Christian mixes with the locals

Today Crown Princess Mary took Prince Christian to the playground at her nieces' school near sister Jane Stephens' house with other family members before an afternoon appointment at a wildlife park outside Hobart for a media photo call.

From The Hobart Mercury:
Zoo time for royalty

PHILIPPA DUNCAN
November 25, 2006 12:00am

Right, young Prince Christian is fascinated by Bam Bam the pademelon at Bonorong Wiildlife Park yesterday.

LITTLE Prince Christian met some marsupials yesterday, but the future King of Denmark found the line of flashing cameras much more strange and foreign.
Mum and Dad tried to tempt their little boy with koalas, echidnas, blue-tongue lizards, wombat and a potoroo, but Christian preferred to point at the cameras.
He peered quizzically around his father's shoulder at the entranced members of the media.
The little boy came face to face with the sort of fuss and attention that will follow him for the rest of his life, and he took notice.
"He's not used to so many cameras," said Danish royal reporter Anna Johannesen.
"He would not have seen so many.
"At the christening he was not old enough (to notice them)."



Left, Prince Christian shrinks back from the blue tongue lizards as Crown Princess Mary and Crown Prince Frederik watch.


Crown Princess Mary and Crown Prince Frederik made their first and only official appearance yesterday afternoon when they visited Bonorong Wildlife Park at Brighton.
Mary and Frederik, who have perfected the art of acting normally in the face of a 30-metre line of photographers, joked that they often felt like they lived in a zoo.
"Especially today," observed Mary, who is displaying a tiny baby bump, to the fenced-off pack of more than 50 photographers, reporters and camera people.
"But it is you who are behind the fence."
Christian, who took his first public steps clutching dad's hand yesterday, will have to wait until next year to discover whether he has a brother or a sister.
The couple said they did not know, and did not want to know, the sex of their second child, who is due in early May.
Dressed stylishly in a grey cotton blouse with beige pants, the pregnant Mary fended off questions about whether she she was buying blue or pink for her new baby.
"We don't know the colour yet," she replied.
"We don't want to know," chipped in Frederik.
They posed for about 20 minutes for the cameras with their 13-month-old son before waving the royal goodbye.
One journalist asked Frederik whether the media intrusion had been OK.
"Yeah, so far, but we expect it to get better," the prince said hopefully, before driving off with his wife and son, trailed by a carload of burly security men.

TV2.dk video clip (1:00)

DR.dk video clip (00:40)

Seven Network News clip (1:40) 'Danish Royals spend a day at the zoo'

Nine News clip (2:00) 'Prince's furry friends'

Prince Christian meets native fauna in mum's homeland in Hello! magazine

ABC News Online 'Mary, Frederik take their Kingaroo to a wildlife park'

The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)

Daily Telegraph photo gallery (nice pics!)

TV2 photo gallery

TV2 article 'Prins Christian kælede med koala'

B.T. photo gallery

B.T. 'Mary og Frederik blandt koalaer og kænguruer'

Added:
Fyens Stiftstidende photo gallery

Politiken photo gallery

From The Sydney Morning Herald (with evidence, yet again, of a weird Herald headline! In case you need a primer it is supposed to be a twist on 'You're in trouble, Mary'):
Urine trouble, Mary

Andrew Darby in Hobart
November 24, 2006 - 9:35PM
Denmark's Crown Princess Mary introduced her toddler son to Tasmanian wildlife today, but the royal little boy seemed more enthralled by the photographers and camera crews who came along.

Mary and Crown Prince Frederik took 13-month-old Christian to a wildlife park outside Hobart.
About 70 members of the media stood behind a cordon to take pictures of the Danish trio as they posed with some very Australian icons.
A less than lens-shy Christian seemed more interested in the cameras and boom microphones and pointed to the media scrum several times only to be refocussed by his parents on the animals.
Rangers offered up blue-tongued lizards, a wombat and a range of other picturesque Aussie wildlife to the royal family.
But the visit soon took a comical turn as Mary dodged a spray of echidna urine and the offending animal was quickly taken away.
"Very close," said the princess, who being born in Australia should know the perils of appearing with local wildlife.
Rangers then returned with a small pademelon, a gentle and harmless type of wallaby, which was swiftly rewarded with a kick in the head from Christian.
Dressed stylishly in a grey cotton blouse with beige pants, the pregnant Mary fended off questions about whether she she was buying blue or pink for her new baby, due in March.
"We don't know the colour yet," she replied.
"We don't want to know," chipped in Frederik.
The heir to Denmark's throne and his Tasmanian-born wife are visiting her family for the first time since Christian's birth.
In a brief exchange they told reporters they were enjoying their stay but declined to elaborate on their holiday plans.
Today's picture opportunity was arranged in the hope that the media will leave the royal family alone for the rest of their time in Australia.
The irony of the location was not lost on journalists, one of whom cheekily asked Frederik if he felt he was the one in a zoo.
"What do you think," the prince called back.
The last word, however, went to Mary, as the royals' escape plan became clear.
"You're actually behind the fence," she told journalists, as the family made their escape and the media was left locked in the zoo for 20 minutes behind them. - with AAP

From The Hobart Mercury

Christian's first day at school

PHILIPPA DUNCAN
November 24, 2006 02:05pm

CROWN Princess Mary has shaken off the jetlag and was up early today to play with her son at a local West Hobart school.
Mary and a delighted 13-month-old Christian were spotted using the play equipment at the Lansdowne Crescent Primary School at 9am.
Mary's sister Jane Stephens, an unidentified blonde woman who flew in with Mary, two girls and a burly body guard completed the party.
Mary protectively nursed Christian in her lap on the swings while two federal police officers kept watch from a parked car 50m away.
Anybody who came near were questioned and asked to respect the Princess's privacy.
After about half an hour's play, a crowd of photographers had gathered and Mary decided it was time to leave.
The future Queen of Denmark, dressed in grey sweat pants, a casual black jacket and customary large sunglasses, pushed Christian up the hill to Jane's house, where she and Frederik have stayed since arriving in Hobart earlier this week.


From The Australian:
Princess Mary relaxes with family
By Robyn Grace
November 24, 2006
CROWN Princess Mary has hit the streets of West Hobart on the third day of her Australian family visit.
The Tasmanian-born princess looked comfortable as she pushed Prince Christian in a stroller through the West Hobart streets, where the Danish royals are staying.
Wearing grey pants, a black jacket and trainers, the pregnant princess looked relaxed as she enjoyed the morning stroll with her sister, Jane Stephens, and other family members.
Crown Prince Frederik left the house earlier in the morning, spending time at an unknown location before returning around midday.
The couple have arranged an official photo opportunity at an undisclosed location near Hobart this afternoon.
The photo call is the only official media event of their visit and the royals are expected to leave Hobart afterwards.
It is not known how long the couple, who married in 2004, are staying in Australia but the visit is also expected to include a stop in New South Wales.
Mary was living in Sydney when she met her husband during the 2000 Olympics. AAP

A few more photos from yesterday (and we will have more photos from the wildlife park soon):