Mary's Home Guard promotion to lieutenant after more training

Crown Princess Mary participated in Danish Home Guard officer training from January 19 to 21, on January 28 and then from February 17 to 19, 2009. Mary's further training was at the Home Guard's education centre in Christiansminde, near Jægerspris, in North Zealand. The course Crown Princess Mary has done, together with her her friend and private secretary Caroline Heering, was an officer training course, according to the royal court's statement.

It is the second time within a year that the Crown Princess has completed courses in the Home Guard. Last spring Mary finished the last part of her basic studies, where she learned to put out fires, handle a weapon and surveillance techniques, among other things. Mary and Caroline were also on an overnight bivouac with her group of fellow trainees. Mary belongs to the Total Defence Region of Copenhagen. With the completion of her officer training course, Mary was promoted to her new rank of lieutenant (løjtnant). Danish newspaper B.T. proclaimed: ‘The Crown Princes is ready to defend God, King and Country’. Head of the Home Guard, Major General Jan S. Norgaard, said it was an "honour and a pleasure" to have Crown Prince Mary as member of the Home Guard. "Her membership is of great importance for the Home Guard and can help create more interest among prospective members," Major General Norgaard said. Crown Princess Mary follows in the tradition of other female members of the royal family who also took military training courses. The orientation of the Home Guard has changed from a Cold War territorial home defence organisation to include personnel who do basic military training as well as conduct rescues, environmental disaster duties and fire-fighting, not unlike any civilian volunteer service. Queen Margrethe was also educated in the Home Guard, although it was a little differently organised in her time, when she became a major in the then Women's Air Corps (Lotte's).



Photos courtesy Crown Prince Couple's website photo bank / ©2009 Ole Bo Jensen

JV.dk 'Mary deltager i officerkursus i Hjemmeværnet'
Billed Bladet 'Mary hjemme igen efter tre dage som soldat'

And, a bit of retrospective from Queen Margrethe's training days, from the Billed Bladet archive:



Crown Prince Couple's press release:
The Crown Princess appointed a lieutenant in the Home Guard
Published Friday February 20th 2009
Her Royal Highness The Crown Princess has, after having gone through the Home Guard's officer course, been appointed a lieutenant in the Home Guard.
The Crown Princess is now connected with the staff in Total Force Region Copenhagen, which includes the capital, North Zealand and Bornholm.
The Crown Princess' education in the Home Guard has included first aid, arms service and shooting, fire fighting, rescue, environmental response as well as field and guard duty.
At officer courses the Crown Princess has, among other things, been educated in management and company leadership as a group leader at platoon commander level, mainly in safeguarding and surveillance roles.
In connection with the conclusion of the education on February 19th, 2009, the Crown Princess was appointed as a lieutenant by the Chief of the Home Guard, Major General Jan S. Norgaard.
"It is a great pleasure and an honour for the Home Guard to have the Crown Princess as a member. The Crown Princess has engaged keenly in the training and education. Her membership is of great importance for the Home Guard and can assist in creating further interest with potential members. We also take the Crown Princess' engagement as an acknowledgement of the 50,000 volunteers who work in the Home defence. We are happy about this cooperation," says the Chief of the Home Guard.
With her education in the Home Guard, which was began in the spring of 2008, the Crown Princess continues a tradition in the royal family to participate in a course in the Army.
Both Her Majesty The Queen and Princess Benedikte have studied in and had affiliation with the Home Guard, respectively the Air Home Guard and the Naval Home Guard.
The Crown Princess has been educated in the Army Home Guard.
P. Thornit, Chief of Court.

On a completely different note, there were various reports recently (EB, B.T., Newswire.ca and elsewhere) about Hello! magazine's annual list of the Global Personalities of the Year. Crown Princess Mary is no. 16 on the list:
1. Barack Obama
2. Angelina Jolie
3. Brad Pitt
4. Madonna
5. Prince Harry
6. Michelle Obama
7. Queen Rania of Jordan
8. David Beckham
9. Carla Bruni-Sarkozy
10. Prince William
11. Rafael Nadal
12. Kate Winslet
13. Michael Phelps
14. Britney Spears, George Clooney, Hillary Clinton (joint)
15. Tom Cruise
16. Mary of Denmark
17. Letizia of Spain, Penelope Cruz (joint)
18. Nicole Kidman
19. Nicolas Sarkozy
20. Hugh Jackman, Kylie Minogue, Victoria Beckham and Cheryl Cole (joint)