Mary @ 2009 Crown Princess Mary Scholarship

Crown Princess Mary was at Copenhagen University early in the afternoon to present the Crown Princess Mary Scholarship for 2009. The recipients of the grants this year went to law student Rebecca James from the University of Queensland and another law student, Jeffrey Feng, from the University of Sydney. It looks like Mary's red hair was an anniversary day special - a matter between herself and Frederik! The Crown Princess Mary Scholarship is awarded annually on the couple's wedding anniversary to two students from the University of Copenhagen's partner universities in Australia. Each partner university nominates potential recipients and the University of Copenhagen's partner universities in Australia are: University of Sydney; Flinders University; University of New South Wales; University of Tasmania; University of Melbourne and the University of Queensland (so go for it if you are a student in Australia!). The University of Copenhagen gave the scholarship as a wedding gift to Frederik and Mary in 2004.

Crown Princess Mary's speech to the recipients:
Monday 18 May 2009
Dear Rebecca and Jeffrey,
Congratulations on being awarded the Crown Princess Mary Scholarship for 2009. I know that the University received many strong applications for the Scholarship, therefore you should be very proud of your achievement. It is always a pleasure for me to present the scholarship here at the University of Copenhagen and have the opportunity to meet the worthy recipients.
Having a drive to challenge yourself and the world around you, while at the same time having the ability to remain grounded and focused on what is important to you are qualities of great value. I noted that your impressive CV’s also include voluntary work. Rebecca, your work for the aid and development organisation The Oak Tree Foundation and Jeffrey, your volunteer work for university societies and your work for a Sydney community legal centre shows that you both have passion and extra personal resources to want to make a difference.
By going on exchange and living and studying abroad you have a valuable opportunity to not only challenge yourself personally, but also develop new skills that will benefit you and others in future.
Rebecca, you show a strong interest in international law – which has taken you all the way to Copenhagen to take courses that you have a keen interest in. You also demonstrate a desire to develop your academic skills by participating actively in debating and in moot and negotiation competition. One of your lecturers from the University of Queensland wrote in your reference: “A student cannot achieve such results at this law school without ability coupled with commitment to the task at hand”. Your strong academic achievements and extracurricular activities show that you have the skills and determination to achieve all the goals you set for yourself.
Jeffrey, your interest lies in the area of corporate law which is also reflected in your bank internships and your extracurricular activities at the University of Sydney. The corporate world is often characterized by a fast pace in which a sharp analytical mind is required. You show a clear talent to pursue your goals in this area. Your impressive academic skills and your valuable contribution to university society from which other students can also benefit, demonstrates your diverse and strong personal profile.
It is a great inspiration to meet students like the two of you who have a strong determination to achieve the best they can and at the same time have a sense of responsibility to help others. I hope that you return to Australia, not only with a more international education, but also with fond memories of your time here and hopefully with some friendships that will one day see you return.
It is with great pleasure that I present you with the certificates which show that you have been awarded the Crown Princess Mary Scholarship.
Tillykke/Congratulations. I wish you all the best for the remainder of your time here in Denmark and for the future.

Madeleine Glindorf's gallery - click on 180509 • The Crown Princess Mary Scholarship

Mary, Christian & Isabella @ horse competition

On Friday May 16 Crown Princess Mary attended the Grand Prix 2008 at Bernstorffparken with Prince Christian, Princess Isabella and Mary's long time friend and riding companion Charlotte Velin. Charlotte's brother Thomas Velin was competing with other Danish riders in the Nations Cup over the four day competition. Prince Christian eagerly looked at the big horses. Christian received a pony called Flikflak from the Folketinget as a christening gift in 2006, but a note in Billed Bladet tells us he is still too small to ride.



Grand Prix 2008

Mary presents exchange scholarships

Today Crown Princess Mary has presented this year's recipients with the Crown Princess Mary Scholarship at the Amager campus of Copenhagen University. The scholarship is a wedding gift for a five year period from the University of Copenhagen. It is an exchange student scholarship for two Australian students from the University of Copenhagen's Australian partner institutions, with DKK 10,000 to go towards the costs of studying in Denmark. The first scholarships were awarded in 2005, which makes this the third year of the awards. The awards this year are going to Pheobe Downing, Art History student at the Australian National University and Sam Christensen, a law student from the University of Tasmania.




This year the award of the scholarships is part of a conference called Australia: What’s Left? The conference is convened by the Centre for Australian Studies in the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Copenhagen.

Crown Princess Mary's sister Trish Bailey (right) presents the award to Sam Christensen at the University of Tasmania on 31 March, 2007. Mary's eldest sister Jane Stephens was also present, she had done the honours for the UTAS recipient last year.

Read Crown Princess Mary's speech at the awards (in English)
Phoebe Downing, ANU is one of the recipients.
University of Copenhagen

Australia: What's left? program
Australian keynote speakers

Madeleine Glindorf's gallery (20 photos)
Søren Steffen's photo gallery (11 photos)
Hello magazine 'Princess Mary presents fellow Aussies with student award'
Hola.com 'Mary Donaldson cambia la vida de los estudiantes' (Mary Donaldson changes the life of students) - the Princess presented the awards named after her and in a missive to the chosen students she gave "big sisterly" advice ... the rest as per this post and Mary's speech in the form of a letter to Phoebe Downing and Sam Christensen (link above)

Added: From The Copenhagen Post:

A warm g’day from Crown Princess Mary

4 October 2007
Welcome to Denmark! Welcome to Copenhagen University.
Party-crashing was how vice-chancellor Lykke Friis put it! She was speaking in her usual energetic and forthright manner to the participants at a day of lectures about Australia in the new auditorium at Copenhagen University.
She was also speaking to two young Australian students who had won the Crown Princess Mary Award to study for a year in Denmark. And she was speaking in the presence of the Crown Princess herself.
The award presentation ceremony was held as the culmination of a conference organised by the European Association of Studies of Australia, which The Copenhagen Post reported from last week.
It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and the auditorium was packed when the sleek black cars slid up to the red carpet.
As the slender figure of Crown Princess Mary arrived, she was met with a megaphone barrage - a "happening" as the Danes call it, from across the canal calling haplessly for her attention to cost-cutting at the university. Slightly puzzled, she smiled and waved - also to the demonstrators - and then sat down with the two Australian students and Lykke Friis.
Situated as it is besides a canal with bridges linking the various departments of the university, the parallels with the Sydney Harbour bridge, and bridging culture and knowledge between Denmark and Australia, was clear.
Lykke Friis welcomed Sam Christensen from the University of Tasmania and Phoebe Downing from the Australian National University to the campus and warned that with the new dormitories, where one in eight occupants will be international, borders may be crossed in all kinds of ways!
She pointed out that Sam’s grandfather had emigrated from Denmark to Australia, so this award allows him to return to his roots.
The Crown Princess then congratulated both students warmly and sincerely. She said that an increasing number of Australian students are coming to study in the "exotic" land of Denmark, which delighted her.
She was proud that the academic distinction and outstanding skills of the two award-winners would stand them in good stead for their year of study here.
‘They show drive and enthusiasm that will take them far beyond textbooks,’ said the Crown Princess, ‘and this will give them deeper cultural understanding of both the Danes and of Europe in general.’
She also knew that they had arrived three weeks earlier in order to take intensive Danish lessons. ‘How’s it going with that?’ she said with a wry grin. "Det går fint,’ responded Phoebe.
Crown Princess Mary ended by hoping that this award would allow them both to attain mutual objectives and give them the necessary qualities for the global market.
‘Enjoy yourselves!’ she said, and moved upstairs to a private reception for guests of the vice-chancellor, and a chance to ‘have a natter’ with her young countrymen.

Report on the presentation and the recipients from the University of Copenhagen

Lille prinsesse christening update

The little princess will be ten weeks old when she is christened on July 1

Her christening in the smaller and cosier Fredensborg Palace Chapel will be more intimate than Christian's larger christening which included "official Denmark" in recognition of his status as heir and future king. Nikolai's christening was in Fredensborg Palace Chapel in November 1999 and there were 154 guests. This christening will be more of a family affair than a state occasion

The little princess will have the same royal baptismal font as all other royal children in Denmark since 1671. The font which was made of silver and gilt by craftsmen in Hamburg is normally kept at Rosenborg Castle, the home of the Royal Danish Collections. It will be moved to Fredensborg Palace Chapel from Rosenborg

The little Princess is very likely to wear the family christening gown, also worn by Christian. It was ordered to be made for the christening of Prince Christian (b. 1870, later Christian X) by his mother Queen Lovisa, originally Princess of Sweden and married to Frederik VIII. The gown is made of Brussels lace and was ordered from Belgium. Queen Margrethe's grandfather Christian X was the first to be christened in the gown in 1870 and then Margrethe's father Frederik IX in 1899, Frederik's brother Prince Knud, then Margrethe, Benedikte, Anne-Marie, Crown Prince Frederik, Prince Joachim and Prince Christian. Prince Joachim's children Nikolai and Felix were christened in a new christening gown specially designed by Henrik Hviid* * Henrik Hviid also designed Alexandra's wedding dress for her marriage to Martin Jørgensen

According to a Lithuanian article here (thanks Jisma!) Crown Princess Mary's christening outfit will be a design by Lithuanian designer Juozo Statkevičiaus. In May Juozo Statkevičiaus was invited to Denmark to show Mary his work and do fittings for a few outfits. She had the little princess with her in a carrier during the meeting which he said was a very good designer-client meeting. Mary had remembered him from a fur exhibition in Copenhagen last year and he had given her a copy of his book at the time. This is also now reported by TV2 - Marys nye designer

TV2 reports the christening will (as we know) be a smaller christening than Christian's with a luncheon at the Chancellery House afterwards for family and friends. Frederik will leave after the christening for the July 2 beginning of the Farr 40 Open Nordic Championship in Hankø, Norway

The bishop of Copenhagen, Erik Norman Svendsen, will officiate at the christening. Bishop Svendsen married Frederik and Mary and christened Prince Christian. See TV2 - Norman Svendsen døber Lillepigen

The guest list will not be available until just before the christening, but Norway's Royal Court has published its calendar and Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit are attending the christening. They are godparents to Christian and Frederik and Mary attended the Oslo christening of their now 18-month-old son Prince Sverre Magnus

The Tasmanian Government will give the little princess a gift of custom-made jewellery symbolic of Tasmania, which is known as the Apple Isle. See The Sydney Morning Herald 'Jewellery gift to mark birth of princess' and news.com.au 'Gift of jewellery for new princess'

Some views of the christening gown and the baptismal font when they were exhibited after Christian's christening at the Amalienborg Museum. Museum curator Gerda Petri is shown arranging the robe and the font for the exhibit

Bishop Erik Norman Svendsen and Christian's christening at Christiansborg Palace Church:



What is in store this time? Queen Margrethe shed a tear at Christian's christening:

Click on the christening label below or go to the January 2005 archive to re-visit the many posts on Christian's christening

Mary presents the Crown Princess Mary Scholarship

Today Crown Princess Mary presents the Crown Princess Mary Scholarship 2006 at Copenhagen University. The Crown Princess Mary Scholarship is an exchange student scholarship established for a five-year period (this is the second year of awards) and is to be awarded to students from the University of Copenhagen’s Australian exchange partner institutions in Australia.The scholarship is presented to two Australian students each year and is worth 10,000DKK. This scholarship is a wedding gift to Frederik and Mary from the University of Copenhagen.

This year the scholarships are to be awarded to Danielle Conlan from the University of Tasmania who will study at the Faculty of Law, and, Joseph Kelly from the Queensland University of Technology who will study in the Faculty of Mathematics. Crown Princess Mary will be recieved by the head of the University of Copenhagen and then after the presentation of the scholarships the two recipients will be able to talk with Crown Princess Mary.

ABC News Online 'Scholarship winner looks forward to meeting Princess Mary'
University of Copenhagen

Mary and Frederik receiving the wedding gift from the University of Copenhagen in 2004.









Crown Princess Mary's speech (in Danish)
speech in English

Tasmanian CPss Mary Scholarship winner to Copenhagen University

From Hobart, Mary's hometown:

Danielle is living a fairytale of her own

By LINDA SMITH
31 January 06

SHE is studying the same degree as Tasmanian-born Crown Princess Mary, has many of the same lecturers, and some say she even looks like the Danish beauty.
And now University of Tasmania commerce/law student Danielle Conlan is heading to Denmark to study on a scholarship in the princess's honour and will even have a chance to meet "our Mary".
Miss Conlan, 22, of Battery Point, leaves for Denmark on Monday to study European law at Copenhagen University after becoming the first Tasmanian to win the Crown Princess Mary Scholarship. Not only will the six-month exchange form part of the final year of her five-year uni degree but she will also have a month after exams to travel.
Two Australians are awarded the 10,000 kroner ($2000) scholarship each year -- which was created by the University of Copenhagen to honour the royal couple when they married in May 2004.
The scholarship will pay for Miss Conlan's living expenses in Copenhagen, while a second scholarship from the University of Tasmania will pay for her airfares.
Like many Tasmanians, Miss Conlan has watched the Tasmanian-turned-princess fairytale with fascination and is looking forward to her first trip to Europe.
She has been avidly reading a book about Mary she was given for Christmas and is learning basic Danish.
"Like everyone, I'm just drawn into it, she's just so beautiful and the work she's been doing with charities is so important," Miss Conlan said.
She's excited about meeting the princess for a formal ceremony, photo shoot and chat. "I'm hoping the fact that I'm from Tasmania may help develop some sort of rapport with her."
But despite the similarities in their background, Miss Conlan won't be searching for a Danish prince -- she says she has already found her own prince right here in Tasmania.

Source:
The Mercury