A tale of two holidays.....

Mary and Christian at Château de Cayx last week.

The end of July means the end of the summer holidays for Frederik, Mary and Joachim. The Queen and Prince Henrik will have a break (most probably at Château de Cayx, as is their custom) and Frederik will act as regent while the Queen is away after the family festivities at Gråsten.

So, what news? Well, there is some. Billed Bladet (a generally reliable source on matters royal) has reported this week that Prince Joachim and Marie Cavallier have ended their relationship. Marie Cavallier has told a Billed Bladet journalist that they are no longer dating while walking with her from her local patisserie in Geneva. She said they had agreed to separate and as two reasonable adults, it was not a problem. The Billed Bladet reporter said she seemed pensive and suggested they ask Prince Joachim if they wanted more information. (Somehow, we doubt he will give it!)

Although they end as good friends she said it is always difficult to say goodbye to someone with whom you have shared inner feelings, joys and sorrows. The photos from Billed Bladet # 30 show Marie returning from the patisserie with her dog Apple and Prince Joachim returning from Geneva to Kastrup Airport, Copenhagen, last Sunday.



Also confirmed in The Copenhagen Post 'Long distance ends Prince's relationship'

The holiday of Frederik, Mary, Christian and Ziggy is another story. The Crown Prince family began by visiting John and Susan Donaldson in Nyhavn in Copenhagen (see the post here). They went to a Robbie Williams concert with friends in Copenhagen (see here). Frederik was in high spirits when asked by a journalist who the fan was. He teasingly 'hinted' it was Mary and 'the girls' and did a bit of mimicking of the Robbie Williams style.

The family then visited Mary's former lady-in-waiting Victoria Bernstorff-Glydensteen and her husband Frants at their estate on North Funen. They then went to Marselisborg Castle near Aarhus and visited Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik. After this they went to stay at the farm of friends Jørgen and Marie Louise Skeel. Frederik played football and Helle Reedtz-Thott was among the visiting friends. After this stay they went to the coast of north Jutland at Blokhus and spent time at the beach with friends (see here). Some of the friends included Ditlev Ahlefeldt-Laurvig and Jean Mensah and Ellen Hillingsø and husband Christoffer Castenskiold.

This last week the family has been in southern France at the Château de Cayx with Jeppe and Birgitte Handwerk and their baby daughter. They were with Frederik and Mary at the château (and Grandfather's vineyard) last year too, but both couples now have children and they have been having a relaxed time being with the babies without staff (or nanny), looking after themselves, shopping in the market town in the mornings, swimming and cooking on the barbecue on the terrace in the evenings. Jeppe Handwerk was a fellow frogman with Frederik and Birgitte and Mary had their babies three weeks apart. Billed Bladet points out in this week's edition that Christian is the centre of Mary's and Frederik's lives and that this is in stark contrast to Frederik's upbringing. They say this is something new which Mary has introduced to the Danish royal family. They only leave Christian to be cared for by his nanny when it is absolutely necessary, so while they are on holidays they have all their time to enjoy with their son. At the beginning of the month Prince Joachim was at the château with Nikolai and Felix and their two nannies. This is a different situation though, as Joachim is now on his own.

Mary and Birgitte flew to France with Christian and the Handwerk's daughter India, while Frederik and Jeppe travelled separately driving in Frederik's Audi Q7 from Denmark. Mary always travels separately from Frederik with Christian because the two heirs cannot travel together for safety/security reasons. Next Tuesday Frederik, Mary and Christian (and, yes, Ziggy!) will arrive at Gråsten for the family gathering, just as it was in Queen Ingrid's day. (With thanks to Muhler.)
Following are photos from beginning to end of the Crown Prince family holiday. Scans are from Billed Bladet, Se og Hør, Kig Ind and Her & Nu. The photo of the couple with baby is a file photo of Jeppe and Birgitte Handwerk with baby India from Billed Bladet.