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Tag: a hundred things

  • Education for the young Danish royals (100 things #12)

    Princess Isabella 6 years
    Photo credit: HRH The Crown Princess

    Back in February, the news came that Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary had chosen that Princess Isabella would follow in her older brother’s footsteps and attend Tranegårdskolen in Gentofte. As I wrote over at Blog Royale back in May 2011, the decision that Christian should attend that school was not universally applauded.

    I expect there has also been some rumbling around Isabella’s attendance – but it seems much more universally acceptable when the second one follows rather than when the first one breaks a barrier  of sorts.

    At any rate, I thought it would be interesting to compare the education of these two with the Danish royals who have gone before them.

    I think that it was generally assumed that when Prince Christian would start school that he would join his cousins, Princes Nikolai and Felix at Krebs school, a private school in Copenhagen.

    After all, Krebs was also the school of Crown Prince Frederik and Prince Joachim. And nobody had batted an eyelid when Nikolai and Felix had followed them there.

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  • Name dilemma? (100 things #11)

    The Telegraph writes that Prince William and Kate Middleton in name dilemma.
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  • Citizenship of Madeleine’s children (100 things #10)

    Barbara D over at the Scandinavian Royals Message board had a question about the citizenship of the future offspring of Chris O’Neill and Princess Madeleine, as their children will be in line to the Swedish throne.

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  • Royal Guest Lists (100 things #9)

    Can someone please explain to me the logic of the courts when they reveal their guest list to royal occasions? There is a mish-mash of languages involved, a miss-mash of titles and in the case of the Swedish court – the guest list (or any information, such as engagement announcements) seems to be leaked to the Swedish main press before the court can make a proper announcement about it themselves.

    In the case of today’s wedding – Princess Madeleine to Christopher O’Neill (which I always remember to write with two L’s because of Stargate SG-1). The guest list was released on the wedding website. For cousins of the bride, plus their partners, we have “Mr James Ambler och Mrs Ursula Ambler” but we have “Herr Victor Magnuson och Fröken Frida Bergström”

    No consistency in choosing one language. For relatives of the bride’s mother, we have “Fröken Chloé Sommerlath. Fröken Anaïs Sommerlath” but “Miss Helena Christina Sommerlath” and “Miss Vivien Nadine Sommerlath.”

    One theory could be the country of residence.

    Only, the Swedish court have translated the Danish titles, so it is “Kronprinsessan Mary”/”Prinsessan Marie” and not “Kronprinsesse Mary”/”Prinsesse Marie.” And, Scandinavian royals apart, they’re using English titles for the rest of them.

    They have put Princess Benedikte under German royals, which technically is right, but have used Swedish translated title on her, whereas the other royals in that category have had their titles translated to English.

    Another theory could be the language the guest understands… but it makes no sense when it is a document revealed to the Swedish press.

    The Danish royal court is worse, mixing in French with the Danish and English, as seen in the guest list for Mary and Frederik’s wedding. And using French titles on royals who normally are not adressed by titles in French. Such as “S.A.R le Prince d’Orange” or “S.M. la Reine d’Espagne.”

    I really wish they would be consistent. Either have it in the language of the person attending, English or have it in the language the guest list is released to.

  • The Dutch succession (100 things #8)

    The announcement last night that Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands is abdicating on April 30 is also changing things further down in the line.  Unlike the most lines of succession, the Dutch line of succession deals with how closely related a person is to the monarch. As a party game, it is even fewer people who can play it, than Six degrees of Kevin Bacon. It is three degrees of consanguity from the current monarch, going up and down in the hierarchy counting the births between each level.
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  • The Dutch abdication (a 100 things #7)

    Tonight, Queen Beatrix announced that she is abdicating and that her son, Willem-Alexander, is taking over the throne. The abdication will be final on April 30, The Queen’s Day, and Willem-Alexander will take over the throne on that day. (I presume this means that the day will be called The King’s Day for the duration of Willem-Alexander’s reign.)

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  • Things to see: The Royal Palace (100 things #6)

    The Royal Palace in Brussels is open to the public, free of charge, during the summer until September. This was one of the things that weren’t mentioned on the list of things to do in Brussels – but I’m really glad we did.

    We were actually looking for how to get into the underground parts of the city when we realized that the Royal palace was open, and free of charge.

    They had put together an exhibit of “Faces” when we were there the first weekend of September, and there was also a science exhibit for kids.

    Not that these things were strictly necessary – the rooms themselves are more than impressive, and it was cool to go from ball room to more personal-feeling sitting rooms and look around. (Yet, since the royals aren’t living there full time, I did not get the same feeling that I got at Alnwick Castle – that I was walking into someone’s home without permission.)

    If you go to Brussels during the summer – check out the Palace. Well worth it, in my opinion, especially since it is free. Afterwards, check out the underground parts of the city next to it.

  • Book review: Dronningen (100 things #5)

    There is a new Norwegian book out, about Queen Sonja. Dronningen by Ingar Sletten Kolloen.

    Already last week, the papers were filled with news from the book (some of which were definitely known before) her two miscarriages, that Mette-Marit served her potential mother-in-law pasta with canned tuna the first time they met, (the book specifies that both Haakon and Mette-Marit were serving the dinner) her sister’s suicide, and that the Queen mentions that she sometimes has trouble understanding her daughter’s alternative route.

    It is a fairly hefty book, clocking in at over 500 pages. It is a beautifully designed book, and, although I could have wished for more glossy photos, the ones that are in it aren’t just photos that we’ve seen a thousand times before.

    The book touches slightly on Sonja’s upbringing and her background, but the main focus is from the night she meets the Crown Prince at a party hosted by a mutual friend and up until today.

    What I appreciate about this particular retelling of the story are the details; some details that haven’t been told before publicly, some have, perhaps, been held back in previous books about Sonja out of the respect of other persons, leads to a book that is more frank than both her previous biographies have been.

    Her sister’s suicide (Queen Sonja: One always thinks one could have done more, should have seen more), her own miscarriage just weeks after… it must have been a really tough year.

    The focus is more on her difficulties in finding her place in the organization, being a working mother, the differences between being born into the royal family vs. marrying into it,  and the role she now fulfils. She is also quite eager to leave an easy job for her successors, and most of her story as a Crown Princess and Queen seems to be also the stories of reforming the Norwegian court and making it into a corporation, where there are meetings with several people instead of just audiences for the King and he decides everything.

    I also enjoyed hearing the stories about her grandchildren, and that first Christmas with Marius.

    As a Norwegian, I also appreciate reading what goes on behind the scenes for the major events in promoting Norway abroad, and for the royal events such as the Silver Cruise.

    I rather like that she isn’t painted with a perfect image, but that her flaws (too much perfectionist at times, didn’t have enough time for her children as they were growing up) also appears. The author had around 40 talks with the Queen in the preparation for the book, and he also talked to those close to her, and I think that thoroughness really shines through.

    There are a couple of minor things here and there which made me stop up when I was reading it, such as naming Princess Alexandra of Berleburg #5 in the line to the Danish throne until she married (p. 353). As far as I know, (and feel free to help my understanding those who know better) there was a clause in her grandfather’s accept for Richard and Benedikte’s marriage – that the children should move to Denmark when they started school – and since neither of them did, none of them are in line to the Danish throne.

    But, all in all, I find it a very well-written book, easy to read, despite the length (as long as you understand Norwegian) and I appreciate that new things about Sonja and her opinions are coming to light. If you don’t understand Norwegian, this is really not the book to get – the pictures don’t weigh up for the price if you can’t read any of the text.

  • Video: King Olav’s funeral: 100 things challenge #4

    Of all the strange things you can find on the internet, I hadn’t expected someone to upload up this. It is the funeral procession, and funeral of King Olav of Norway, who died in 1991.

    I remember watching this. I was just shy of seven and half years old when he was buried. I had started school that August, and we’d got the day off school to watch it. Since I had got the day off school for this, my mother decreed that I should also be watching it on television, instead of playing with my sisters.

    This is a pretty somber, and long video – and it was not made easier by the fact that I had next to little understanding of what was going on.

    Looking back, this was my first major royal occasion, and I was bored out of my mind. Rewatching it now, I can identify the royals, and be fascinated by the procedural of it all. Especially because I know the first framework of the ceremonial royal rituals in place was created by Crown Princess Märtha, as she was planning the funeral after Queen Maud’s death in 1938.