Prince Christian of Denmark

Prince Christian of Denmark, Count of Monpezat (Christian Valdemar Henri John; born 15 October 2005) is the eldest child of Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary. A grandson of Queen Margrethe II, he is second in the line of succession to the Danish throne, after his father.

Prince Christian was born at 1:57 am in Rigshospitalet, the Copenhagen University Hospital, in Copenhagen on Saturday, 15 October 2005. At noon on the day of his birth 21-gun salutes were fired from the Sixtus Battery at Holmen in Copenhagen and at Kronborg Castle to mark the birth of a royal child.At the same time, public buses and official buildings flew the Danish flag, the Dannebrog. At sunset on the same day beacon bonfires were lit all over Denmark, while Naval Home Guard vessels lit their searchlights and directed them towards the capital. Bonfires were also lit in celebration in Australia.

Christian was hospitalised briefly on 21 October 2005 because he suffered from neonatal jaundice, a usually harmless illness and a fairly common one (especially in premature births). The first photographs of the then 6-day-old boy showed a yellow tinge to his face and hands. The prince was examined by doctors and underwent blood tests, then spent time in a light box under special coloured light rays to break down the bilirubin substance which causes jaundice. His parents took him home again the same day and he made a full recovery.

Christian was baptized on 21 January 2006 in Christiansborg Palace Chapel by Bishop Erik Norman Svendsen. Christian's godparents are his paternal uncle, Prince Joachim of Denmark; his maternal aunt, Jane Stephens; the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Norway; the Crown Princess of Sweden; the former Crown Prince of Greece; and two friends of the couple: Jeppe Handwerk and Hamish Campbell. He was named Christian Valdemar Henri John, continuing the Danish royal tradition of alternating between the names Christian and Frederik in direct line.

He received a number of presents on the occasion of his christening, including a pony called Flikflak from the Folketing, Denmark's national parliament.

Christian is second in line to the Danish throne (his father, Crown Prince Frederik, being first). Since the 16th century, first-born sons of Danish monarchs have traditionally been alternately named Frederik and Christian; Queen Margrethe II, while naturally interrupting this sequence, treated herself as a "Christian" for the purposes of alternation, coming between her father, King Frederick IX, and her son, Crown Prince Frederik. Prince Christian will likewise presumably be known as "King Christian XI of Denmark" (following his great-great-grandfather Christian X in that name).

On 11 September 2006, Per Stig Møller, Denmark's Minister for Foreign Affairs, formally wrote and signed a hand-written document confirming Prince Christian's place in the line of succession. The prince's full name, his dates of birth and christening, and the names of his godparents were recorded as dictated by the Royal Law of 1799.

Christian was the first member of the Danish Royal Family to attend nursery school. At the same age, the Crown Prince had a nanny at the palace. He is also the first member of the Danish Royal Family to attend a public state school.

Christian attended the opening of the new elephant house at the Copenhagen Zoo with his grandfather, Prince Henrik. Christian was the one who opened the elephant house by pressing a button on an interactive console. The elephants were a gift from the King and Queen of Thailand to the Queen and Prince Consort of Denmark on their last visit to Thailand. The elephant house was designed by Norman Foster and Partners.

Christian accompanied his parents on most of their engagements during the family's official visit to Greenland on 1–8 August 2014.. Christian also accompanied his mother, Princess Mary, his siblings, and other members of the royal family to attend his cousin's, Prince Nikolai, 18th birthday on August 28, 2017, which took place on the HDMY Dannebrog

Titles and styles

Christian is styled as "His Royal Highness Prince Christian of Denmark, Count of Monpezat". He has been Prince of Denmark since birth and Count of Monpezat since 30 April 2008, when Queen Margrethe granted the title to her male-line descendants.

Honours

In 2006 Scandinavian Airlines System was in the process of purchasing new A319 aircraft; and in Christian's honour the first of these, delivered on 8 August 2006, was named Christian Valdemar Viking.