Prince Vincent of Denmark, Count of Monpezat (Vincent Frederik Minik Alexander; born 8 January 2011) 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 third child and younger son 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 Henrik, Prince Consort of Denmark, Prince Henri ...

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 ...

, the sixth grandchild and youngest 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 ...

and

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 ...

, and the older twin brother of Princess Josephine. Vincent is fourth 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 ...

, after his father, older brother Prince Christian and older sister, Princess Isabella.

Birth and early life

Prince Vincent was born at

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 Copenhagen University Hospital is a conglomerate of several hospitals in Region Hovedstaden and Region Sjælland in Denmark, together with the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen. List of member hospitals *In Re ...

, 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 ...

, at 10:30 am local time, 26 minutes before his twin sister. Shortly after the birth, while speaking to the press, the Crown Prince joked about calling his newborn son

Elvis Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

, as the twins share a birthday with the "King of Rock and Roll". At noon on 8 January, a

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 ...

was fired from the Sixtus Battery at

Holmen Naval Base Naval Station Holmen ( da, Flådestation Holmen) is one of several naval stations of the Royal Danish Navy, supplementing the two Danish naval bases in Frederikshavn and Korsør. Founded in the late 17th century, it is also a visitor attracti ...

in Copenhagen and from

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 UNES ...

in North Zealand to mark the arrival of a royal child. Vincent and his sister were baptized on 14 April 2011, at the chapel of the

Church of Holmen The Holmen Church ( da, Holmens Kirke) is a Parish church in central Copenhagen in Denmark, on the street called Holmens Kanal. First built as an anchor forge in 1563, it was converted into a naval church by Christian IV. It is famous for having ...

. His name was announced as Vincent Frederik Minik Alexander. His third name, Minik, is Greenlandic and means "earwax". His godparents are his maternal uncle, John Stuart Donaldson; his father's first cousin, the

Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg A prince is a Monarch, male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary title, hereditary, in s ...

(then the Hereditary Prince); his mother's

lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom sh ...

, Caroline Heering; and friends of his parents, the

King of Spain , coatofarms = File:Coat_of_Arms_of_Spanish_Monarch.svg , coatofarms_article = Coat of arms of the King of Spain , image = Felipe_VI_in_2020_(cropped).jpg , incumbent = Felipe VI , incumbentsince = 19 Ju ...

(then the Prince of Asturias), Count Michael Ahlefeldt-Laurvig-Bille and Baroness Helle Reedtz-Thott. In 2009, the Danish constitution was altered, granting

absolute primogeniture Primogeniture ( ) is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relativ ...

to the Danish throne, meaning that the eldest child, regardless of gender, takes precedence in the line of succession. Under the old system of

male-preference primogeniture Primogeniture ( ) is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relativ ...

, Vincent would have displaced his elder sister Isabella in the line of succession; with the new law, he comes directly after her instead. On 15 August 2017, Vincent and his younger twin sister started school at Tranegårdsskolen in

Gentofte Gentofte () is a district of Gentofte Municipality in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. Major landmarks include Gentofte Town Hall, Gentofte Hospital and Gentofte Church. Gentofte Lake with surrounding parkland and nature reserves form ...

– the same public school as their elder siblings.

Titles and styles

Royal Monogram of Prince Vincent of Denmark

Vincent is styled as His Royal Highness Prince Vincent of Denmark,

Count of Monpezat Count of Monpezat (Danish language, Danish: ''Greve af Monpezat'') or Countess of Monpezat (Danish: ''Grevinde af Monpezat'') when the holder is female, is a Denmark, Danish hereditary title of nobility. It was granted on 30 April 2008 by Margr ...

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vincent Of Denmark, Prince Danish princes House of Monpezat 2011 births Living people Royal children Counts of Monpezat Danish twins Danish people of Australian descent Danish people of Scottish descent Danish people of French descent