A Royal Family: Rejoice! DR Re-Posting Series with Daisy, Derf and Joachim About Royal Cousins

The Danish Royal Family at Fredensborg. This is the portrait that Daisy is said to recommission with current members of the family.

Fantastic news! DR has re-posted the six, hour-long videos for the 2002 documentary production of A Royal Family. This wonderful series discusses the "Father-in-law of Europe", Danish King Christian IX whose six children made illustrious matches.

1. Crown Prince Frederik married Princess Louise of Sweden and begat the current Danish royal line, but also that of Norway.

2. Princess Alexandra married Prince Edward of Great Britain, son of Queen Victoria, and begat the current British royal line.

3. Prince George was installed as the second modern king of Greece and married Grand Duchess Olga of Russia. They begat the current Greek, Rumanian and Yugoslavian royals, with marriages into the British royal family, including the Kents and the Duke of Edinburgh.

4. Princess Dagmar married the future Tsar Alexander becoming Maria Feodorovna and begat the ill-fated Tsar Nikolai II as well as assorted other Romanovs.

5. Princess Thyra married the prince of Hannover, Duke of Cumberland and begat the current House of Hannover.

6. Prince Valdemar married Princess Marie d'Orléans of the French and Brazilian royal houses. They begat Count Flemming (married to Countess Ruth on whose day of death Yrma announced the Miracle Twins) and Margrethe who married into the Bourbon-Parme family and begat the current Queen of Rumania.

The narration is in Danish while the interviews are in English. Interviews are sprinkled throughout the documentary with descendants of these six children of King Christian IX and Queen Louise: Amadeo di Savoia, Alexander of Serbia, Constantine and Anne-Marie of Greece, Princess Benedikte, Michael of Kent, Michel de Grèce, Valdemar af Rosenborg, several Romanovs, and of course, Daisy, Joachim and Frederik who was in the early throes of dealing with the Australian thing living in his Paris apartment.

Videos: DR - A Royal Family, Parts 1 through 6

Derf & Yrma in Oz: Can't Even Cook For Themselves: Bogans With Hired Help: This Is NOT a Normal Family

Here is an article that appeared a couple of weeks back about the Danish chef living in Melbourne who was hired by Fred and Mary to cook for them while they took a private holiday in Sorrento, a Victorian seaside town on the Mornington peninsula south of Melbourne. So the Dumblederfs rent a home for a few days of actual private holidays, without authorising their PR agents to release the location to the media (unless emergency publicity was needed for whatever reason), to really get down and dirty with some Spanx-less, let out yer gut, buy large quantities of tinnies, fingers in the nose, bogan down-time in terrycloth rompers and banana clips and the like.

And yet during this complete and undocumented break to foster family time, they still find the need to hire a chef. How pathetic. Derf is well-known to be the only adult in the family to cook. Madam is on record as barely knowing much more than clipping a blade of wheatgrass or opening a box of rye crisps. So, poor Bente Grysbæk to the rescue. She's a Danish woman who now lives in Melbourne, is married to an Aussie and has two young girls. She owns and runs a restaurant, but evidently when Mary called, she had to delegate that undertaking to someone else to be at the beck and call of these royal idiots. God forbid Mary know how to prepare a sandwich for her own children. Since it was near Christmas, Bente made all sorts of confections.

Interesting insights into family dynamics here. Xian knows how to use a knife - age 7 is awfully young for that sort of thing, so Mary doesn't supervise him on downtime, rather the chef does (the staff often looks cosier with the children than their mother does). Mary doesn't so much as feed her children spaghetti and meat sauce, a menu staple of most children in developed nations. So, what do they eat? Cereal in front of the telly? Ice cream for dinner? Surely not three course gourmet meals? I can't imagine Mary caring enough about food, her kids or their manners to have her bubs served pork loin in a peach glaze with roasted brussels sprouts and ginger carrots. As bogan as they are, it's too easy to imagine Xian and Izzy on the sofa, zombie-eyed in front of the fifteenth showing of Toy Story, eating out of a box of biscuits, crumbs everywhere. It's like the royal version of Honey Boo Boo: hillbillies with too much money and bogan taste. Gud Bevare Danmark.

Article: BT

Bente Grysbæk was chef for Frederik, Mary and the children during their private holiday in Australia. The Crown Princely Couple and their four children live an action packed life on polished floors, but when all is said and done, they are like any other Danish family - at least when it comes to food.

To this Bente Grysbæk can testify. On a daily basis she runs a Danish restaurant in Melbourne, Australia, but in the fall of 2011, she was offered a somewhat offbeat assignment: Do you want to be in charge of cooking for and attending to the royal family during their private holiday down under?Her cordial company with the family offers a rare glimpse behind the royal facade when Frederik, Mary and the four children were on their very own holiday in a private villa in the seaside town of Sorrento, near Melbourne in Australia.

Here Bente Grysbæk was completely free rein to the food that was both true Danish, Spanish and Japanese. Bente Grysbæk had already cooked for Frederik and Mary, when she was a chef at a French restaurant in Copenhagen. But the girl from the small town of Asp between Holstebro and Struer was still confused, proud and somewhat nervous before she began the unusual task. It was fortunately quickly proven that the nervousness the tall, blond and laughing woman had about living up to the requirements and remembering royal etiquette, was quickly dashed by the royal family.

"When I saw them in the morning, I said good morning Your Royal Highness. But otherwise I just said: shall the Crown Princess and Crown Prince have ... So I mentioned them in the third person. The kids called me just by my first name, it fell more natural for me. It was also because no one said anything about what to call the chef, who quickly became good friends with Christian and Isabella. Both children were namely frequent guests in the kitchen and would love to help with getting stuffed on their own pizzas. And the Danish chef had also true that Christian knows how to handle a knife.

"Once, we had to make smoothies, so I prepared some bananas and raspberries. But when I had to cut a banana, Christian said: 'Hey, Bente, may I cut the banana, because I'm pretty good with a knife?' He wanted to show off to me, because I'm a cook. He was so sweet. And then he just took the knife from me and cut," Bente laughed, who is a mother of two girls aged four and six years that she has with her Australian husband Zoran.

Although the sun baked down on the holiday makers royal family, they were still on the brink of Christmas. Therefore, one day Bente Grysbæk, Christian and Isabella started to bake Christmas cookies and cakes with different colour glazes for Christmas. Here Christian was mournful that the cakes were tucked away on a shelf, so they couldn't be eaten early. But it was not only the children who often found their way into the kitchen. Mary was also a studious and very interested guest. She asked Bente Grysbæk how she prepared the various dishes, and what the family should have for dinner. And it was only when the adults got Japanese food that special food was made for the children. Here the royal tastes were very similar to those of normal children.

Yes, spaghetti and meat sauce. "When the Crown Princess found out, she cried out at once: Christian and Isabella, you're going to have spaghetti and meat sauce for dinner. Then they were wildly excited, so it's probably not very often they get it", remembers Bente Gryskær.Only once did the Danish chef see that Frederik and Mary wanted to be served a true Danish lunch with, among other things eggs and shrimp, roast beef with homemade roasted onion and tartar sauce and fish fillet with remoulade, because they had some Australian friends visiting. The Danish lunch table caused excitement. And Bente Grysbæk was a hit with her royal employers when one evening she made one of Frederik's favorite foods, beef tataki, and another time she made the Spanish ceviche consisting of raw fish marinated in lemon juice with red onions and tomatoes, for Mary. "She was totally crazy about it", says Bente Grysbæk, pleased.

Frederik and Mary also showed their appreciation for her efforts in some handwritten notes which they gave Bente Grysbæk as they said goodbye. "When we said goodbye, I said that they should just say the next time they came down, I would gladly do it again. Then the Crown Prince said: 'We'll do it'. And I hope that they do contact me again", says Bente Grysbæk and makes no secret of how happy she was to have this royal job.

Sportif!: Derf Works Two Days In A Row: Call The Doctor

Looking dubious about being out and about for two days in a row

 

 

Freddles looks like he was hit by the whambulance that had been called to pick him up after having to "work" two days in a row. It's pretty pathetic that visiting an aristocrat friend's farm might actually be an ordeal for the boy. Maybe you shouldn't abdicate, Derf. You'd be too shocked out in the real world. If we think you drink too much now! Lordy. But it was for a good cause: Count Christian Moltke runs his estate Bregentved as an extremely green, climate-friendly, sustainable farm, and he is seen as being the model for agricultural endeavors. We are also getting a look at why Fred has grown his hair out along his forehead, despite his best efforts to only present his right side to the camera: brother Derfie is getting a peninsula! He's losing his hair, with the hairline receding as fast as MoreMore in the company of self-confident people. Oh, Fred. Growing out your front peninsula-fringe will just exaggerate the size of the left inlet that has you ressembling your grandfather King Frederik more than ever. Perhaps Madam has a cream you can use. Surely Mary will have things to say about this horrible development. We see you aging, we see you finally killed the sexy, the cute little naughty boy, and what is left in its place is nothing to write home about. Do try to make yourself into someone that is charming and interesting to be around without boyish good looks. Reckon that might be the hardest job of all!

 

 

 

Photos: Keld Navntoft, Nicolaj Rasch Skou

Ka-Ching!: The Royal Family Spent Nearly 114,000 Kroner A Day in 2012: Even the Swedish Court Thinks They're Nuts

Hey, Lene, you got a problem on your hands. Not only do your bosses spend outrageous amounts of money on a daily basis (perhaps it is justifiable - why don't you put out a press release giving details? Surely you have nothing to hide!). But even the head of the Swedish royal court has said it is obscene that the Danish royals accept cars as gifts! And our old friend Jens Høvgaard gets back in on the action of discussing the royal disconnect; he is quoted in the second article below.

This entitlement culture among the royals for their freebies has got to end immediately. Additionally, the royals should pay VAT tax no differently from any other Dane; their VAT refunds have made the news before. At the least, the state would save millions of kroner in administrative fees for the processing of their receipts. It would be nice to see how these costs are broken down. Daisy and Henrik spend the most by far, followed by Fred and MoreMore, with Joachim and Marie bringing up the rear with only (!) 5,000 kroner/day, or about $860 US/day. Both brothers have four kids - Joachim is paying for private education for two - but there is a strong discrepancy between their spending with the Derfies spending much more. Hm, one wife wears Hugo Boss, Prada and Christian Louboutin and the other is about as unfashion-conscious as you can get while still being appropriately dressed.

Daisy's apanage doesn't go toward taking care of any of her palaces (she and Henrik own Marselisborg and Cayx outright and every other royal residence is owned and maintained by the state), but she has to pay salaries to a fairly large court, including the overpaid Lene Balleby, and must maintain high cost items such as royal stables (horses, grooms, uniforms, etc., even if some costs are shared by a military budget) and the Dannebrog (a delightfully elegant if completely unsustainable expense for basically six people - the docking fees in London for the Olympics last summer alone must have been astronomical). As has been exposed by Daisy's chef who quit in protest several years ago for having to prepare microwave meals, she is actually quite cheap at times. She's frugal with her clothing choices and no matter how much she may smoke or require art supplies for her painting and découpage, none of those hobby things cost that much. Petrol is a negligible cost when your cars are either free (more Derf and Yrma) or older (Daisy mostly uses older Bentleys and Rolls Royces that have been around for a while). So, Daisy's expenses - as the head of state - might be rather justifiable and legitimate.

So that brings us back to the Derfie-Doodles who've been called before out for their lack of duty, as well as their spending. The drum beats are getting louder. Just think of all the freebies that come their way, as described in the bottom article posted here: free clothes, cars, airplane rides, yacht cruises, and boats (which they don't even seem to appreciate - a boat they received for their wedding went unacknowledged and untouched from its dry dock location for years until the giver grabbed it back!). And yet, they are by far the biggest spenders for a family that send their children to public school and don't own property outright. Mary, we're looking at you, kid. Your boganson family upbringing in the lower middle classes as the child of immigrants with aspirant behaviour was exhibited from a very early period (horse riding in a family that feared that animal) through the years of dating used car salesmen and trying to hitch your WAGon to an underage rugby star to digging your fangs into the weak Prince Frederik and hot-gluing pearls to your tin foil tiara have proven that you want nothing more than an empty luxury life surrounded by labels and carats and camera flashes to try and fill some empty void in your cold, shriveled heart. You're a pathetic excuse for a crown princess. Watch yourself, or the press will turn on you hard and reveal the truths about you and you will never swim back from that tidal wave of revolt.

Article: Ekstra Bladet

The Royal House Cost 113,645 Kroner Every Day in 2012

They could invite 1420.5 Danes to the movies, they could buy 649 cases of beer, book 24 trips to Egypt or acquire 22 iPhone 5s.

Every day. All year round!

The royal household is not for amateurs. Quite the contrary as it requires serious credit card muscles to be born or married into the royal family.

Ekstra Bladet has had access to the VAT refund that the royals have been given back from last year's spending. And it shows that together they spent no less than 41,480,573.95 kroner on goods or services.

Or 113,645.4 kroner. Every day. All year round!

The hefty purchases meant that the state reimbursed the royals 8,296,114.79 kroner, as the royals do not pay VAT. The law is the exemption from VAT and therefore they get recover the VAT they pay every time they buy a product or a service.

It also means that the slightly more than 41 million have not gone to wages, but only for the purchase of physical goods and services supplied from outside.

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Mary in her new Saab 9-3 Aero Cabriolet from Danish car distributors Andersen & Martini

Article: Ekstra Bladet

Swedish Court Chief: Unhealthy That Royals Get Cars As Gifts

It is well known that members of the Danish royal family are not just born with blue blood, but also with a nice dose of petrol in their veins.

The royals' fascination with expensive luxury cars has not gone unnoticed by the Danish car importers who like to mark royal birthdays and anniversaries with rolling gifts in the millions.

Such was the case in Sweden until the Royal Swedish hofstaldmester, Mertil Melin, joined in 2003. He comes now with a sensational critique of what he calls 'an unhealthy culture'.

"I can not and will relate to me, how things should be done in the Danish royal family. But I can tell you about the situation I met when I joined the Swedish royal family ten years ago, and why I think it is a bad idea for us to receive gifts in the form of free cars", explains Mertil Merlin to Ekstra Bladet.
"Back then both Saab and Volvo delivered free cars to the Swedish royal family. I believed from the start that this is an unhealthy culture, because you end up in a situation where these companies can expect to get some services in return for their gifts, and where you have no control over how they use images and produces the royal.

There is a risk easily become part of an advertising campaign, which you have no control over. The companies had a clear expectation that they could use it, to the trucks to the court, in connection with their marketing.

"When I took office, the Swedish king had some friends in the business who supplied him with free cars, and I would not accept. They came with their own photographer and would perpetuate when he should have your keys, but I said, 'Never in the life of the king should he come out and pose for photos at one's request', says Mertel Merlin, who tore all the old agreements in pieces and decided that the Swedish royal family instead needed to lease their cars.

"It is much simpler - also in relation to the public - when the king shall bear his own costs. In this way we can change the car when we want - for example, every three years - and there is not the same expectation that the Crown must reciprocate a favour", said the court chief.

The Swedish royal family today lease their cars from Mercedes and others and get a lucrative deal: "We pay about 6000 SEK a month for the king's Mercedes, but he asks not for publicity photos and stuff. You may like to take pictures when the king drives his car, but any more we will not allow," states Mertil Melin.

The author Jens Høvsgaard went to the extent of painting the Danish royal family lovingly in the book 'It Costs a Kingdom', where he focused on the many gifts to the royal family from Danish business: "The opinions of Mertil Melin confirm that there is an abysmal difference between what is happening in the Swedish and Danish royal families."

Here in Denmark, the royal family cultivates in a big way the many free gifts, ranging from cars, boats, luxury cruises and free transport jets from Danfoss and Lego.

"In Sweden and Norway, the royal houses are much more humble, if you then can use that word in the royal context", assess Jens Høvsgaard, who believes that the royals are willing participants in a big marketing game.

"They end up in the pockets of businesses and people who want to be in the world and have the big wallet promotion." This is exactly what the Swedish court director wanted to avoid. He will not risk putting his employers in such a situation, and therefore he has made sure that has become part of their culture.

"I think it is outrageous and disgusting, what is happening in Denmark. There should be a new framework for what the Danish royal family really are - what they can receive and how they must act vis-a-vis being advertising columns for various companies and the business community", said the author and points out that the royal family does not pay tax on the many expensive gifts.

"In Denmark detects the royal house the many gifts as part of their income. Since they do not have to pay income tax, avoiding the on the way to pay gift tax, as we all must. It's a great lucrative way of acting."

The Danish royal family does not wish to comment.

Swedish Court Chief Mertil Merlin, with Crown Princess Victoria

Happy gift-giving: It has marketing value!
 

Cars, boats, furs, prams, yacht stays, holidays, designer clothes and much more. The list is long when the royal gifts each year must be made up, and especially royal occasions such as weddings and anniversaries are events that get the happy givers to look deep in their wallets.

One of those who has repeatedly favoured the Danish royal family with expensive gifts in the millions, is the car company Andersen & Martini.

In connection with Frederik and Mary's wedding, the bride was given a Saab 9-3 Aero Convertible, worth 740,000 kroner. In the spring of 2007, they received the spoils of a Saab 9-3 estate with a value of 600,000 kroner. When Joachim married Marie, the gift went even higher up the chain. The bride received a Cadillac BLS Diesel with 180 horsepower and automatic transmission."We do not participate in the kind of thing, but back then it was, partly because I like the Danish royal family, partly because you can not avoid that the royals will be shown along with the cars in the media. It had of course some marketing value for us", explained Peter Hansen, CEO of Andersen & Martini.

The company got the privilege to get promotional photos, and it also issued a press release in connection with the gift to Marie. Here we were told specifically about Prince Joachim's great enthusiasm for this particular car model. Also Kia, Saab, Toyota and Mitsubishi have given the Danish royals free cars for anniversaries.

Sportif!: Derf Goes To Work: Oh, Wait, It's Just Another 'Yay Sports!' Event With Kids: But Better Than Curled Up In the Fetal Position With a Bottle of Whisky

"Hm, am I going to build on this momentum, or ruin it? Hey, at least my wife isn't here to kill my spirit!"

 

 

These sorts of events that revolve around sports are right up Derf's alley and he is so comfortable undertaking these things. Anything that involves sports and Fred interacting with anyone, kids especially, and certainly out of the range of MoreMore, is so good for the boy. Now, it's time for Freddles to take Anne Sophie Hermansen's good advice and start expanding his reach by having him host events and provide resources directly or through his many high level contacts to really get Danish kids involved in the fun of athletic pursuits, lifelong positive body image and maintenance, and the positive, indirect result of having the future king of the country caring directly and happily in the health and well-being and involvement of all children, maybe even especially with the children of Denmark's immigrants. What a prime excuse to pull them into mainstream Danish activities with children of different circumstances. What a big diplomacy move such a thing could be. C'mon Derf. You gonna do it and make a difference and set up your legacy, or are you gonna let opportunities pass you by and let Denmark be a lesser place because of your self-centred laziness?

 

Video: YouTube

 

Article: Sjællands Nyheder

 

The Crown Prince Was Temporarily at School

It must have been something of a surprise since the 7th grade students at Owl Farm School in Solrød didn't know who would be their teacher in the coming hours. It turned out to be Denmark's future king, Crown Prince Frederik on Wednesday morning.

 

And all indications are that it was not only a well kept secret for the pupils, although some teachers were the first to know that morning. Therefore, when the Crown Prince came around at 10:30, no one other than a few people knew that he would be there.

 

A pair of students from 7th class were happy about the visit.

 

"He taught us about the Olympics, which he knows quite a bit about. He was good at it. And also a lot of fun", said Casper from one classroom and Emilie from another.

The Crown Prince is a member of the International Olympic Committee, and it was in just this capacity that he had come to the Solrød school.

 

During his visit he managed to get many fine questions, and he was good at answering them at the kids' level. The Crown Prince was at the school for about an hour, when he was welcomed by the students who were each ready with their Danish flags, and he waved royally and was not stingy to greet people with a down to earth "hello", said some of the many students who had helped to accommodate him.

 

 

 

 

Photos: Steen Meinert, Jan Rossil

Yrma Pins Her Hopes On Becoming British Royal Godmother: Sends Kate Freebie Coat

"Eh, Kate! Lookah moi! How're bout-er god mother spot, roight?"

Dollar to donuts, Little Mary Boganson must have sent Kate Middleton one of her old coats by Malene Birger. It's a coat that Mary wore back in 2006 when she was pregnant with Izzy. Now, Kate is the one preggers and was spotted yesterday wearing an identical model on a visit to the London Underground. There should be no doubt at all that Mary must have had her new lady's maid gently pack up one of the coats in tissue after cleaning it for pit stains and smells, and send it off to Buckingham Palace to her supposed "sister" and "doppelganger" (not a compliment either way!) the Duchess of Cambridge, breeder of the next line of British - and by extension, Australian - kings. If Mary can't be Queen of Australia, by God, if Diana died too soon for photo ops with her Australian-Danish protegé in the fight to save Africa, then Mary will indeed do all she can to be the godmother, and therefore the Svengali, to the heir to Elizabeth II, Victoria and the British Empire. Mary's Pictish fisherman roots are deep enough to give her a taste for being on a tea towel or seeing herself depicted holding the young baby Wales as depicted in a gaudy portrait stamped onto a porcelain cup. God Save ME!

Article: Billed Bladet

The Duchess and Crown Princess were dressed in identical coats from Malene Birger seven years.
By Lisbeth Grube 22nd March 2013

Duchess Catherine was extremely elegant Wednesday as she was on an official visit in London wearing a blue, beaded coat that was lovely over her pregnant belly. Funnily enough, the Crown Princess Mary dressed in the exact same model when she was pregnant - seven years ago!

The fine blue coat is designed by Danish Malene Birger, and all the way back in November 2006 Mary wore this coat while she was pregnant with Princess Isabella. In the picture, you can clearly see Mary's bulging belly under the blue creation.

On Wednesday, Duchess Catherine chose quite like Crown Princess Mary to match her coat with black stockings and black stilettos, and because the royal colleagues are both tall, slender women, the similarity is striking. The royal coincidence proves at least one thing: good style is timeless!


Source: Royal Outfits of Crown Princess Mary

Daisy and Henrik Visit An Aquarium Without Pathetic PR Trick of Kissing Through a Metre of Glass

Remember when Madam and her little Frogman Freddles had that hilariously pathetic Looker Us! PR moment at the Oceanarium at the North Sea Museum in Hirtshals during their 2011 summer cruise? Derf got suited up in scuba gear, Yrma waited on a red landing strip of carpet in front of the glass wall of the aquarium, and they kissed (because they are soooooo in love) to prove to us vicious bitches that they WERE MEANT TO BE, DAMMIT. For some reason, Daisy and Henri didn't need to do any such thing on their visit today to open the exhibit The Blue Planet at Denmark's Aquarium in Amager. Weird. It's like they have nothing to prove or nasty rumours of true incompatibility and dislike to counter (and they couldn't find a scuba suit big enough for poor Henri's belly). Not only that, but Daisy and Henri's wedding fund contributed to the costs of this grand exhibit. Hm, so weird. A private fund in a royal's name that isn't a slush fund, but actually contributes to and supports initiatives that help society for the benefit and enjoyment of the peasants? Daisy and Henri clearly do not use the services of The McCann Group, Madam's European marketing and branding representative.

Press Release: Danish Royal Website

The royal couple took part in inauguration day at the new Denmark's Aquarium "The Blue Planet".

The Royal Couple arrived at the Blue Planet at 11:00 and headed to the Ocean tank, where HM The Queen and HRH Prince Consort heard speeches by Tårnby's Mayor, Henry Zimino, the architect of the building, Kim Herforth Nielsen of 3XN and chairman of The Blue Planet Building Fund, Bent Frank. Then the queen spoke and conducted the official opening. After the opening, the royal couple took a guided tour of the total 12,000 square metre building which included walking through a glass tunnel under the site's largest aquarium.

The Blue Planet is Northern Europe's largest aquarium and houses with its inner 10,000 square metres and 2000 m2 outdoor areas over 20,000 fish and other sea creatures in 53 tanks and seven million liters of water. The place is divided into five sections: The Faroese Bird Mountain, the Amazon Rainforest, Ocean Aquarium, Africa's Lakes and a coral reef.

The building was inspired and shaped by water eddies and built into the landscape by the Sound. The plant is located on the Sound and is designed with a self-sufficient system of pipes that retrieves Øresund water to the cold salt water aquariums and supplies the building's cooling system. In addition, rainwater is collected for the tanks.

The building, which is Denmark's most expensive with a price of 700 million kroner, is supported by various funds, including the Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik Foundation.

Photos: Adam Mørk, Jesper Sunesen, Keld Navntoft, Claus Bjørn Larsen

Paving The Way For Derfie: Countess Alexandra Talks Openly About How She And Joachim Handled Their Divorce

Alexandra and Frederik had such a nice relationship back when Alex was the only married-in princess of Denmark on the scene. In fact, there were rumours that when Alex first met Joachim and Frederik at a dinner party in Hong Kong in 1994, that it was her and Derf who got along better. So, it's nice to see Alex coming to the aid of her old friend and helping to lay the groundwork in the public's mind for a divorced Derfie. You're a good friend, Alex! Moral of the story for Derf: you'll survive. Go forward! En avant!

Article: Billed Bladet

In a great interview with Billed Bladet Alexandra talks openly about joys and sadness.
By Preben Petersen 20th March 2013

Thursday Billed Bladet has a great interview with Countess Alexandra. Among many other things she speaks openly about life post-divorce from Prince Joachim. Here is her experience of the first meeting with the press - four days after the news of the divorce went public. Alexandra and Joachim came together Prince Nikolai to the first day of school.

"Yes, it certainly was not an easy situation. Of course it is always easier to show off, when there is something good, and everyone is happy. But for us ... So, we had talked a lot, a lot, before we came to the decision. It was not easy. It's one thing is to get a divorce, it's terrible for everyone, even if you agree, but when it happens in front of an entire country. But it helped that we were together on the decision. And it helped a lot that we then backed each other up, just as we still do. We support each other's lives everyday and most of all about our children", says Alexandra, adding:

"And I really think that Prince Joachim and I have a great relationship. I've always looked at it that if we could not have a good marriage, we have the next best thing. A good relationship and a super divorce! As we go through the crisis, as I hoped that we could come out on the other side and could be role models for how to deal with it, which of course is one of the heaviest in your life. And I really think that we have succeeded. We have also received praise for it, fortunately, for it is a terrible time for all parties. And I think it's important that you can show how you can do it."

Photo: Hanne Juul/Billed Bladet