10 Years Ago Today: The Lie Parade and Boganisation of the Danish Royal Family Formally Begins: Bizarrely and Vaguely Is How the Future Clown Princess Was Presented

"I am TOTALLY going to scam you, and you won't know what's hit you until it's too late!"

The poor Danes. They still haven't yet figured out what hit them and has been causing turmoil in the royal family and the greater society. But more and more are catching on, not feeling quite right about their royals, not sure why, wanting to be fair and give them the benefit of the doubt, it's a tough job, they're only human, blah blah.

24 September 2003, the royal court sent out the announcement that Crown Prince Frederik's engagement to Mary Elizabeth Boganson would be formalised at the Council of State on 8 October 2003, after which would be a presentation on the balcony of Amalienborg, then a press conference at Fredensborg, followed by one-on-one interviews with the Danish and Australian press, various photo shoots and capped off with a gala dinner with members of the government, including then-Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

Mary's route to 24 September can be found here.

The engagement wheels were actually put into motion during August when the queen's patience with little Derfie's non-marital adventures, and Daisy decided there would never be a better opportunity to get her boy engaged, since Prince Joachim and Princess Alexandra were itching to end their marriage, and all formal requirements for Frederik's bride were met: she's foreign. So, by the end of August, Mary was enrolled in Danish language classes (after well over 1.5 years in the country), and she and Fred were sent off to Rome with a crew from JJ Film to start the Marymentary with a vague story that this would be where Fred would propose with a ruby ring. Hm, if a camera crew is following you around Rome, isn't that the first indication that none of this was a surprise to Mary? Yeah. She knew she'd won back in August.

Below is the transcript from the formal press conference at Fredensborg, the one with the entire press assembled, and the one where Mary starts off in horrible Danish, a gross misstep in that she should never assert herself before her betrothed, nor in a badly pronounced Danish that sets her up as being fluent which she was not. The entire rest of the press conference had to be conducted in English, despite Danish questions being asked of the couple on the heels of Mary's Looker Me! I Don't Really Speak Danish self-presentation. It's clear as day they are both unsure about this unholy union, that Mary intends to prioritise Australia and wear the pants in the family, and that they are either lying (Mary) or being intentionally vague (Derf) about the origins of their "relationship" and how they got engaged.

This is what the ring looks like now, supplemented with two additional diamonds like a real society matron would have to satisfy Mary's lust for MORE!

 

 

 

 

"Hello, lover!"

Video of Fred and Mary's Engagement Interview (the press conference seems to have been scrubbed from the Internet!): YouTube

For fun and contrast! Joachim and Marie's Engagement Press Conference: YouTube

 

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The Engagement Press Conference transcript

Mary Donaldson:
Goddag, jeg vil gerne sige et par ord, før vi begynder. Jeg er meget glad for at være i Danmark, og i dag er en meget spændende dag. Jeg er sikker på, at De kan forstå, at jeg er en lille smule nervøs. Jeg har læst, at jeg taler flydende dansk. Tak for det, men desværre passer det ikke helt. Det er vigtigt for mig, at jeg bliver god til dansk, og jeg glæder mig meget, til jeg kan tale flydende. Hvis De stiller spørgsmål på dansk, vil det være en stor hjælp, at De taler langsomt. (Good day, I want to say some words before we begin. I am very glad to be in Denmark, and today has been a very exciting day. I am sure that you understand that I am a little bit nervous. I have read that I speak Danish fluently. Thank you for that, but sadly it is not true. It is important for me to become good in Danish, and I am looking very much forward to it to be able to speak it fluently. If you ask questions in Danish it would be of great help if you speak slowly). (She switches over to English.) However there will be some questions that I will feel much happier expressing myself in English. So therefore I will do so.

Applause

Question:
Well, first congratulations with your engagement. I think, most of us gathered here and most of those who's whatching, have a question that suggests itself. How is it to finally be able to step forward and show the world that it will be you?

Crown Prince Frederik:
I would like to start to answer that. It's a fantastic great happiness, a huge happiness, that actually beats everything I had reckoned with how I would react. And it... you of course try to look forward to events and say that this will really be something. But I have to admit that the huge happening today has really been special, something very, very big and something that can not, something that is hard to express in words, it is like something, that is lifted to something very, very big and high.

Mary Donaldson:
It is very overwhelming.

Crown Prince Frederik:
It is also overwhelming for me.

Question:
How is it to be able to show the world that it is now going to be you?

Mary Donaldson:
Well, it is fantastic to be able to be open about it, it is exciting. It is really many things.

Question:
But is the responsibility also serious?

Crown Prince Frederik:
Yes, that is obvious. I want to say that. When it comes, it will come naturally. Today, it is simply, well, what shall I say, this is D-day or if you like day-0. The start of something truly fantastic. And it has already begun. It is something almost unrealistic.

Question:
Congratulations. I want to address this question to both parts of the Crown Princely couple. At a day like this you really want to know how this relationship has developed, right from the day you met. So if we start from one end, What happened there?

Mary Donaldson:
We met through mutual friends in Sydney in Australia.

Crown Prince Frederik:
And it is gradually known that it was during the Olympic Games in the year 2000. And thát is now gradually 3 years ago. And that relationship also has fortunately developed into something since, now we can come out with which we are super happy today. And now tell everybody, how happy we are.

Question:
When were you sure for both of you, that you had found the right one?

Crown Prince Frederik:
I think that is something that develops in a fantastic way, that there is something that starts as a meeting and with more and more and better and better communication, and it became longer at one point regarding our geographical places. But that very much showed what it was, we are come out with today.

Question:
How did he propose?

Mary Donaldson:
No, I think, we want to keep that for ourselves.

Crown Prince Frederik:
But it doesn't differ much from what's normal.

Mary Donaldson:
Yes, it was very normal.

Question:
Could you tell something about when?

Crown Prince Frederik:
That is something we actually don't want to tell. It has been a debated question in the media and the press, so that we will let keep going on until ...

Question:
Could you in a few words try to describe each other?

Crown Prince Frederik:
A description. It is almost like when applying for a job, isn't it? It could have been a good personal question, but also Mary as we all have seen her, well, she is the person sitting next to me. It is simply difficult to put it in words, she is just lovely and ...

Question:
Crown Prince Frederik, you are known to be a man of surprises. Because of that I would like to know, how you felt when it was Billed-Bladet and not you yourself, that presented Mary Donaldson to the Danes?

Crown Prince Frederik:
I don't have to comment who has taken the honour to surprise most in this forum. But it had to happen sooner or later, I have to admit, and it is of course also one reason why we are sitting here today and enjoy ourselves. And hopefully many people out in the whole world are happy. So this way ...my happiness fortunately overshadows everything that has happened before.

Question:
Mary Donaldson, firstly congratulations of course. The role you now are taking up, what do you think you can contribute to this very important role as Crown Princess in the future.

Mary Donaldson:
That is a difficult question for me to answer today (she passes on to English) It is only my first day in that role today, you could say. So that is something that will develop in the future. It is a lot I have to learn, a lot to experience. But it is something, I surely look forward to to find out precisely what it is.

Question:
As a foreigner, and when looking at Denmark, what are the positive and negative sides about this country - regardless the weather as negative and the Crown Prince maybe as the positive?

Mary Donaldson:
Can you please rephrase the question?

Question repeated in English:
Do you feel, like many other foreigners, maybe not really welcome? Or what are your feelings?

Mary Donaldson:
Yes, I have to say, it is a really warm place. The welcome I have had has indeed been very warm. It is a beautiful country, there is plenty of everything. For me it is fantastic to have water everywhere. People have been fantastic, I have made some lovely friends here who also have supported me very much. So I don't have anything negative. Yes, maybe the winter is a little bit long, it could very well be, but that is probably all.

Question:
Congratulations on behalf of the Tasmanians. I want to ask about your sisters and your siblings. Have you spoken to them?

Mary Donaldson:
Yes yes, I have spoken to them, with my sisters and my brother. They have made the same journey as me since I met Frederik. So they know what I am going through. They are very busy with it, they are happy for me, for us. But for sure they are also a bit worried about what it is I am going into now. It is a big thing. First and foremost they are very happy.

Question:
One question for Frederik. Do you think, that you as a couple maybe will visit Australia?

Crown Prince Frederik:
That is a good question. We have already been there as a couple - more or less incognito. But well, the Australians have accepted our meeting and people like us, so there will be regular trips, shall we say it that way. It can also be a formal welcome one day, it could very well be. But I do certainly always feel very welcome in Australia - and also at Tasmania, for sure.

Question:
Mary Donaldson, I want to ask you, you have been so lucky winning the Crown Prince and the Kingdom and left behind many other young women with bleeding hearts. But could you tell me, what are the best qualities of the Crown Prince?

Mary Donaldson:
That is a difficult question, because there are many. He is one of those, you simply are happy being together with. He is intelligent, kind and has a good sense of humor.

Question:
Mrs. Mary, do you also understand Swedish?

Mary Donaldson:
Some Swedish with a Danish accent!

Question:
Do you have any plans to go to Sweden?

The question remained unanswered.
Question:
It looks like the people in Denmark admire you for having been so discrete. With all the interest, how did you manage to be so discrete all the time?

Mary Donaldson:
I think it is my nature. I have probably always been that kind of a person. The friends I have, the family I have, have showed me loyalty, that has simply been outstanding.

Question:
Yes, but what about this good catch that has turned out well?

Mary Donaldson:
Yes it has been a long journey, you could say. First you have to be completely sure, how things are going, so I am not someone who comes out and says that and that will happen. That is something that have developed over the time and has had it's natural course, and that is the way, I have handled it.

Crown Prince Frederik:
And I also want to say something about making the good catch. We also have good fish here in this country. So there are lots of good things to tell.

Question:
(In Danish) Mary Donaldson, what do you see as your biggest task as Crown Princess-to-be in the future?

Mary Donaldson:
Det er svært at svare på på dansk, så jeg vil gerne svare på engelsk. (passes on to English): It is hard to answer in Danish, so I want to answer in English. I have always been very busy doing things all my life. But this is something, that demands a lot of thinking, you have to think properly about, how you will do it, handle it strategically. I don't really think it is something I should tell a lot about in this forum today, because it is also something, that will develop on its way after I have found the way into my role.

Question:
I first want to ask Mary Donaldson. When you first met Crown Prince Frederik, did you know that you would be the Crown Princess of Denmark, or did you just think that it would be a short pleasure?

Mary Donaldson:
The first time we met each other and shook hands I didn't know that he was the Crown Prince of Denmark. Only half an hour later someone told me, hey, do you know who these peopel are. No, I didn't know, but so I found out.

Crown Prince Frederik:
I was actually not the only Crown Prince, who was there that night.

Question:
How was it to enter the balcony today at noon. It must have been unbelievable?

Mary Donaldson:
Wow. The view when you look down from the balcony was fantastically beautiful. A mixture of Danish and Australian flags. A very lovely feeling. It is hard to understand that it had something to do with me, it was so big. But it was fantastically beautiful, a fantastically beautiful experience.

Question:
How was the first meeting between your parents?

Crown Prince Frederik:
Well, it was very polite there was respect from both sides. We would like to say that we hope that we are a mirror of our parents. With that we have also said that it was a nice meeting. So well ... But it is of course up to the parents to answer that.

Question:
There has been some publicity around your relationship with Crown Prince Frederik. Has it been difficult and who has supported you in those 3 years that have passed now?

Mary Donaldson:
The most difficult is to learn Danish. It is far, far away from Australia, so I miss my family and my friends a lot. And I also want to say surfing and swimming in the waves you could also ... Such small things, aren't they?

Question:
You will not only have a husband and a future king, but to a lifelong working task. In old days it was like the Princess on the pea, wasn't it? There was a test you had to pass? Did you have to pass such a test?

Mary Donaldson:
I think there have been a lot of tests on the way, maybe I havn't even noticed that I participated in them. And that is probably why I am here today. So they are passed, yes.

Question:
Congratulations, Mary. Now that is an adventure you are living in right now. The only comparison, you could say, would be that of Diana Princess of Wales. Do you remember anything from her marriage? Where you were, if you were sitting in front of the televion and thinking, "I wished I would be a princess one day?"

Mary Donaldson:
Well, yes, I actually remember that wedding very well. This is what I remember most. It is the picture of her with this very long train and she was walking on the red carpet. But I don't remember that I was sitting and thinking about becoming a princess. I was dreaming of becoming a vet. And, well, there is a dog outside we can hear...

One of the dogs of Queen Margrethe II and Prince Henrik of Denmark has entered the room and starts barking, much to the joy of everybody present in the room.

Question:
Is there something you will miss, something you could do before as a commoner, which maybe will not so easy to do in the future as a princess?

Mary Donaldson:
There probably will be things I will find out about on the way. Which I will find out about, wéll I shouldn't know. But I think there will be ways to do the same thing, but maybe in a slightly different way so it fits into the situation. But now I have been together with Frederik for some time and we actually do quite normal things here in Denmark. And we can move around very well and in a rather reasonable way, so that it not something I think about a lot. There will not be very much.

Question:
You have many siblings, and the Crown Prince likes children very much. Are you dreaming of having many children?

Crown Prince Frederik:
Of course you think about it...

Mary Donaldson:
That's very normal.

Crown Prince Frederik:
But that is too something the future will show. And hopefully in the best way.

Question:
Miss Donaldson, what did you know about Denmark before you met Crown Prince Frederik?

Mary Donaldson:
Actually not very much. I knew it was a land of Vikings, the land of Vikings. I had also heard about Hans Christian Andersen, yes, and that the opera house in Sydney had a Danish architect, but next to that not very much.

Question:
Mary Donaldson, now you have been here for quite a long time. Have you taken up Danish habits? For instance, do you eat Danish breakfast? How Danish have you become?

Mary Donaldson:
That's a good question. There are actually many similarities between Danes and Australians. So I don't think there are so many concrete Danish habits I have taken over - except for putting on some warm clothes.

Crown Prince Frederik and Mary show off the ring, and the jounalists want them to kiss

Crown Prince Frederik:
We'll start with the hand (and he kisses Mary's hand)

A person from the royal court:
Thank you, that's all for today

GUD BEVARE DANMARK