Rescuing a prince all in day’s work for humble lifesaver
PULLING the heir to the Danish throne from the Gold Coast surf was just another day at the office for lifeguard Nick Malcolm.
QLD News
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PULLING the heir to the Danish throne from the Gold Coast surf was just another day at the office for lifeguard Nick Malcolm.
Prince Christian, 10, was rescued from a rip at Mermaid Beach at lunchtime on Thursday in front of his distressed parents, Australian-born Princess Mary, 43, and her 47-year-old husband Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark.
As the news made headlines worldwide Mr Malcolm tried to keep a low profile.
“He (Christian) was in between the flags in the deep part before the break and just got swept off his feet,” he said yesterday. “He was a really good swimmer – it helped that he didn’t panic. It was just a standard rescue – doesn’t matter that he’s a royal.”
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Mr Malcolm earned a royal thank you from Prince Frederik who then took his son back into the water for a closely supervised swim.
He said he had not even realised who he had rescued until “someone on the beach told us ’’.
Dubbed the “People’s Princess”, Mary and her family captivated Queenslanders with their down-to-earth attitude.
The Princess mingled with other beachgoers and the volunteer lifesavers at Mermaid Beach surf club. While the young princes and princesses clowned around in an inflatable rescue boat, Prince Frederik chatted with lifesavers.
“It was fantastic,” said Mermaid clubbie Will Nash. “I shook his hand and he said it was his first time on the Gold Coast and he was absolutely loving it. He was a top bloke.”
Beachgoer Catherine Kahn said: “They were so down-to-earth. They were very cute.”
Princess Mary is expected to spend Christmas with relatives in her native Tasmania, before heading home.
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