At Copenhagen

Princess Marie and Prince Joachim took our Prince Henrik out at Copanhagen.

At University of Southern Denmark, Sonderborg

Princess Marie Working Out

Princess Marie of Denmark doing some running exercises all around Schackenborg Castle in Moegeltoender.

Princess Marie visited her father

She also visited her father who lives in Paris.

Princess Marie in Paris for UNESCO

Princess Marie is the patron of the Danish National Comission for UNESCO and she was in Paris for this occasion.

2nd Wedding Anniversary of Marie&Joachim

Princess Marie Point de Vue Interview on January 2010

Q: We are in the middle of the Danish winter. Here on Schackenborg you stay during the short dark winter days on a remote mansion in the outskirts of a small provincial town. Wasn’t it difficult to adjust from Geneva, New York and Paris to this dark Danish forest?
- “Firstly you exaggerate about the length of the Danish nights. The sun goes down around 16.30 and rise around 08.00. Apart from that I neither feel confined nor imprisoned here. Half the time we spend in Copenhagen, which I love – it’s a happy and lively city. Of course mostly during spring and summer with its pedestrian streets, canals and small colourful houses and cafes. But at the moment when it’s so lit up (Christmas decorations), it’s really festive and at least as lovely as during the summer. When you walk beneath a starry clear night sky, the dark nights are not as sinister as you might imagine”.

Q: A survey has recently shown that the Danes are the happiest people in the world. What do you think about that?
- “It’s true that the Danes love to laugh – they are obliging and open towards others. Isn’t that the definition of happiness? I’m proud of being part of that spirit”.

Q: What other qualities will you attribute the Danes?
- “One of the things that have struck me, besides their spontaneity, is their…. how shall I explain it, humbleness. Let me explain. They never show superiority or pretence – no matter what social background they have; the term hierarchy is alien to the Danes. There is no snobbery. In USA where I lived, social classes arise because of money. Even in France, they (*) have maintained a strong sense of social distance. You don’t find that at all in Denmark”. (**)

Q: Says you who now belongs to the royal family?
- “The DRF is obviously well liked and respected. But I feel that the adoration who among others the Queen is exposed to is a sign of genuine love”.

Q: How do people address you?
- “As Princess Marie. But when I meet people out (on the job or on the street?) they also just call me Marie. It’s the same with Joachim”.

Q: How do people distinguish between yours and Crown Princess Mary’s names?
- “Simply by the spelling of each name or by the pronunciation. Mary is English and Marie is French”.

Q: We spoke earlier about the harsh Danish winter. (***) So to continue the about the difficulties, let’s talk about the Danish language, which appears to be a difficult language to master.
- “I feel pretty fortunate, because I love to learn something new. But I have to admit that Danish is a difficult language. The pronunciation and the dialects. (****) I’ve worked hard to get where I am right now. But I am so fortunate that I understand most the first time I hear it. I’ve been told that I progress very swiftly and they tease me in Copenhagen because I apparently have a Jutlandic dialect”. (*****)

Q: Do you feel you have overcome the difficulties?
- “Fortunately I don’t see things that way. I like to learn something new and I love Joachim. So where are the difficulties? To commit to love is never a burden but always a pleasure”.

Q: Let me ask in another way. Do you ever feel that your royal position is a limitation?
- “No one in this world get anything for free. On one hand I have all the advantages of being a member of a loved and respected family. Regardless of the glorification, the honour/integrity and the maintaining of a tradition the Danes are fond of. And me? My only mission is to be worthy. What better challenge can you get? Sometimes hard but never a limitation. An opportunity and an honour”.

Q: Do you get help from the Queen during this learning process?
- “I have the greatest respect for Her Majesty Queen Margrethe, but I’m not directly being taught by her. My best teacher is Joachim. He is extremely knowledgeable about his country’s history and very passionate (about it). He is genuinely very cultured. He loves to share his knowledge and he does so with passion and patience. I learn from the Queen by watching her. But there are sometimes at family meetings and official ceremonies, where she explains special traditions and their significance. But it’s never a formal matter. I try to learn as much as possible by just observing and if there is something I don’t understand I ask”.

Q: What official duties do you have?
- “If I am to be honest they are pretty limited for the moment, but there is a simple reason for that. I got pregnant two months after our wedding. Since the birth of Henrik there hasn’t been time for more than taking care of him. I breastfed for the first three months and the only help I got was from a young girl who wasn’t a trained nanny. (******) So I’ve had to learn everything.
When that is said, then Joachim and I have just returned from an official visit to China. We travelled for almost two weeks between Hong Kong and Beijing in order to give our support to the Danes who live and work in China. During our visit there were also several commercial offensives on behalf of Danish businesses. In Hong Kong Joachim and I lit two large Christmas trees which come from Schackenborg and which have been decorated by Danes. This year we have sold more than 19.000 Christmas trees to China.
But as soon as I get more time I will obviously become much more involved in issues I feel/care for”.

Q: What could that be for example?
- “There are a lot of things that haven’t been coordinated yet. I will not say yes to something superficial. For the moment I’m involved in UNESCO in Copenhagen and in Southern Danish University. I would also very much like to do something for the Southern Jutlandic region”.

Q: Let’s talk about the history; can you give us some history?
Joachim: “When I was nine in 1978 I inherited the manor and the land – around 1.000 hectares.
When I got married for the first time Alexandra and I decided to move here. The manor was in a very poor condition – the heating system only worked in the two wings, which are located opposite each other. So in order to take a bath we had to walk through a whole section of ice-cold living rooms. It was minus 20 degrees C outside that winter. But thanks to an extraordinary donation (from the Danish people as a wedding present), it was possible to renovate the mansion so that it became habitable”.

Q: Can you tell a little about the history of the manor?
Joachim: “The history goes back a long time, so I’ll make it brief.
Originally it was a fief under the church, where the bishop of Ribe built a sort of fortress. During the Reformation (1530’s) Christian III seized the area. And during the 1600’s King Frederik III handed over the castle to (general) Hans Schack for service during the war against the Swedes. In 1661 field marshal Schack build the manor you see today. Ten years later he received a royal title and the Schack family became the second most influential family in the country. At some point they were the owners of one of the buildings of Amalienborg Slot – that building my parents live in today. As Count Schack didn’t have children himself the manor was handed back to the crown”.


Q: Can you tell about the life as a farmer?
Joachim: “As any other farmer I work in order to create a financial surplus. For the moment I’m restructuring the business. I’ve become a cattle breeder. I sell the animals when they’ve turned two years old. I’m the leading breeder with 900 heads of cattle. Under the label of Schackenborg, we sell prime quality meat that is almost ecological. We grow and grow”.

Q: Is that a radical change?
Joachim: “Rather it’s back to basis. In medieval times it was a tradition in this part of the country. There are both practical and climatic reasons for that. During winters the fields are flooded and they become so much more fertile in the warm period of the year”.

Q: Have you completely abandoned growing corn?
Joachim: “No, not at all. We still grow wheat, rye and barley – and of course potatoes”.

Q: And how about forestry?
Joachim: “Forestry is a balance act, where you must ensure that you are not losing money. The many storms that have ravished Europe have driven the prices for timber to the bottom, while the price on work has gone up. As a consequence I have not created hunting grounds that are rented to hunting parties”.

Q: You did not have the opportunity to choose your occupation. What would you have liked to become yourself?
Joachim: “If you had asked me when I was ten, I would have said like any other boys: fire-fighter or Formula one driver, in fact I love old cars and this year I won the Danish championship for historical cars for the third time in a row. Fortunately I’m very fond of nature, so I happily accepted my preordained role as a farmer”.

Q: Let’s return to little Henrik. Why did you choose that name?
Marie: “Firstly I’ve always loved that name. Secondly it’s the name of his grandfather (farfar) and the name of his great great grandfather (tip oldefar), who was an important person. In that way we also recreated a tradition on the French side of the family”.

Q: Henrik or Henri?
- “Joachim speaks to him in Danish and I speak to him in French. So to me he is Henri. I often think how fortunate he is. That he will learn two of the most difficult languages at the same time”.

Q: Can you already spot some of his personal character?
- “He is a very easy baby, but with a strong will – like his parents. He is born in the sign of the Taurus, a star sign that in my opinion is good. He could have become a Gemini like his father, grandfather (farfar) and my father. But despite his strong character he is so mild and then he has kind/friendly eyes. I’m certain that he besides that will be full of kindness/good and that to me is a fundamental character in a human being”.

Q: I have a feeling that you don’t call him Henri that often?
- “You are right. For the moment we mostly call him “skat”. (*******)

Q: How is your life in the nearest future?
- “There are several plans. In a short while, a couple of days in Paris, a city I’m endlessly fond of. If possible a couple of weeks in Villars in Switzerland in February. I love skiing and I have a lot of friends down there. Then there is the manor in Møgeltønder. So far I haven’t really had time to genuinely make it my nest. You only discover the soul of a house when you have lived there for a while – you shouldn’t just rush ahead. Like we say in France, you stumble if you walk too fast”.

Q: Do you regret anything?
- “When you start a new life, there is per definition both people and things that you love, that you have to leave behind. I love my life in Denmark and there are still so many things I have to learn.
In relation to what I’ve left behind? There are of course my friends, which I now don’t see so often. Fortunately modern technique helps you maintain contact. My mother has just visited us for some days. So has my father. He was pleased to visit us. Henrik is his first grandchild”.

Q: Do you regret having lost a degree of freedom?
- “I won’t put it that way. The Danes are fortunately not obsessed with the royal family as is the case in England. But that doesn’t mean that photographers sometimes cannot be a bit insisting.
I’d rather consider it a pressure. I will not let the Danes down but I will represent them with honour. That I consider one of my duties. I learn that thanks to Joachim’s big experience”.

Q: Have you discovered something here in Denmark that you are particularly fond of?
- “There are obviously a lot of things. I will however one thing – roast pork. Crispy roast pork. The eight wonder of the world”. (********)

Q: What is your greatest pleasure?
- “Official duties are often funny events. Opera and theatre premiers, new ballets, exhibitions…
We are invited a lot. We are often having dinners with friends. But to be honest we actually don’t have that much spare time. There is one thing I miss – that I no longer have time to go to the cinema”.

Q: Do you often see Crown Prince Frederik and Crown princess Mary?
- “Unfortunately not often enough. I think we swing well together. But their calendars are even more full than ours”.

Q: How do you spend your spare time, when you are here at Schackenborg?
- “The manor is with four floors around 3.000 square meters. So keeping an eye on that takes a good deal of the day, besides taking care of a baby, which a 24/7 job.
There is however still time for a walk in the woods. Another thing I’m very fond of is, despite the weather, to grab a basket with bread, lemons a bottle of white wine and a hat for all sorts of weather and go picking up oysters. They are wild and in all shapes and sizes. We eat them on the spot and they taste fantastic. When that happens I feel like in seventh heaven”.

Q: Previously I noticed that you said we Danes and not the Danes. So specifically: What has happened since you now feel like a full blooded Dane?
- (Thinking) “To this day I ride my bike no matter the weather. Whether it rains, is windy, snow or storms – then I drive around without hesitation. And I enjoy it”. (*********)

Q: Has your new life changed you as a person?
- “No, not at all. It’s not a question about changing but about being open to other emotions and other costumes. I’d like to remain myself, but my heart is open to understanding. That could also be the definition of love”.

Q: What film did you last see in the cinema?
- “It’s probably about three years since I was last in the cinema. Lately there hasn’t been so much time. Due to all the changes in my life”.

Q: Which book was the last you read?
- “Except for a history book about my new country and my Danish-French dictionary I’ve read Les Rois Maudits by Maurice Druon. I loved it”.

Q: What is your favourite colour?
- “There are way too many colours for me to pick one”.

Q: What is the philosophy of your life?
- “To be faithful to yourself and to avoid comparisons”.

Q: What do you regret the most?
- “Nothing – you always learn from your mistakes”.

Q: How will you today define happiness?
- “If I may quote Spinoza: - To be happy is to continue living/being/behaving as we do. I hardly have to emphasize that the important word is: continue”.