On the 52nd anniversary of her accession to the throne, his mother, Queen Margrethe II, signed her abdication certificate in Copenhagen, making her eldest son automatically her successor. During the ceremony, both were touched and had tears in their eyes.
As a young man, Frederik was decried as a daredevil party prince with a penchant for fast cars and beautiful women. But the 55-year-old has long since shed this image. Today he is a committed environmentalist and the father of four credibly embodies the relaxed, liberal Danish monarchy.
As of Sunday, he will be at the head of Europe’s oldest royal family – an institution under which he suffered greatly as a teenager and young adult. “He felt very uncomfortable with the media attention and the knowledge that he would become king,” says Gitte Redder, an expert on the Danish royal family.
In interviews in the 1990s, Frederik complained regarding his parents neglecting him because of their royal duties and talked regarding the fear of becoming king, which even made him think regarding suicide. “It wasn’t until he was in his mid-20s that he started to gain self-confidence,” says Redder.
Member of the combat swimmers
In 1995 Frederik completed his studies in politics at Aarhus University. During a stay abroad in the USA, he enrolled at the elite Harvard University under the name Frederik Henriksen – the pseudonym alluded to the name of his father, the French diplomat Henri de Monpezat, who became Prince Consort Henrik through his marriage to Margrethe.
During his subsequent military training, the Crown Prince continued to grow into his role. Under the nickname “Pingo” (Penguin), Frederik was a member of the elite combat swimmer group. He was one of only four recruits out of around 300 candidates to pass all the tests.
In 2000, he took part in a four-month, 3,500-kilometer ski expedition through Greenland. Frederik dares to do a lot of things, but not everything works out: accidents with sleds and scooters landed him in the hospital.
Met woman in a bar in Sydney
For his 50th birthday in 2018, he launched the Royal Run, a fun run in several cities. Actions like these increased his popularity. He was voted Dane of the Year twice.
“He’s an athlete, he goes to concerts and football games. That makes him even more accessible than his mother,” observes Redder. But Frederik also shows social commitment. He is driving the search for climate-friendly solutions in Denmark.
The Crown Prince met his wife Mary Donaldson, a marketing expert from Australia, in a bar in Sydney during the 2000 Olympics. After initially keeping their long-distance relationship secret, they were celebrated as a royal dream couple following their engagement in 2003 and their wedding in Copenhagen in May 2004.
“Modern, woke couple”
The two try to give their two sons and two daughters a largely normal childhood. The children mainly attend state schools. The eldest, 18-year-old Crown Prince Christian, was the first member of the royal family to attend kindergarten.
Frederik and Mary are a “modern, woke” couple, says historian Sebastian Olden-Jörgensen. “They love pop music, modern art and sports.” In recent years, the two have gradually taken on more tasks in the royal family. According to the historian, her rise to the top of the royal family was “not a revolution,” but rather a gentle adjustment to the times.
“I don’t want to lock myself in a fortress. I want to remain myself, a human being,” Frederik once said. He has decided to stick to this as King Frederik X.
