Princess Isabella's birthday photos

Photos © Steen Brogaard/Jyllands Posten

The Crown Prince Couple have released photos to mark Isabella's first birthday. At the moment their site is down, but they will be able to be accessed there. They are once again taken by Steen Brogaard who has taken all the formal photos of Isabella since her birth (at home after her birth, for her grandparent's 40th wedding anniversary, for her christening, the turning out at Amalienborg and now her first birthday).


Photos © Steen Brogaard/colourpress/bunte

From Billed Bladet 'Prinsesse med temperament' – Princess with temperament (by Anna Johannesen)

Even though Princess Isabella is still a bit unstable on her legs, she will make her way to the cake on Monday, because the Royal Family’s youngest member is a firm little – and very charming – lady.
"She is ready but still a little heavy," Crown Prince Frederik said when he carried his little daughter in his arms during their skiing vacation in February. Today, the young Isabella is still a little unstable on her legs, but she can crawl. Therefore, it won’t be hard for her to reach the birthday table on Monday to blow out her first birthday cake candle, just like her big brother, Christian, did when he turned one.
Nobody, not even the Crown Prince Couple themselves, knew that Mary was expecting a little girl, so when the news was released on April 21 last year, both the Royal Family and most of the country were thrilled. And this was because Denmark had finally gotten a little princess. She was born at 4.02 in the afternoon and an hour and a half later Frederik stood in the vestibule of Rigshospitalet and told how his little daughter was 50 centimetres long and weighed 3,350 grams.
The colour of the newborn’s eyes was discussed keenly. Were they going to be brown like Mary’s or blue like Frederik’s, but when the little Princess was christened a few months later, there was no doubt. Isabella Henrietta Ingrid Margrethe, as she was named, has the prettiest, big, blue eyes.
Isabella’s playmate
The Crown Prince Couple love being with their children. Those are the best hours of the day, and therefore, Frederik and Mary take the young ones with them whenever possible. Crown Princess Mary has wanted to breastfeed her children, so both Christian and Isabella have been “out and about” since they were very young. In Isabella's case, this meant that she has already been in Croatia, the U.S. and Romania as well as a lot of places in Denmark before her first birthday. The first time she was out, the trip went to Tåsinge, where the two month old baby slept safely in her carrier while her mom and dad and Christian was at a christening in the church at Valdemar’s Castle.
At the christening with the Handwerk family in the beginning of February, Isabella had gotten big enough to be in her dad’s arms with a straight back and red cheeks, wearing a frilled shirt and dark brown dress. The little Palma, as the Handwerk baby was baptised, will be one of Isabella’s young playmates in the future.
During the Crown Prince Couple’s visit to New York and Romania, it was only Mary and Frederik, the nanny and the security guards who saw Princess Isabella. An official visit is most importantly about having the Crown Prince Couple in the spotlight, while a family trip is something different. So when Frederik and Mary went on a cruise last summer in Croatia together with some of their friends, both Christian and Isabella were photographed.
When it comes to taking pictures of their own children, Frederik and Mary aren’t any different to other parents. Both Christian and Isabella have frequently been recorded on video from the moment they opened their eyes for the first time in the delivery room at Rigshospitalet up until now.
If you ask the Crown Prince Couple themselves, they think that they’ve been “very lucky” with their two kids. Frederik himself has described Christian as “a happy little romping boy”, but that at age one and a half, he could also sit perfectly still for nearly an hour probably amazed most of those who watched him in Fredensborg Castle Church at Isabella’s christening.
"Isabella would never have been able to do that. She would have run around in the church. That’s for sure," said someone very close to the Crown Prince Couple.
The fact that Isabella has a stronger tempererament than her older brother has is something Mary agrees on.
"Isabella can be extremely happy but she can also be extremely angry," said Mary, when her little daughter was eight months old, but during the skiing vacation in Switzerland in February, she softened her quote a little.
"Isabella’s temperament is not as powerful as it was when she was very young. I think she is a bit more calm now," said Crown Princess Mary, while she was sitting in the snow, holding her little daughter. And Isabella, who was covered in mittens and a hat and a pink snowsuit, didn’t say a thing.
Shares the diaper changes and the playing
Prince Christian began in the local day nursery Queen Louise’s Children's House in Fredensborg when he was a year and a half old, and shortly after Isabella was born, she was signed up for a spot at the same place.
"It is always nice to be prepared," as Crown Prince Frederik has said. At the moment, Isabella is still taken care of and played with at home in the Chancellery House, where the Crown Prince Couple share both the diaper changes and the nightly supervision as well as the playing on the floor, swinging in the garden and rides in the stroller with the family’s dog, Ziggy, running next to it.
Crown Princess Mary has had to prepare for the birthday on Monday on her own. Frederik is sailing in the World Championships in Farr40 in Florida at the moment, and as it doesn’t end until Saturday, he won’t be able to celebrate his mother’s birthday today either [was published on Queen Margrethe's birthday].
But when Isabella wakes up Monday morning, her dad is back home again. Then she will be celebrated with flags and cake and perhaps grandmother, who lives at Fredensborg Castle again now, and who will drop by with a gift for her youngest grandchild. (many thanks for translation ambiDK!)

B.T. 'Isabellas store dag' - Isabella's big day
Billed Bladet Isabella gallery

Another correction! A kind reader (thanks!) has let us know that Isabella is wearing clothes from Bonpoint Paris, but the cardigan is indeed from Marie Chantal's collection. Please see this. (and thanks Ayvee, how could I have doubted you!)