate who was impeccably turned out in a simple knee-length black dress looked the part of a princess-in-waiting down to perfection.

Easter in Denmark

This article appeared in the Hobart Mercury, a Tasmanian newspaper. It concerns Princess Mary, the Little Prince, and Easter in Denmark. The photo is from Danish Royal Watchers blog and shows Queen Margrethe II holding Prince Christian.

PRINCESS Mary's "baby kingaroo" looked more like a floppy-eared Easter bunny at his grandmother's birthday party.

Mary and her husband Crown Prince Frederik proudly showed off their six-month-old son Prince Christian as Denmark's royal family gathered to celebrate the 66th birthday of Queen Margrethe II.

The party at Marselisborg Castle was a double celebration combining birthday and Easter festivities -- including some uniquely Danish traditions.

As well as the usual chocolate eggs and rabbits, Danes enjoy a special Easter beer from their breweries.

The stronger, tastier brew is used to help wash down the traditional Easter Thursday meal of cabbage -- sometimes up to seven different types.

Danes also traditionally do large loads of washing over Easter in the belief that the clothes will stay cleaner for the rest of the year.

The royal family gathered at the baroque-inspired Marselisborg palace, the summer holiday home of Queen Margrethe and her husband Prince Henrik.

What a Marvelous Idea!

The Queen has had lunch with 99 people who were born on the same day as her, as part of her 80th birthday celebrations. The monarch described the 70 women and 29 men who attended the Buckingham Palace reception as her "exact twins".

Can you imagine all those 80 year-olds together for a birthday party at the palace? What a treat!

John Forrester, who had travelled from Australia, was rewarded with a seat next to the Queen at the lunch. He described her as the "most natural person in the world", adding that she would "endear herself to anybody and everybody. You look back over your life and say 'when have I bettered it?' Well, when I got married, when I had kids, yes, but beyond that this has to be the top of the tree."

The guests were treated to a three-course lunch, with the main course of filet de boeuf bordelaise being served on a royal silver dinner service normally reserved for state banquets. The solid silver plates, decorated with the Prince of Wales's feathers, garter and coronet, date from 1893 to 1902.

The Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, told her guests "we can and should count our blessings. I doubt whether any of us would say the last 80 years has been plain sailing. But we can give thanks for our health and happiness, the support we receive from our families and friends, some wonderful memories and the excitement that each new day brings."

The Queen thanked her guests for coming, adding: "I hope all those of you who are my exact twins will make the most of our special day on Friday."

Here's Our Mary in Portrait

Danish Royal Watchers is a terrific blog for everything that's "Danish royalty news". Go there to see photos of the unveiling and a photo of the entire portrait. Pictured on left is the center portion of the work.

This is an excerpt from the press release concerning the portrait:

It was the expressed wish of the museum that the portrait was not to be a typical official portrait, but a more personal characterization of the new member of the Danish Royal Family.

Since his first sitting with the Crown Princess in May 2005, Heimans has been working intensively on the portrait and has repeatedly visited Denmark. The result is a resounding success: a work that fuses the Crown Princess’ present day situation with her Australian heritage.

The Princess is seen in the Garden Room of Fredensborg Palace, where Lauritz Tuxen more than 100 years ago painted King Christian IX Danish and his extensive Pan-European family. She is getting ready to leave the palace - her coat lies at the ready over a chair, and she is putting on her gloves. She gazes pensively at something we cannot see. The room around her is multifaceted and labyrinthine: It is reflected outwards and inwards in the great mirrors that Heimans has replaced the room’s actual landscape paintings with. In the mirror behind Mary, a glimpse of Hobart can be seen, and in another mirror, a reflection of the Danish flag can be detected in the ceiling. In this way, the painting represents the Crown Princess on the brink between the old life and the new, the known territory and the unknown. At first glance, it is difficult to find one’s bearing, but the Crown Princess seems calm and confident, ready for her challenge.

Canberra Portrait of CP Mary

Chinese-born Australian Jiawei Shen made this portrait of Crown Princess for Canberra. It is currently on display in the Australian capital, but will be a temporary part of the exhibit in Denmark when the first official portrait of the Crown Princess is unveiled tomorrow.

Crown Princess Mary's Portrait

Tomorrow at the National History Museum at Frederiksborg Castle, Denmark's first official portrait of Crown Princess Mary is unveiled. It has been executed by the Australian artist Ralph Heimans, who makes links between Mary's old and new homelands in a way which accentuates her particular background. The Danish magazine, Billed-Bladet, reports that Ralph Heimans has found Mary to be a wonderful subject since they met 10 months ago (last May). During that time he has made five visits to The Chancellery House at Fredensborg, where Crown Prince Frederik dropped in on proceedings to check out how things were going. Heimans says he was nervous to begin with because he hadn't painted a royal before, but Mary was so down-to-earth and charming that she put him at ease and made him feel welcome straight away. So far nothing has been revealed about the painting except that it is painted in oil and is 1.7 metres high and 2.5 metres wide.

To view some of Ralph Heimans's work, visit his website.

New Star in Royal Box

Kate Middleton, the girlfriend of Prince William, appeared with Prince Charles in the Royal Box at the Cheltenham Festival Gold Cup raceday. The popular 24 year-old is the odds-on favorite to be engaged to the second-in-line by raceday next year. Prince William was unable to attend the event as he is busy with military training at Sandhurst. Kate even managed a little controversy as she appeared to be wearing a fur hat with her biege coat. She looked wonderful!

Danish Royals to Visit Australia

A spokeswoman for the Danish Royals told the Danish weekly B.T. today that Frederik, Mary and Christian will make a private trip to Australia this year. She did not announce a date or agenda for the trip. It is assumed the trip will include a visit to Tasmania, Mary's home state.

Prince Will Join Household Cavalry

Prince Harry is to join the Blues and Royals Regiment of the Household Cavalry as he leaves Sandhurst in April when he has completed his Army office training. The Household Cavalry is expected to return to Iraq and has duty with the UN and NATO in Bosnia and Kosovo. A spokesman of the Ministry of Defense said, "It's fair to say that if his squadon goes to Iraq, he will probably go with it." The Household Cavalry is divided into the armoured division which Harry will join and the mounted division which is tasked with protecting the Queen.

"Kingaroo" No More

The son of Their Royal Highnesses The Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Denmark was christened today.

What is the child's name?
His name is Christian Valdemar Henri John.

"Kingaroo" Gets His Royal Name

Dubbed "Kingaroo" by royal watchers, the child born to Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark will be christened today in Copenhagen. Plans are in place across Australia to celebrate the christening that has an Australian connection. Crown Princess Mary is formerly Mary Donaldson of Hobart Tasmania. Australians have enjoyed following the royal couple's life story since their marriage in May 2004.
If you want to catch up on the royal couple, visit their website here. The website will be updated today with photos from the christening. A blog with lots of photos and information on the Danish Royal couple is here.