Every Day Is Special: Crown Prince

Showing posts with label Crown Prince. Show all posts

May 26 – Birthday of Prince Frederik of Denmark

Posted on May 26, 2018

From what I've seen, the eyes of the world have turned toward Prince Harry of Britain, and his wonderful blending-of-two-worlds wedding, but there are other princes in the world. Today's famous birthday is not just a prince, but a crown prince.

A crown prince is a boy or man who has a semi-guarantee of one day becoming king. (A girl or woman who has a similar "guarantee" is of course a crown princess.) It often refers to someone who is next in line for the throne - and it's always someone whose claim to the throne couldn't be upset by someone else's birth.

Going back to the British royals, Harry is not a crown prince, because his father, Prince Charles, is next in line for the throne, and it is Harry's brother, Prince William, who is slated for the throne after Charles.

(Of course, there is no guarantee in life, and it's possible for someone who is next in line for the throne to die before becoming king (or queen). That's why I said "semi-guarantee." If Prince Charles dies before his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, then Prince William would become king when the Queen dies.)

Anyway, onto our famous birthday, Prince Frederik of Denmark. He is the son of Queen Margrethe II, so he is the heir apparent and the crown prince. It's very likely that he will be King of Denmark someday.

It's interesting to note that the Danish royal tradition is for crown princes to be named either Frederick or Christian. That seems like it would make things much more confusing?!

This is the Danish royal family tree. I guess Queen Margrethe II
had two sons, Frederik and Joachim.

Note that Frederik's oldest son, as per tradition, is Christian.

Note that this naming tradition holds only for the House of Oldenburg and the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg - so it's "only" been since the mid-1400s. Before that there were plenty of other names, some used often, such as Christopher and Olaf and Valdemar. If you're wondering, the Danish kings are up to #9 or 10: Christian X and Frederick IX.

The crown prince running.

Today's Frederik - probably destined to be Frederik X - seems very cool. He hasn't just traveled the world, he has also lived and studied in several foreign nations, including France and the U.S. He married an Australian woman. He cares a lot about the environment, scientific research, and global warming. He encourages Danish people to participate in sports. He himself is a marathon runner and a sailor, and he is the first royal person to ever complete an Ironman competition. He is even a member of the International Olympic Committee.

The crown prince and his wife enjoying and promoting science.

Also on this date:

Anniversary of Montana as a Territory

World Lindy Hop Day

Anniversary of William of Ockham fleeing from the Pope

“Catholics may not enter!” - Anniversary of an awful law

Sorry Day in Australia

Astronaut Sally Ride's birthday

Independence Day in Georgia

Independence Day in Guyana

Paper Airplane Day

National Polka Festival

(May 25 - 27, 2018)

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July 20 – Birthday of Crown Prince Haakon of Norway

Posted on July 20, 2015

Haakon Magnus is the heir apparent to the Throne of Norway – which means that he is next in line when his father, King Harald V, steps down or dies.

At age 42, Haakon actually has an older sister, Princess Martha Louise. It seems surprising in this day and age that the royal line goes through male heirs only, but that's how it is in Norway. Actually, I was surprised to read that Norway's royalty isn't as much just a figurehead as so many other kings and queens are these days.

Norway is a constitutional monarchy with state power divided between the Parliament (called the Storting), the King and his Council, and the Supreme Court.

Still, the political leader of Norway – and the head of the government of Norway – is the Prime Minister.

And although Norway's Constitution grants executive powers to the King, they are almost always actually done by the King's Council, and even those on the Council, while in theory appointed by the King according to his own judgement, have since the late 1800s been mostly chosen by the elected governmental officials.

Crown Prince Haakon has official duties, and he chooses cultural events and artists to patronize and promote. He established an organization called Global Dignity, promoting the right of every human on earth to lead a dignified life. One of the things the organization has worked on recently is the effort to end cyber-bullying.

A quote from the Global Dignity website is, "In a world where it seems no-one agrees on anything, a world where politics divides, religion divides, and race and even cultural borders seem to divide, dignity is something that everyone can agree on."

Norway is Way North!

I was interested to read that Norway's length and geography meant that it had more different kinds of habitats than almost any other European country, because I figured that any country that far north (it's one of the northernmost nations in the world) and that mountainous (it's one of the most mountainous countries in Europe) would have mostly just snow and ice, seals and reindeer. However, more than 60,000 different species in Norway and its waters reflects more biodiversity than I had thought!

One thing that mountainous countries with lots
of melting snow and ice tend to have is gorgeous
waterfalls... And, oh yeah, this is gorgeous!

I always think of Norway as a nice long dollop of land similar to Sweden in shape, but a close up of any portion of a map of Norway reveals an incredibly complex, rugged coastline with deep indentations and fjords plus more than 50,000 islands!

Norway's fjords are famous and beautiful!

The popular movie Frozen is supposed to be set in Arendelle, but Kristoff's clothing and reindeer are reminiscent of the Sami people of northern Norway.