Private nightmare of Queen Mary’s son Prince Christian

Queen Mary’s oldest son Prince Christian may be one step closer to the throne but his private life is anything but a fairytale.

COMMENT

The world, or at least Australia, only learned in 2001 that not only did Denmark have a Crown Prince named Frederik but that he was involved in a long distance relationship with local gal Mary Donaldson, a romance I’m assuming involved the plaintive faxing of Keats poem to one another and a lot of that dreaded dial up internet drone.

We all know where the story went from there. The big fat wedding with all the royal trimmings, the procession of adorably squidgy babies, the entire nation of Denmark falling head-over-heels for an Australian law graduate who just happened, at the last minute, to decide to go out for drinks one fateful night.

But up until that point in time, the Frederik story had been a rocky one thanks to his crown prince status.

Frederik and Mary’s elevation to King and Queen means the status and title of Crown Prince now falls to their son, Christian. Picture Sean Gallup/Getty Images

As of this week with Frederik and Mary’s elevation to King and Queen that status and title now falls to their son, Christian.

What lies just ahead for the teenager now is nothing short of a bit terrifying, if you ask me.

There is, of course, the media who will cover his life, especially his love life, like big game hunters on the Serengeti, only with fewer morals. Frederik, in his youth, was pursued like poachers after a white rhino. In this 20-something Frederik was far from alone with the other crown princes and princesses of Europe all facing a similar fate.

Nearly every week, for years, Frederik’s life was slapped on the front pages of magazines and newspapers with some reportedly labelling him a “spoiled brat”.

On New Year’s Eve in 1992, Frederik’s then girlfriend model Malou Aamund was held by police for drink-driving while behind the wheel of his car. So big a deal was all this parliament got involved, there was some reported discussion about his title and the Danish royal house had to apologise. Frederik was reportedly shunted out of Denmark and off to Harvard to study as punishment.

“I just want to live freely like any young man my age,” the young crown prince said at the time.

What lies just ahead for the teenage Christian now is nothing short of a bit terrifying. Picture: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Front page news

In 2003, after Frederik and Mary’s engagement was announced Ekstra Bladet’s Lars Jorgansen said of the royal family: “They are front page [news] in Denmark every day in the magazines, every member of the royal family.”

Likewise, in 1996, the 24-year-old Crown Prince of Norway, Prince Haakon flew pretty much across the world and enrolled at Berkeley. Media from his homeland descended on the campus and he was left to implore them, “We too have a right to privacy. Please let us live a normal life when studying abroad.” (His sister, Princess Märtha-Louise was studying in the Netherlands at the time too.)

King Frederik’s former girlfriend model Malou Aamund, pictured here in 2008. Picture: Thorsten Overgaard/Getty Images

The polo-playing Charles was once a Lothario. Picture: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Or take hard-to-believe one-time Lothario, the then Prince Charles. For over a decade whichever horsey gel who was linked to him faced the full might and greasy open cheque books of Fleet Street descending on them and their family.

Even when he encountered women, like Lady Amanda Knatchbull and Lady Jane Wellesley, who had the gumption to withstand this onslaught, there came the question of finding a woman who was willing to consider the life-changing, destiny-altering ramifications of a serious relationship with Charles. When speculation about an engagement between Lady Jane and Charles intensified, she finally “snapped” at the press, “Do you honestly believe I want to be Queen?”

Back in the 1970s, the late Queen’s son might have regularly been labelled the most eligible bloke on the planet (a bulging property portfolio, several golden carriages and an actual crown going a long way to compensate for a certain jug-eared dorkiness) but he studiously failed to find anyone to marry him for more than a decade.

That is, of course, until he came across a naive teenager addled by too much Mills & Boon and crippling childhood trauma. Bingo. Lady Diana Spencer, aged 19 and passionate devourer of her step-grandmother Dame Barbara Cartland’s pot boilers, was at least the second if not third woman, depending on reports, that Charles had proposed to.

Charles and Diana with Princess Margaret in 1985. Picture: Getty Images

Christian’s romantic fate

This dating nightmare now awaits Christian too. It is hard enough to find a partner in this day and age let alone finding a person willing to sacrifice their privacy, career, religion and whole entire identity to sign up for marriage that requires pledging fealty to an institution that has been running since the Dark Ages.

How the hell does a future King weed out the attention-seekers, the users, the fame hunters? How to find that person who truly loves him for himself and not the trappings of his position?

Then there is the actual job of being King that high school student Christian, who will graduate later this year, will have to do one day. The weight and responsibility that lies ahead for him is vertigo-inducing stuff.

Catharina-Amalia Beatrix Carmen Victoria and Beatrix of the Netherlands. Picture: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Some things never change

While some things have changed in the 20 years since then, Prince Christian’s cohort of younger Kings and Queens-to-be across Europe are already contending with these forces.

Catharina-Amalia, the Princess of Orange will one day assume the Dutch throne from her father King Willem-Alexander. (Golly that family likes hyphen.)

In 2016, the Portuguese magazine Caras was forced to issue an apology after publishing a cover featuring the then 16-year-old princess and her mother Queen Maxima and which called the teen “plus-size”. The backlash was swift but the intense focus on her body must have been incredibly unpleasant.

In 2022, 18-year-old Catharina-Amalia was forced to leave university and move back home, largely unable to leave the palace, over the danger of abduction or being attacked.

As her mother Queen Maxima said at a news conference at the time: “She can’t really go outside.”

Just let that sink in.

When the Princess of Orange went to Spain last year, a surreptitious video of her eating at a cafe ended up on social media.

Princess Leonor of Asturias, the heir to the Spanish throne, was shunted into the spotlight after her 18th birthday. Picture: Samuel de Roman/Getty Images

Next up we have Spain’s Princess Leonor of Asturias, the heir to the throne, and whose 18th birthday last year has seen her shunted into the spotlight.

Reports of ‘Leonormania’ abound.

All of this – the media, the pressure, the inability to live any sort of normal life, the struggle to find and sustain a serious relationship – now lies ahead for Crown Prince Christian. I feel sorry for the kid.

A Cinderella story?

Not only that, but for him, for Catharina-Amalia, for Leonor and for the other young crown princes and princesses, none of them will ever get the space or the breathing room to make the mistakes that every teenager will inevitably make. They will all have to undertake the painful, awkward and embarrassing business of making the transition to young adulthood while being watched and pursued, while they know that an immutable fate lies ahead for them.

Last year the Danish royal family hosted a white-tie gala for Prince Christian’s 18th birthday, after which their official Instagram account posted an image of a stray sparkly heel that had been left behind, asking “Is it Cinderella who forgot her shoe last night?”

Days later the owner of the shoe, 18-year-old Anne-Sofie Tørnsø Olesen revealed that it was hers, telling the Danish outlet Se Og Hør, “It was meant to be a fairytale ending à la Cinderella”.

Sadly this might be about as close as Prince Christian’s life will ever get to meeting any story book expectations.

Daniela Elser is a writer, editor and a royal commentator with more than 15 years’ experience working with a number of Australia’s leading media titles.

Originally published as Private nightmare of Queen Mary’s son Prince Christian