Lille prinsesse pre-christening update

The 10 week-old daughter of Crown Prince Frederik and Aussie-born Crown Princess Mary of Denmark will be christened tomorrow at Fredensborg Palace Church, north of Copenhagen, at 11.30am – 7.30pm Australian time. During the christening her name will be revealed for the first time. It’s Danish tradition to have four names for example the couple’s 20 month-old son is named Prince Christian Valdemar Henri John.

The most likely names for the little girl are Margrethe (after Frederik’s mother, the current Danish Queen), Ingrid (after Frederik’s-grandmother, the late Swedish-born Queen Ingrid who died in 2000) or Henrietta (after Princess Mary’s mother, who died of a heart condition in 1997)

“Online betting company Bet24 had the odds 1.05-1 on Margrethe, 1.10-1 on Henrietta, and 1.15-1 on Ingrid.”

Princess Mary’s sisters Jane Stephens and Patricia Bailey, who live in Hobart, and her brother John Donaldson, from Western Australia, will not attend the christening. But her father, John Donaldson, who now lives in Denmark where he works as a mathematics lecturer at the University of Aarhus, will be there. Jane said;

“The family hopes everything will go well on the day, and we will be at home thinking about them on Sunday.”

She is expected to wear the family christening gown, also worn by Prince Christian, made of lace and ordered for the baptism of Prince Christian in 1870.

Lille Prinsesse’s christening will be a low-key event compared to ‘hype’ surrounding Prince Christian’s christening in January 2006. A spokeswoman from the Danish Royal Court in Copenhagen said;

“It would be fair to say that Sunday’s event will be much smaller than Christian’s.”

Hobart-based honorary vice-consul for Denmark, Judy Benson, agreed.

“It’s obvious there is not the excitement attached to the first-born, who is heir to the throne behind his father. There is just not quite the same hype as the first time.”

The Tasmanian government have gifted Lillepigen with a custom-made white gold and red enamel charm bracelet, which was sent this week via express post to Denmark.

Source: The Courier Mail
Christening Gown Photo Credit: Danish Royal Watchers