Frederik, Mary, Christian & Isabella in Verbier for skiing & giant snowballs

The Crown Prince Family has gone to Verbier in Switzerland for their traditional skiing break (18 February 2008). This is the first year Princess Isabella is a part of the family's snowy holiday and Christian seems eager to show little Isabella the ropes, "This is a snowball!" Prince Joachim is acting as regent while the Queen is in Mexico, with Frederik taking over next Monday and then again early in March. Frederik and Mary have been going to Verbier since 2002 for Mary's birthday on February 5, but for various reasons they are "running late" this year (engagements in Denmark, IOC matters for Frederik - we will post about this shortly).

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Photos and stories:
Hello! magazine (Photos © Rex) 'Danish royals share their love of the mountains with the children'
¡Hola! 'Los Príncipes Federico y Mary, Días de Nieve en Familia'
from ©Bunte/©DanaPress

Her&Nu video clip - the photoshoot (slow to load if your connection is slow - allow to load and then watch)
TV2 news clip (00:20)


Click here and here to see how Christian has grown since last year.

Frederik, Mary & Christian: more from Verbier

Billed Bladet (10 February 2007) has reported on the goings on in Verbier where the Crown Prince family have been for their annual skiing trip which co-incides with Mary's birthday. This was the first year Christian is old enough to have fun out in the snow.
“There hasn’t been so much snow this year however,” said Frederik [referring to global warming] when he came back from his first day on the slopes overlooking Verbier with his skis over his shoulder. On that day the Crown Prince went skiing with his good friend Peter Warnøe. They went up together just before 10.00 and when they came back in the late afternoon, Warnøe’s girlfriend Julia Tholstrup was with them.
This visit Mary and Frederik stayed in a beautiful rented chalet within walking distance of the town’s ski lift. And even though the house is located high up, there wasn’t much snow, although enough for Christian to think it was fun.
“He liked to touch the snow [in Denmark], so when we came down here, he was sort of used to it,” said Frederik when Billed Bladet met the small royal family at one of the town’s ski lifts on the day of Mary’s birthday.
Billed Bladet's Anna Johannesen asked "Has Christian been out on a sledge ride?”
“Yes, we’ve had him out riding on a small sled at home. He was a little apprehensive about that. He wasn’t too sure how to deal with it… ,” said the Crown Prince while he lovingly looked down on his son, who was wearing a warm jumpsuit and cap, of the sort that emphasises his little face and plump cheeks.
To the question as when Christian will be on skis, Mary replied that that had to wait a little while, “He at least has to be two years old. Then we will see how he goes.”
Crown Princess Mary who is now seven months pregnant hasn’t been skiing this time.
“No, I don’t dare, but Christian and I have been up to the slopes in the lift.”
“How did that experience go?”
“He was actually very enthusiastic. I was a little worried myself because it is a little scary for a small child to hang in an aerial ski lift so high in the air. But Christian really enjoyed it. He thought it was fun. A little like going to Tivoli. It was a short ride, and we didn’t meet the Crown Prince because Frederik was somewhat higher up the mountain than we. Christian and I walked around a bit up there and he was especially absorbed by the many skiers, who threw themselves over the mountain and flew with their colourful para-gliders. He thought that was exciting.”
Even though Crown Princess Mary hasn’t been able to ski with her husband this winter, she certainly hasn’t been idle either. Each day she has walked for and hour to an hour and a half, while Christian has been napping in the pram. As the caring mother she is, she has placed a cloth-diaper so that neither sun nor freezing wind disturbed his sleep. Christian has slept comfortably in his jumpsuit, sometimes with the fingers down in the small mittens which the Crown Prince Couple was presented with when they visited Greenland.
That Christian is an outdoor child was confirmed by his parents.
“Christian loves to be out. We are out together alot, all three of us,” said Mary.
“We also place him outside, when he is having his dinner-nap,”added Frederik, many foreigners think that is very odd. Both Australians and Southern-Europeans. They think it’s madness to put a child outside to sleep in zero degrees. But we know it’s healthy [it is a common practice in northern Europe]. Just look at our Christian,” said Frederik, and Mary added how lovely it is to have had such a manageable child.
“We have been fortunate. Christian is both manageable and gentle. A really good little boy,” she said.
Prince Christian is not yet into the really big smiles when he is to be photographed, so his mother had to say how many teeth he has.
“Try smile Christian, so we can see them,” said Mary, but she didn’t succeed in making him obey and so she had to say herself that so far he has six little teeth.
As usual the Crown Prince Couple didn’t fly together on holiday. Frederik arrived in Geneva first and later in the evening Mary arrived with Christian and the nanny Mie, age 22 [assistant to nanny Mette Hansen]. The flight to Switzerland takes about an hour and an half so no problem for the little prince compared to what he has tried before.
"He is very good at travelling and has been ever since he was very small. I think he likes new surroundings,” said Mary.
“Yes, Christian was last in Tasmania. That’s a long flight. You get a certificate for such a trip,” said Frederik, before he lifted Christian up to drive back to their chalet together with Mary.
“Well, Christian, shall we go home and feed you? It’s time for lunch," said the Crown Prince on the way to the car.
And before the small family vanished completely, the birthday girl Mary turned around with a smile and said: “Thank you. And see you in Denmark”.

Also in the current issue of Billed Bladet is an account of Mary's birthday. Crown Princess Mary had a splendid birthday last Monday. It started in the morning with presents from both the Crown Prince and little Christian at a party-decorated morning table, where the little one excitedly waited for his mother to open the two parcels from him. She naturally did that at once, and when she saw the contents, she was really happy.
“I received some lovely gloves from Christian,” said Mary when Billed Bladet met her with Frederik and Christian a couple of hours later. "It’s good to give useful things,” said the Crown Prince and smiled at Mary, who said she was even more fond of the other present, a nice picture of Christian.
The Crown Prince had put the skis aside all Monday to concentrate on celebrating Mary. She should have all his attention on the big day, because you only turn 35 once.
Two couples who are friends of the Crown Prince Couple have houses in Verbier. That is Peter Warnøe and his girlfriend Julia Tholstrup and Caroline Iuel-Brockdorff from Valdemars Palace, who is now married to the Englishman Rory Fleming. All four were present at the birthday dinner in the evening along with Crown Princess Mary’s lady-in-waiting and friend Caroline Heering, whose husband Peter was naturally also there too.
“We will all gather for a cosy (hyggelig) and relaxed dinner,” said Frederik and emphasised that it was to be “somewhere in town” so Mary would not have any trouble with either guests, shopping or cooking.
Mary will have to wait to see the birthday presents from the family until she arrives home on (last) Saturday. By then the vacation is over. Already on Sunday Mary has two official engagements in connection with the fashion week in Copenhagen. As patron for Designers Nest the Crown Princess will present a prize to a new talented designer on Sunday afternoon, who along with the honour will also receive 50,000 DKK.
It’s the first time Mary will show her new hairstyle to the fashion set, about which there has been some debate. Billed Bladet naturally asked Crown Prince Frederik what he thought of his wife’s new short look and he said he is very pleased.
"I’ve accepted Mary’s new hairstyle one hundred percent. It’s smashing. No matter what is said or written. If you change your style a little, you will have to accept that it will be noted. I think that Mary’s hairstyle suits her and she looks good,” said the Crown Prince.
“It’s something different, but I think it’s nice. I’m pretty pleased with it myself,” said Mary, who is very well aware that her hairstyle is something that has been discussed. Quite a lot actually. (by Anna Johannesen and many thanks as always to Muhler for translation)

In Se&Hør of this week it is reported that little Prince Christian certainlyhad his share of fresh air when he was with his mother on a shopping trip or with her out on a walking excursion. And it became quite something of a walk when Mary set out on a mountain hike on Saturday afternoon. It was here Mary went from her chalet up, up and up along the twisting and winding mountain road.
Mary, who is 5 months along in her pregnancy, lead on with the pushchair while bodyguards and the nanny followed suit. During the walk up in the thin air the Crown Princess was certainly in blinding form while the otherwise super trained bodyguards seemed rather breathless.
The aim for the walk was Le Carrefour, a cafe with a position 1750 meters high which has a heavenly view. The walk, which seriously tested the thigh muscles, took an hour. Here she met Frederik and friends for lunch in high sun. Le Carrefour lies just out from the ski hills and buses travel back and forth every 15 minutes with big, soft seats. But when Frederik once again headed back to the snow, yes, Mary naturally chose to walk the whole way back again.
(many thanks to Elizabeth for translation)

Frederik, Mary & Christian in Verbier

Here are some photos of Mary, Frederik and Christian in Verbier last weekend. We thought you would like to see them even before we have time to give the details. As we know it was Mary's 35th birthday. We will bring you more when we can....



Added: Mary and Frederik hit the snowy slopes of Verbier Hello! magazine

Happy birthday Crown Princess Mary!

We hope Mary has fun for her birthday!

Today Crown Princess Mary is 35 and so it is a happy birthday for her today! It will be celebrated privately, but as always, should we find out any birthday details we will post them later.

Mary's birthday is one of the official flag flying days in Denmark so the blog is flying the Dannebrog too. Posted early for most time zones, but in the time zone where Mary was born, it is her birthday!

Update: Mary, Frederik and Christian are in Verbier, Switzerland for Mary's birthday, which is quite a tradition by now. They have skied in Switzerland for Mary's birthday since before they were married. Mary has been pushing Christian around in a pushchair in the snow rather than donning the skis though.

Spanish Hola! reports Frederik, Mary and Christian made their customary trip to Verbier in Switzerland for a couple of days skiing, or, in Mary's case hanging out in the snow. As usual they have stayed at friend Peter Warnøe's house in Verbier, whose partner Malene Juhl-Joergensen is also there. Peter Warnøe heads up the Danish company Aston IT Group, says Hola! (Princess Mary escapes with Prince Frederik to Switzerland for the future Queen of Denmark's 35th birthday)





The Mercury (Hobart) - Flags fly for Mary

It is too embarrassing to mention the fictional fantasy treatment Mary has received from the two main Australian women's weekly magazines for her birthday. Both are incorrect and baseless. The editors should hang their heads in shame!
To quote The Sydney Morning Herald's 'What the gossip mags say' weekly column: "In other news, Woman's Day and New Idea appear to have once again got mixed up at the printers, bless them. The mags sport near identical covers documenting Princess Mary's new haircut.
That's right, the former Tasmanian and future Queen of Denmark has chopped her locks to a new, sleek bob, and the change is so important that stories must be invented to accompany pictures of the princess. The Day settles on "Princess Mary's marriage crisis", whereas New Idea goes for "Mary's baby crisis". Both stories, of course, are your stock-standard crowd-pleasers and, judging by the copious use of anonymous "sources", entirely untrue." And, which crowd might be pleased by these stories?

Following are links to media birthday stories from Denmark today.

Tillykke med de 35 happy birthday to Mary from B.T. and B.T. has a birthday photo gallery (click on "Næste" for the next pic in the gallery)
From Berlingske Tidende - Fra tasmansk pige til dansk kronprinsesse - a little biography which reveals Mary must now be learning French to add to her Danish.
With Berlingske Tidende's birthday wishes for Mary is the story about how much she is worth to the Danish economy.
Berlingske Tidende birthday photo gallery Tillykke med dagen, Mary (Many happy returns for the day, Mary)
Politiken's birthday wishes are also in the form of the story about Mary's worth to the Danish economy.
TV2 - Mary er guld værd for Danmark (Mary is worth gold for Denmark) continues the theme of wishing her a happy birthday combined with the same story.

From Jyllands Posten/The Copenhagen Post:

You're 35 and worth 12 billion to us all

By The Copenhagen Post

An English expert estimates Crown Princess Mary adds billions of kroner to the value of the country's brand.
The Crown Princess can celebrate her 35th birthday Monday knowing she is worth several billion to Denmark's brand image, reported Dato newspaper.
English image researcher Simon Anholt estimated that of the country's DKK 772 billion brand value, Crown Princess Mary represents more than DKK 12 billion.
'At the moment, Mary is the person in the royal house who stands out most in character. She is the only one I, being from England, have registered in the past few years,' said Anholt.
'It's because she's new, prominent, in the media a lot and extremely beautiful. It also has something to do with how she met her husband. It had a touch of that Princess Diana romance to it.'
Jens Carsten Nielsen of Copenhagen Business School agreed and said the Crown Prince and Princess have a huge effect on Danish exports and tourism.
'When the two go out and represent Denmark it brings attention to the products our country produces. It's a controlled effect on the emotional plane.'
Nielsen also said that the Crown Princess's popularity benefits the organisations for which she serves as patron.
'It's a direct branding effect when she, for example, publicly supports Child Welfare Day or the Danish Cancer Society. It allows for a connection to be made between her and the organisation's own brand.'
Nielsen added that media attention is one of the most obvious benefits of anything involving the royal family.
'Everyone is conscious that when the Crown Princess shows up, it will be in the papers and photographers will come and take pictures.'
Anholt warned that the Crown Princess's effect might not last, however.
'She has to keep performing. Diana, for example, increased her value because she was inlvolved with so many projects - not only in England, but around the world. She has to get involved in projects that go beyond Denmark's borders if she seriously wants to maintain her brand worth.'
Overall the royal couple are a good investment for the state. Frederik receives approximately DKK 16 million annually, while Mary gets DKK 2 million for herself.
In all, members of the royal family receive DKK 90 million each year. As the nation's monarch, Queen Margrethe receives the most, about DKK 67 billion. And, showing that differences in royal salary are based more on position than gender, her husband, Prince Henrik receives about DKK 7 million.JP/CP

Lets hope Mary doesn't feel too much like a Danish commodity on her birthday and also that she ignores the Diana/global brand stuff and has a good life instead!!