His Royal Highness The Crown Prince of Denmark Frederik André Henrik Christian was born in Copenhagen on the 26th of May 1968 as the elder son of Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and His Royal Highness Prince Henrik of Denmark. He is first in line to the Danish Throne.
Denmark is not only the oldest monarchy in Europe (dating back to at least 985 AD), the Danish monarchy is also among the most popular and Crown Prince Frederik was chosen in a Gallup poll as “Dane of the Year” in 1997. This popularity is a testament to the general admiration of the personal achievements and charm of the once publicity-shy and unruly Crown Prince. Though still known as a man-about-town, he has become disciplined and aware of his responsibilities as Crown Prince.
Crown Prince Frederik has an extensive education — both civilian and military. His father, HRH Prince Henrik, is a French Count by lineage and owns large vineyards in France, and before going to high school in Denmark the Crown Prince studied for a year at the École des Roches and after his graduation he worked as an apprentice in a Napa Valley vineyard. As the first in his family, Frederik was given a (non-honorary) degree as he graduated as Master of Political Science from Aarhus University. As part of these studies he studied for a year as an exchange student at Harvard. He has served the Danish foreign services in Paris as First Secretary to the Ambassador to France.
His real field of excellence has been in the military, however. Immediately out of high school he served his tour of duty as a conscript private Royal Guardsman, and afterwards he went to military academy and excelled in the Royal Guard Hussars' regiment. After obtaining his master degree he tried out for and joined the Royal Danish Navy Combat Swimmer Corps, which is equivalent to the Special Boat Squadron of the Royal Marines and the U.S. Navy SEALs and is one of the most elite units of the Danish military. He completed this training without any special considerations and took a tour of duty on the Sirius Patrol, a military dog sled patrol servicing the Northern Greenland coast-line under some of the most extreme conditions on Earth. He returned to Greenland as part of the civilian, scientific expedition Sirius 2000. Lately, he has finished basic flight school in the Royal Danish Air Force and he is now an Army Lieutenant Colonel of the Reserve, a Navy Commander Senior Grade of the Reserve and an Air Force Lieutenant Colonel of the Reserve.
Recently, he has created headlines because of his marriage to Tasmania-born Mary Donaldson. The royal wedding took place on the 14th of May 2004 after years of secret courtship and weeks of celebration unlike anything seen in recent Danish history.
Decorations:
Knight of the Order of the Elephant and Silver Cross of the Order of Dannebrog, Denmark; Grand Crosses of the Order of Honourable Service, Italy; of the Adolph of Nassau’s Civilian and Military Service Order, Luxembourg; of the Order of Ojaswi Rajanya, Nepal; of the Order of the Seraphim, Sweden; of the Order of Saint Olav, Norway; of the Order of the White Roses, Finland; of the Order of Terra Mariana, Estonia; of the Order of the Three Stars, Latvia; of the Order of Leopold, Belgium; of the Order of the Icelandic Falcon, Iceland; of the Order of the Jordanian Renaissance, Jordan; of the Order of the Chrysanthemum, Japan; of the Order of the Southern Cross and of the Order of the Rio Branco, Brazil; of the Order of Chula Chom Klao, Thailand; and of the Order of Service for the Federal Republic of Germany.