Monday, December 12, 2011

Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark

Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark, Count of Monpezat, RE, SKmd (born 26 May 1968) is the heir apparent to the throne of Denmark. Frederik is the elder son of Queen Margrethe II and Henrik, the Prince Consort.

Education and career
On 14 January 1972 he became Crown Prince of Denmark while his mother succeeded to the throne as Margrethe II.

The Crown Prince attended elementary school at Krebs' Skole during the years 1974–1981, from 1974–1976 as a private pupil at Amalienborg Palace, and from the third form at Krebs' Skole. In the period 1982–1983, the Crown Prince was a boarder at École des Roches in Normandy, France. In 1986, Crown Prince Frederik graduated from the upper secondary school of Øregaard Gymnasium.

In 1989, the Crown Prince began to study for an academic degree, when he began a course in Political Science at University of Aarhus. This included a year at Harvard University (1992–1993) under the name of Frederik Henriksen, studying political science. He then took up a position for three months with the Danish UN mission in New York in 1994. In 1995 Crown Prince Frederik obtained his MA degree in Political Science from University of Aarhus. He completed the course in the prescribed number of years with an exam result above average. His final paper was an analysis on the foreign policy of the Baltic States, which he had visited several times during his studies. The Crown Prince was posted as First Secretary to the Danish Embassy in Paris from October 1998 to October 1999.

He has completed extensive military studies and training in all three services, notably completing education as a sailor in the naval elite special operations forces (members of this are known as frogmen or frømænd in Danish). His frogman nickname is "Pingo".

In the period 2001 and 2002, the Crown Prince completed further training for leaders at the Royal Danish Defence College. Crown Prince Frederik remains active in the defence, and in the period 2002–2003 served as a staff officer at Defence Command Denmark, and from 2003 as a senior lecturer with the Institute of Strategy at the Royal Danish Defence College.

Marriage and children
In the Council of State on 8 October 2003, Queen Margrethe gave her consent to the marriage of Crown Prince Frederik to Mary Elizabeth Donaldson, an Australian marketing consultant whom the prince met when he was attending the Sydney Olympics in 2000. The wedding took place on 14 May 2004 at Copenhagen Cathedral, Copenhagen.

On 25 April 2005 the Danish royal court announced that Crown Princess Mary was pregnant with the couple's first child, and on 15 October 2005 she gave birth to a Prince. As it is a tradition in the Royal House that kings are named either Frederik or Christian, the baby was baptised Prince Christian Valdemar Henri John on 21 January 2006.

On 26 October 2006, the Danish court announced that the Crown Princess was pregnant with her second child. On 21 April 2007, The Crown Princess gave birth to a baby daughter at Copenhagen University Hospital, the first Danish princess born since 1946. The Crown Prince was at his wife's side the entire time. Their daughter was christened Princess Isabella Henrietta Ingrid Margrethe on 1 July 2007.

The Crown Princess gave birth to Prince Vincent Frederik Minik Alexander at 10:30 am local time (weight 2.674 kg (5 lb 14 oz), length: 47 cm (18 in.), and Princess Josephine Sophia Ivalo Mathilda at 10:56 am (weight: 2.554 kg (5 lb 10 oz), length: 46 cm (18 in.) on 8 January 2011. The names were made public at their christening on Thursday, 14 April 2011, which took place at the Church of Holmen in Copenhagen.

From : www.wikipedia.org