Prince Christian of Denmark, Count of Monpezat (Christian Valdemar Henri John; born 15 October 2005) is a member of the

Danish royal family The Danish royal family is the dynastic family of the monarch. All members of the Danish royal family except Queen Margrethe II hold the title of ''Prince/Princess of Denmark''. Dynastic children of the monarch and of the heir apparent are accor ...

. He is the eldest child of

Crown Prince Frederik Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark, Count of Monpezat, (Frederik André Henrik Christian; born 26 May 1968) is the heir apparent to the Danish throne. He is the elder son of Queen Margrethe II and Prince Henrik. Early life Crown Prince Frede ...

and

Crown Princess Mary Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark, Countess of Monpezat, (born Mary Elizabeth Donaldson; 5 February 1972) is the wife of Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark. Frederik is the heir apparent to the throne, which means that should he succeed, Mary w ...

. A grandson of

Queen Margrethe II Margrethe II (; Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, born 16 April 1940) is Queen of Denmark. Having reigned as Denmark's monarch for over 50 years, she is Europe's longest-serving current head of state and the world's only incumbent femal ...

, he has been second in the

line of succession to the Danish throne The Danish Act of Succession, adopted on 5 June 1953, restricts the throne to those descended from Christian X and his wife, Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, through approved marriages. Succession is by a change in the law in 2009 governed by ...

since birth, after his father.

Birth

Prince Christian was born at 1:57 am in

Rigshospitalet Rigshospitalet (meaning ''The National'', ''State'' or ''Hospital of the Realm'', but not usually translated) is the largest public and teaching hospital in Copenhagen and the most highly specialised hospital in Denmark. The hospital's main buildi ...

, the Copenhagen University Hospital, in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

on Saturday, 15 October 2005. At noon on the day of his birth,

21-gun salute A 21-gun salute is the most commonly recognized of the customary gun salutes that are performed by the firing of cannons or artillery as a military honor. As naval customs evolved, 21 guns came to be fired for heads of state, or in exceptiona ...

s were fired from the Sixtus Battery at Holmen in Copenhagen and at

Kronborg Castle Kronborg is a castle and stronghold in the town of Helsingør, Denmark. Immortalized as Elsinore in William Shakespeare's play ''Hamlet'', Kronborg is one of the most important Renaissance castles in Northern Europe and was inscribed on the UNE ...

in Elsinore 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 Neonatal jaundice is a yellowish discoloration of the white part of the eyes and skin in a newborn baby due to high bilirubin levels. Other symptoms may include excess sleepiness or poor feeding. Complications may include seizures, cerebral pal ...

, 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 , father = Henri de Laborde de Monpezat , mother = Margrethe II of Denmark , house = Glücksburg (official) Monpezat (agnatic) , religion = Church of Denmark , occupation = Military Attaché, Royal Danish Embassy i ...

; his maternal aunt, Jane Stephens; his father's first cousin, the

Crown Prince of Greece The Crown Prince of Greece ( el, Διάδοχος, Diadochos) is the List of heirs to the Greek throne, heir to the Monarchy of Greece, defunct throne of Greece. Since the 1973 Greek republic referendum, abolition of the Kingdom of Greece, Greek ...

; the

Crown Prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wi ...

and Crown Princess of Norway; the

Crown Princess of Sweden This page is a list of heirs to the Swedish throne. The list includes all individuals who were considered to Inheritance, inherit the Monarchy of Sweden, throne of the Kingdom of Sweden, either as heir apparent or as heir presumptive, since the ac ...

; 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 The Folketing ( da, Folketinget, ; ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark—Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands ...

, Denmark's national parliament.

Succession

Christian is second in line to the

Danish throne The monarchy of Denmark is a constitutional institution and a historic office of the Kingdom of Denmark. The Kingdom includes Denmark proper and the autonomous territories of the Faroe Islands and Greenland. The Kingdom of Denmark was alre ...

(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. On 11 September 2006,

Per Stig Møller Per Stig Møller (, informal: Per Stig; born 27 August 1942 in Frederiksberg) is a Danish politician. He was a member of the Folketing (Danish national parliament) for the Conservative People's Party from 1984 until 2015, and was Minister for ...

, Denmark's Minister for Foreign Affairs, formally wrote and signed a hand-written document confirming Prince Christian's place in the

line of succession An order of succession or right of succession is the line of individuals necessitated to hold a high office when it becomes vacated such as head of state or an honour such as a title of nobility. 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 to teach him rudimentary lessons. He is also the first member of the royal family to attend a public state school, Tranegårdskolen in

Hellerup Hellerup () is a very affluent district of Gentofte Municipality in the suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. The most urban part of the district is centred on Strandvejen and is bordered by Østerbro to the south and the Øresund to the east. It compr ...

. The Danish court announced in October 2019 that Christian and his three younger siblings would undertake a 12-week school stay at Lemania-Verbier International School in

Verbier Verbier is a village located in south-western Switzerland in the canton of Valais. It is a holiday resort and ski area in the Swiss Alps and is recognised as one of the premier off-piste resorts in the world. Some areas are covered with snow all ...

, Switzerland, in the beginning of 2020. The stay was cut short and the siblings returned home in March due to the intensification of the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

situation in Denmark. In April 2021, it was announced that Christian would undertake his secondary education at the Danish boarding school

Herlufsholm Herlufsholm School ( da, Herlufsholm Skole og Gods) is a private day and boarding school by the River Suså in Næstved, about south of Copenhagen. Herlufsholm was founded in 1565 as a boarding school for "sons of noble and other honest men" o ...

, starting in August 2021. In June 2022, shortly after finishing the first year of his upper secondary education, it was announced that Christian would no longer attend the school, after recurring allegations of bullying, violence and sexual abuse at the institution surfaced in a documentary. He instead attends the public school Ordrup Gymnasium. Christian attended the opening of the new elephant house at the

Copenhagen Zoo Copenhagen Zoo ( da, København Zoo) is a zoological garden in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1859, it is one of the oldest zoos in Europe and is a member of EAZA. It comprises and is located in the municipality of Frederiksberg, sandwiched betw ...

with his grandfather,

Prince Henrik Prince Henrik of Denmark (; born Henri Marie Jean André de Laborde de Monpezat; 11 June 1934 – 13 February 2018) was the husband of Margrethe II of Denmark. He served as her royal consort from Margrethe's accession on 14 January 1972 unt ...

. 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 King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

and Queen of Thailand to the Queen and Prince Consort of Denmark on their last visit to Thailand. He and his siblings accompanied their parents on an official visit to Greenland on 1–8 August 2014, where Christian partook in several official engagements. Likewise, he accompanied his parents on most of their engagements during the family's official visit to the Faroe Islands on 23–26 August 2018. Christian was confirmed on 15 May 2021 in the Royal Chapel of

Fredensborg Palace Fredensborg Palace ( da, Fredensborg Slot; ) is a palace located on the eastern shore of Lake Esrum ( Danish, ''Esrum Sø'') in Fredensborg on the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in Denmark. It is the Danish Royal Family’s spring and autumn ...

. On 13 June 2021, Christian accompanied his grandmother and father at the COVID-19 postponed centenary of the reunification of Denmark and

Northern Schleswig South Jutland County ( Danish: ''Sønderjyllands Amt'') is a former county ( Danish: ''amt'') on the south-central portion of the Jutland Peninsula in southern Denmark. The county was formed on 1 April 1970, comprising the former counties of A ...

, following the route his great-great-grandfather

Christian X Christian X ( da, Christian Carl Frederik Albert Alexander Vilhelm; 26 September 1870 – 20 April 1947) was List of Danish monarchs, King of Denmark from 1912 to his death in 1947, and the only List of rulers of Iceland, King of Iceland as ...

rode on 15 July 1920 over the old border between Denmark and Germany. Accompanying his father, Christian attended a memorial for the victims of the

2022 Copenhagen mall shooting On 3 July 2022, a man opened fire at the Field's shopping mall in Copenhagen, Denmark, killing three people and critically wounding four others. A suspect, a Danish man, was arrested after the shooting; he had a history of contact with the psychi ...

on 5 July 2022.

Titles, styles and honours

Titles and styles

Royal Monogram of Prince Christian of Denmark

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

* : Recipient of the 75th Birthday Medal of Prince Henrik * : Recipient of the 70th Birthday Medal of Queen Margrethe II * : Recipient of the Ruby Jubilee Medal of Queen Margrethe II * : Recipient of the 75th Birthday Medal of Queen Margrethe II * : Recipient of the Golden Anniversary Medal of Queen Margrethe II and Prince Henrik * : Recipient of the Prince Henrik's Commemorative Medal * : Recipient of the 80th Birthday Medal of Queen Margrethe II * : Recipient of the Golden Jubilee Medal of Queen Margrethe II

Other awards

In 2006

Scandinavian Airlines System Scandinavian Airlines, more commonly known and styled as SAS, is the flag carrier of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. ''SAS'' is an abbreviation of the company's full name, Scandinavian Airlines System or legally Scandinavian Airlines System Denmark ...

was in the process of purchasing new

Airbus A319 The Airbus A319 is a member of the Airbus A320 family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger twin-engine jet airliners manufactured by Airbus. The A319 carries 124 to 156 passengers and has a maximum range of . Final assem ...

aircraft and in Christian's honour the first of these, delivered on 8 August 2006, was named ''Christian Valdemar Viking''.

References

External links

Official website
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Christian Of Denmark, Prince Danish princes House of Monpezat Royal children 2005 births Living people Counts of Monpezat Danish people of Australian descent Danish people of French descent Danish people of Scottish descent