Danish Royal Watchers: Mary & 'mini-Mary' leaving hospital

* The press is gathering for the Crown Prince Couple to leave Rigshospitalet in under half an hour. If there is a live stream available we will post it here. Otherwise we will of course post all we can as soon as we can.

* Frederik, Mary and the new baby are on their way to Fredensborg. They have arrived and have Christian and Ziggy with them

* Okay, well, they are inside The Chancellery House now, Christian was pointing, perhaps at a media helicopter above? I have the message that many have not been able to see the live stream (some have had pictures, some sound and various things between), but do not fret, there will be video clips available shortly and we will post them. For Australian readers all the commercial channels and maybe the ABC will have the clips in their late news, some news breaks have already shown the scenes at the hospital.

* Caroline Heering was there to help Mary with the bouquets and little drawings and gifts given to Mary as she left the hospital.

* The new little princess was wrapped in the same crochet shawl and little cap that Christian wore when he left hospital

* Mary was asked at the hospital press conference if Frederik had given her a gift, she replied by pointing to the new baby

First screencaps from TV2:

* TV2 gallery now up to 65 photos (TV2 screencaps from the TV coverage)

* Berlingske Tidende gallery

* Seven News clip (0:10)

* Jyllands Posten webTV

* DR news story 5 mins in after the story on the French election

* TV2 video clip (1:05)

* TV2 video clip (1:55) - kids anticipating the return to Fredensborg and Frederik, Mary, Christian and the new baby greeting the well wishers

* TV2 gallery at Fredensborg 49 photos

* Mary's friend Amber Petty has told a Sydney radio that Mary called her on the way to the hospital (as we have reported here Amber is now working as a morning radio presenter in Adelaide and is doing very well according to local report)

From POLFOTO:

* SMH photo gallery (some lovely photos)

The Sydney Morning Herald:

Mary's 'lille pige': first glimpse

April 23, 2007 - 9:47PM

Denmark's newborn princess slept throughout her first public appearance as her parents - Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary - showed off their second child on Tuesday.

Australian-born Mary, who gave birth to the unnamed princess on Saturday, said she and Frederik had been referring to their daughter as "lille pige" or, in English, little girl.

"She's been very good and kind to her mother," Mary said.

Wearing an elegant grey tunic, Mary emerged from the Copenhagen University Hospital cradling the dark-haired newborn, who was wearing a white hat and wrapped in a blanket.

"I think it went really well," Mary said of the birth.

"It was a little easier this time, although you shouldn't use a word like easier for a delivery."

Mary and Frederik already have an 18-month-old son, Christian, who is second in line to the Danish throne, after his father.

The new princess will be third in line to the throne after her father and older brother.

Christian met his little sister for the first time yesterday morning and had been calling her "baby".
"He was enthusiastic to see her and showed a little bit of brotherly love," Mary said.

Asked whether she and Frederik would like to have more children, the Crown Princess suggested they would.

"This is only the second time," she said.

Frederik said the couple was very "fortunate and lucky" to have a girl.

The palace banned the use of flash photography, and security kept a crowd of about 2000 well-wishers in line as the royal family left the hospital in a chauffeur-driven car.

Many Danes had arrived early at the hospital bearing Danish and Australian flags in hopes of catching a glimpse of the new princess.

Lisbeth Povlsen, a journalist with Danish news agency Ritzau, said more people had gathered to greet the family on their arrival at their home in Fredensborg Castle, 35 kilometres north of Copenhagen.

"Mary carried the little princess, and it seemed the princess was still asleep," she said.

Christian joined his family at their home, and the royal couple showed their children to adoring onlookers.

The little princess is expected to be christened in late June, shortly before Denmark's annual summer holidays start.

"I would think that they will try to make it before, because a lot of their friends have probably booked their vacations," Ms Povlsen said.

Members of the Danish royal family traditionally take four names.

Danish media and royal experts are speculating that the new princess may be named after Queen Margrethe, Frederik's mother, his maternal grandmother Ingrid, and Mary's mother Henrietta. AAP

From The Daily Telegraph:

Mary shows off baby princess

By Fiona Hudson in Copenhagen
April 23, 2007 12:00

PRINCESS Mary's newest crown jewel shone bright last night as the newborn girl left hospital to begin her fairytale life.

New mum Mary cradled the tiny daughter she's nicknamed little "Pigen", Danish for girl, for a crowd of hundreds gathered for the first glimpse.

"She's been good, very good for her mother. Only up once a night," the radiant Australian-born princess said. "I breastfeed her ... and she has a very good appetite."

The baby's tiny hand hung on to the neck of mum's top thoughout the 15-minute press call, but she appeared to be asleep most of the time.

"We're calling her little girl at the moment, which is quite sweet in Danish," Mary said.

The Princess said she had thought about her late mother Henrietta as she gave birth.

"The birth went really well, it was easier this time even though the word easy is not one that you use about giving birth," she said.

"Christian has been very brotherly towards her. He's already shown interest for her, a little bit of boyish love."

The relaxed-looking royal couple knocked back the offer of a tube of Vegemite from two Aussie backpackers in the crowd.

"She's a little bit young isn't she," joked Mary, who wore a loose grey top and stylish slim-fit blue pants.

Mary said a trip Down Under to show off the new addition wasn't on the cards for now.

"We don't have any plans," she said.

She said she was proud to have delivered the first princess for many years into the Danish royal family.

"We didn't know we were having a girl," she said before her husband chipped in with: "We are very fortunate, very lucky to have a girl."

Prince Frederik was a good coach throughout the six-hour labour, Mary said.

"It's lovely to have one of each sex," she said.

She said it would be a great advantage for the little girl to be so close in age to older brother Prince Christian.

"But I will love them equally," she said.

She refused to comment at all about the child's formal name.

"We're going to go home and relax and ... return to our everyday lives, even though the last couple of days have been wonderful," she said.

Prince Frederik said young son Crown Prince Christian, 1, was looking forward to having his mum home.

The Crown Princess spoke Danish easily to the crowd, and had a hint of an accent the few times she switched to English.

The couple stopped to thank the medical team before they stepped into waiting cars to drive home to their Fredensborg home.

The princess initially seemed nervous as she presented her daughter to the crowd.

"Right now I'm shaking a bit," she said.

Barely two days after she was born, the baby princess handled the media like a pro.

Older brother Prince Christian was waiting at home for his little sister to arrive.

The baby, dubbed "Mini Mary" by the Danish press in the absence of a formal name, reportedly has dark, curly hair but it was hidden under a cap. She was wrapped in an antique lace blanket.

The two Aussie backpackers on hand to offer Australian-born Mary a tube of Vegemite, a postcard of Bondi Beach and a Brisbane tea-towel as a birthday present for the baby.

The backpackers draped an Aussie flag and a Wallabies banner on the crowd railing inside the foyer.

"The baby's probably a bit young for the Vegemite but it's all we had, we're backpacking," Sydney business coach Brooke Wilton, 28, said.

Queenslander Kate Dunn, 28, said the pair had cancelled travel plans to stay in Denmark to greet the new baby.

"We got up early so we could camp out here from 7.30am to get a spot and show Mary a touch of home," she said.

Photographers were asked not to use flash as they took photos, to protect the baby's eyes.

Workmen covered the floor of the hospital foyer with red carpet especially for the royal patients.

Excited members of the Danish public waved flags in the carpark outside the hospital.

The royal couple's palace has turned into a virtual florist with hundreds of bouquets, teddy bears and other gifts delivered In the past couple of days to celebrate the birth.

The baby's formal named will not be revealed until her christening, likely to be held within three months.

The young princess is the first daughter born into Denmark's royal family since 1946.

Possible names include the traditional Danish royal tag Margrethe, the same as the current Queen, or Ingrid, after the baby's great-grandmother.

Princess Mary is said to favour the name of her late mother Henrietta, and an outside chance is the Greenlandic name Aziaja.
Prince Frederik revealed the baby's big brother Prince Christian can already say the word "baby".
The baby was born Saturday afternoon Copenhagen time. The 50cm bundle weighed 3.35 kilograms.

New: Jyllands Posten webTV arrival in Fredensborg and Christian demonstrating his amazing new royal waving skills! Ziggy is there so the whole family is together. Ziggy, by the way, is such a well trained and well behaved dog. Mary trained her when she was a puppy and pregnant with Christian.