Let’s talk about Crown Princess Mary. On Thursday, November 13, Mary and Crown Prince Frederik traveled to Germany for the BAMBI Awards where Mary picked up the Charity Award for her charitable work (she’s patron of 29 charities), particualarly her work with woman and against domestic violence.
Mary gave an acceptance speech (you can read the full transcript here). She in part said:
- “Gender based violence is one of the most pervasive crimes against human rights in the world today and the strongest manifestation of inequality in our societies…
- “It is an issue of universal human rights, equal rights between men and women and, human dignity that concerns us all, involves us all, and requires concerted and urgent action from all of us. We must stand together and speak out for zero tolerance…
- “Now exists the opportunity, to support the empowerment of women and girls, to fight for gender equality and the elimination of violence against women and girls. This represents the basic elements for a people centered, socially just and effective global agenda that will benefit all of humanity and which will yield returns for both present and future generations.”
Mary wore a Jesper Høvring navy blue sequined gown and accessorized with aquamarine girandole earrings, an Ole Lynggaard Flower bracelet, and a giant ring. She looks stunning.
Mary spoke on November 6 at the regional review meeting of the status of women in the UNECE region in Geneva, Switzerland.
Mary for the win.I have so much respect for royal women who speak out on these topics. They are not the cucute and fluffy issues. Her speech has substance and a call for action. I am quite impressed. Mary has learned and excelled at the language and has made a point to learn about the people of Denmark.
This is why I am frustrated with Kate. She has so many royal models out there: Mary, Charlene, Victoria, and even Mette-Marit, who does seem a bit work shy. Mette-Marit Marit has spoken out on equality issues and even advocated for her gay friend’s adoption. She disguised herself as the nanny to bring the baby to Finland. Victoria even said that she has the best job because she gets to learn about so many different things and people.
Kate stands for nothing. I was a huge advocate for her when she got engaged as she had a huge platform to be a voice for so many. All she is doing now is playing basic princess. If she does better, then I will be the first to be her cheerleader. But, that may be a long time coming.
Sorry for the rant.
I too hoped for so much more from this couple. My new hope is that maybe when the children get a bit older,then maybe just maybe we will see this kind of dedication and service to others from the Cambridges. Boy, that was an awful lot of “maybes” for one sentence.
I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you. To get Kate out on her own, seriously interested enough in a cause to travel alone and do research, make appearances and speeches on behalf of that cause, reach out to other royal ladies (who I don’t think she has made any effort to get to know) is a day I hate to say I don’t see coming any time soon. She will always have a reason, right now it’s the pregnancy and a toddler. Then it will be a toddler and newborn. Then George will be starting school and then the wild teen years, it will just go on and on.
Also, with no William there to look to (although she doesn’t seem to be connecting with him right now) who would she refer to when it comes to what to do at appearances and where to stand and protocol. Her “stylist” Tasha and her PA Rebecca? I get a feeling these two are the closest thing she has to girlfriends right now and that’s the main reason they are around.
My apologies that Mette-Marit is the CP of Norway.
CP Mary is the perfect example of a woman using the royal platform to help others. Thanks for the reminder that royalty is about more than fashion and jewels, even about more than simply showing up, shaking a few hands and smiling for the camera. I do so hope that as the Cambridge children get older, Kate will finally find her voice and use the wonderful platform she has been given to truly help others and highlight worthy causes.
Wow, an intelligent, articulate, involved woman who brings it home in the fashion department as well. Kate on a good day couldn’t hold a candle to Mary in all areas.
As a Dane I am somewhat biased but have a lot of respect for our Crown Princess. I haven’t followed her work closely but I certainly took note when she became the patron of the two largest organizations of mental health issues in Denmark when she got engaged. This is something that I feel very strongly about since my entire life has been lived under the shadow of a seriously ill parent, which has left me battling many depressions (the first untreated because I didn’t know what was going on and because the issue didn’t really get the attention it is getting now). She has her own foundation that focuses on work with children, loneliness among youths and building support structures for children of mentally ill parents. Endeavours such as these would have made an enormous impact on my life when I was a child and I’m so very happy to see that children in situations like mine don’t have to deal with such a scary and painful situation all by their lonesome as I did. She has now branched out in an international perspective and I believe that she works with the UN on some of the issues that she’s now being honoured for.
She always great to watch fashion wise though she had been critized for being superficial because of this – and because many of her first patronages involved Danish fashion, which is one of the largest national industries. Glamour aside I think that she does good work, and that she will become a good queen when the day comes (though not for many years because it will be a very sad day when Queen Margrethe passes away).
I haven’t followed Mette-Marit closely but I do know that recent years have been trying on her with surgery and the loss of her step-brother in the Utøya Massacre a few years back.
CP Victoria is extremely popular, both in Sweden and Denmark. She is much more popular than her father (even her birthday is a national holiday in Sweden) and I think that she’ll be an excellent queen.
I also have a soft spot for Queen Maxima of Holland. She has an exuberant presence and seems to be a very kindheated and warm person, especially in the light of her support of CP Masako of Japan, who actually credits her friendship with Maxima as a factor in her ongoing recovery.
Kate certainly has an unique opportunity to make a mark supporting worthwhile causes, and she certainly is the patron of some very good causes. However, she doesn’t seem to be very invested in them and her engagements with her patronages seems very sporadic to me. I’m doubtful that that’ll ever change in any significant manner. I must admit that I am somewhat biased against her because I find it very hard to respect a person that has spent most of her adult life in pointless and voluntary idleness. William doesn’t make a good impression either.
What a great post. I’ve learned a lot of info here. Had no idea that Mette-Marit lost her step brother in the massacre. You are right, royalty tends to go to safe charities. But, their work in the charities that need to be discussed (mental illness, child exploitation) is admirable and timely.
It wasn’t something that was generally known and even though that Massacre dominated the media landscape it wasn’t something that was reported outside of the mediaoutlets dedicated to royal news. I don’t know how much you now of the event but it sent profound shock waves through Scandinavia. It was a extreme political extremist that had planned his crime for years. he set of a bomb at a government building in Olslo then made his way to Utøya, an island where the youth organization of the ruling government part held their annual camp. He dressed as a police officer. Mette-Marit’s step-brother was a police officer and was the first to be suspicious of him. He was also the first victim and after that the gun-man proceeded to systematically and remorseless murder many many young people. He specifically targeted an organziation and its young members dedicated to the future of their country because he disagreed with their politics. He specifically wanted to cut down the flower of the next generation of people dedicated to make their country a better place. It was absolutely horrific and I very proud of the Norwegians chosing to deal with this tragedy and his crime with dignity and the full force of the law without succumbing to rage and hate. He wanted to use his trial as a platform for his ideology, that was always the plan – but the authorities put a stop to that very effectively everytime he tried to hijack the trial. The trauma of his actions are, however, deeply felt and the man still feels completely justified in what he did.
Sorry for drifting way off-topic but this is something that affected me very deeply, and I know that a certain other site is very hard on Mette-Marit without any compassion for what she and her family went through. Incidentally, the same site is completely vicious to Mary as well as Kate, but the worst vitriol is saved for Mary and her children, which is just gross.
Since everyone is talking about how Kate does not really invest in her charities, I have to ask something. I have noticed for awhile that in videos showing Kate at her patronages, she always has this kind of fake attentive look on her face. I don’t know how to describe it, but she tilts her head a little and has this ‘concerned’ look on her face. I only bring it up because to me it looks fake. The kind of face you put on to make it look like you care or rather the kind of face Kate thinks one would show. It always came across to me that she isn’t genuine, but only goes because she has to. Has anyone else noticed it? You can see it recently on her SportsAid video (November 13), the second video on KMR’s page around 11 seconds
Sadly, I do not think Kate will ever live up to these other Royal women. Kate has never showed a real passion for anything other than her looks. I just don’t see her every caring about something that much.
I agree I have also felt this about Kate, that the concern is false.
It’s as if she practices “concerned” faces in the mirror.
It’s always the same face, too. She tilts her head and crinkles her forehead to show concern and sympathy. But you’re right, it’s more like that’s the face she thinks she should show, rather actually caring and having her face naturally reflect that.
ITA. I’ve seen that head tilted Concerned Face and didn’t think it very genuine.
IMHO, the only cause we’ve really seen Kate genuinely reacting is sailing. She’s so much more animated in those pictures (as well as from when she beat William in NZ’s boat race).
Love, love, love her. She is a win in every department. Lest I seem too effusive, I love that she proves that modern educated women can come along, become part of an old royal dynasty, wear the gowns and tiaras while advocating critical issues badly needing a voice. Clearly, being part of Queen Margrethe’s family seems like a really nurturing experience, and Mary seems like she’s gotten a lot of support in becoming as great as she is.
And then, we have Waity. Questionable fashion sense, books engagements when it suits her, won’t give speeches, and does not have anywhere near the same kind of initiative or encouragement from Charles or William.
It’s not fair to compare the two, but one can only hope that Waity starts doing more.
I have huge respect for the royals who take on causes that are “controversial” and aren’t “safe”. Taking a stand on something not everyone agrees about could alienate some people, but the royals who take on these causes recognize that these causes are more important than being “safe”. I respect that.
Me too. I actually like Camilla for taking on sexual violence as well as crusading against payday loans. Misogyny and poverty are not easy causes, and I like her for taking a stance there.
I do think that the DRF has become a much more warm and nurturing family than it was earlier, especially during her father, Frederik IX’s youth. His wife, the late Queen Ingrid is generally credited with having a subtle but immense influence in the family as well as on their public perception as she seemed to have a natural flair for PR (especially during the Occupation where she and her husband often where seen on bicycles in the city and her father-in-law Christian X rode his horse through the streets every single day during the Occupation. There’s also a story that the reason the jews weren’t forced to wear the yellow star in Denmark was because he threatened to wear it himself. However, I can’t confirm it. Christian X completely rehabilitated his image during this period as he had been vary unpopular since the 20s when he tried to intefere directly with goverment.
Queen Ingrid really was the matriarch of the family and in many respects its emotional centre. She herself lost her mother CP Maragret of Sweden (Princess of Connaught and England) at the age of 10 when her mother died from septicimia while 6 months pregnant. Many of the current wedding traditions of the DRF comes from Ingrid and they all honour her mother – like all women of Ingrid’s line wearing Margareth’s Khedive tiara, a part of frabric from her wedding dress (incorporated into the new dresses) and her lace veil at their weddings. Mary is the only non-royal and non-descendant of Ingrid that has worn the lace veil and the inherited fabric at her wedding – I think that speaks volumes about how much Queen Daisy values her daughter-in-law.
It’s fact that she doesn’t do much, but I started to wonder, and … maybe it’s just that someone in up there ( you know who I mean ) doesn’t want to that they have more “work” to not turn away attention from the Charles and Queen. I always wondered if the Duchess has some impact on the number of visits or not? Of course, it may be that she doesn’t want to do more. We really don’t know how it is, so do you think it is possible that what I described or she is really so lazy?
Other sites I’ve been on have said there have been public statements that William and Kate set their own schedules, and the Queen and Charles haven’t forced them to trim back their engagements to make anyone else look better. Whether that’s changed or not, I don’t know, but it seems this couple is doing what pleases them.
Everyone in the BRF has always set their own schedule. It is written about in royal histories and stated by other members of the family. W&K set their own schedules, no one is holding them back.
Spring 2012
Richard Palmer @RoyalReporter
@sofia09870 Kate’s office says she is dictating her own pace and is happy with it.
Richard Palmer @RoyalReporter
@HMtheRedQueen She is dicatating the pace and her office says this how she wants to do it.
Richard Palmer
@HMtheRedQueen
One Sunday broadsheet claimed llast weekend there was concern Kate was doing too much. But there is no concern on that score.
ArtHistorian- thanks for the long post. I first learned of Queen Ingrid when she passed away, and what you wrote confirms why everyone seemed truly devastated at her loss and why the DRF seems both loving and progressive.
I also remember Queen Margrethe being very welcoming to Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg while she was married to Prince Joachim. While Princess Alexandra, she too was an excellent working royal who got it right as Mary does now.
To compare the Danish Royal Family to their British counterparts really is a lopsided instance. Where Margrethe is willing to really nurture an incoming spouse, Charles and William would rather not risk being overshadowed by Waity in the event of becoming another Diana in popularity.
Lex,
I remember Queen Ingrid’s burial vividly. I was in Copenhagen that day, quite close to the church. The streets were packed and very very quite. When the funeral cortege passed played sombre music there was a palpable sadness in the air. She was very much well-loved, not just in her family but also among the population.
Sorry for the typos, my post was written rather quickly.
No worries ArtHistorian- I understood just fine! And I appreciate the firsthand POV about Queen Ingrid, and plan to read more about her 🙂
waity is a huge dissappointment, and shes off to newyork very soon, her itinerary is a joke!
I just want to say how much I love Mary’s look at this event; it is totally stunning; all of it, dress, earrings, ring, bracelet….wow! gorgeous (that’s me done for today…)
Please do not forget Princess Charlene of Monaco is not lazy! Charlene water safety for children foundation is being taught in Monaco schools & in the news year hopefully it will branch out to other countries! P.C. has been working hard during her difficult pregnacy wiyh twins, unlike you know who is or is not pregnant?
Princess Charlene is not lazy ??? Well, forgive me but if you call Kate lazy for not working during her pregnancy, then how would you call Charlene ?! She has done almost nothing and she is the wife of the prince ! Not the wife of the heir of the heir !!!
I agree that the comparison between Mary/Victoria/Letizia, etc isn’t flattering for Kate (even if I think it isn’t justified because they are the Crown princesses or queen if their country) but please, don’t compare her to Charlene, or it will be unfair…
Mary looked beautiful that night (and all the other days !!!!) and she is the most professional princess in Europe with Letizia, from my point of view ! Two beautiful, serious and hard-working royals !!
I know you said not to compare, but I was curious so I went and looked up a few things anyway.
Since she announced her pregnancy on May 30 and canceled some engagements and took a few weeks off, Charlene has worked 11 days. For the comparison, during this same time Kate has worked 20 days. Though the comparison isn’t really fair seeing as Kate was not pregnant during that whole time. Since announcing her pregnancy on Sept 8 and canceling some engagements and taking six weeks off (after already taking a month off for a grand total two and a half months months off), Kate has worked 6 days. We probably won’t see Charlene for the rest of the year, seeing as she’s due sometime in December (it’s still possible we could see her as I can’t find an upcoming appearances schedule on the palace’s website, but I would say it’s unlikely at this point). By Dec 9, Kate will tie Charlene’s post-announcement pregnancy days worked with a total of 11 (2 more in Nov, 3 in Dec). Granted, Kate did announce earlier than Charlene. Charlene was, I believe, the normal 3 months along, while Kate was supposedly only 6 weeks or so along. Kate took those six weeks difference off, and didn’t work again until she was 3 months along.
So basic numbers as of today, November 17:
Charlene – announced May 30 – 11 days worked
Kate – announced Sept 8 – 6 days worked
Charlene’s appearances since announcing her pregnancy:
June 14 – Princess Grace Rose Garden reopening (Monaco)
June 20 – Monaco Yacht Club Opening (Monaco)
July 29 – received honor from Italian ambassador (Monaco)
July 30 – received family tree from Irish ambassador (Monaco)
August 1 – Red Cross Ball (Monaco)
Sept 14 – Evian Championship Golf village tour (France)
Sept 21 – Clinton Global Citizen Awards (NYC, US)
Sept 25 – 7th World Focus on Autism (NYC, US)
Oct 8 – Princess Grace awards gala (Cali, US)
Oct 11 – Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center (Cali, US)
Oct 12 – ‘Prince Albert II Of Monaco’s Foundation’ Award Ceremony (Cali, US)
Kate’s appearances since announcing her pregnancy:
Oct 21 – Singapore state visit & NHM awards (London)
Oct 23 – Action on Addiction Autumn Gala (London)
Nov 8 – refinery visit & rugby match (Wales)
Nov 9 – Remembrance Sunday (London)
Nov 12 – SportsAid athlete workshop (UK, I think it was in Brentford but I’m not sure)
Nov 13 – Royal Variety Performance (London)
I hope this post doesn’t seem biased in favor of either woman, I was just trying to look at the numbers.
Thank you for your research ! so actually, they had quite the same number of engagements, but, as I said befor, Charlene is the wife of the sovereign (not sur how to say it in english…) when Kate is only the number 3 (after Prince Philip and Camilla)…
I like Kate a lot but didn’t approve the lack of work (I don’t know if it’s her fault or not, I’m ready to wait until she’s Princess of Wales !) and I’m happy to see her more lately !
And I really like Charlene too, because she seems so sweet and kind, but I really think that she is lazy. She said she wanted to do thnigs “her way”, but “her way” is not a lot…
PS : concerning Charlene :
“July 29 – received honor from Italian ambassador (Monaco)
July 30 – received family tree from Irish ambassador (Monaco)”
it’s not really something she did for others…
The Monaco royal website doesn’t have a court circular like the British one does, so I’m actually not sure what counts as official work and what doesn’t. But these two things were in the “news” section of the website, so that’s why I added them.
Yes, Charlene is the wife of the reigning Prince of Monaco (I’m not sure if they call it a sovereign in Monaco, since he’s titled Prince instead of King), which means she should have more appearances than Kate. The fact that she’s actually done less than Kate surprises me.
I, too, am glad Kate has been working more lately.
You’re English is great, by the way.
Charlene hit the ground running, even having a working honeymoon. In a country far smaller than the UK with a smaller population, Charlene was still working harder. A&C appear to have had a difficult time getting pregnant and her twin pregnancy is taking a lot out of her. Yes, Charlene is working less now because of the pregnancy – but that does not negate all the work she was doing before she got pregnant.
I think it is important to recognize the differences in overall workload and “issues” too:
UK
Population: 63,742,977
GDP – per capita (PPP): $37,300
Unemployment rate (adult): 7.2%
Unemployment (youth ages 15-24): 21%
Population below poverty line: 16.2%
Monaco
Population: 30,508
Unemployment rate (adult): 2%
Unemployment (youth ages 15-24): 6.9%
GDP – per capita (PPP): $85,500
Population below poverty line: basically 0%
Overall, there is much more work/charity to be done in the UK. Recognizing this, A&C have done work outside of Monaco as well, leveraging the (sometimes shady) money of Monegasques for charity in other parts of the world.
When comparing other royal houses it’s always important to take into account how much the monarch works, and how much the royal partner in the relationship works. It’s all relative. I’ve been looking into Princess Stephanie of Luxembourg and she only has two patronages after two years of marriage (and only recently did an appearance on her own)… but her husband, the Hereditary Grand Duke, only has six patronages after, like, a decade of working as a royal. Luxembourg is so much smaller that Stephanie naturally wouldn’t work as much as someone from the UK.
Well if her pregnancy involved IVF treatments, which some people claim, she could have had down time dealing with those. I’ve never thought of her as being particularly lazy because I feel that I see more of her than I do Kate.
Charlene’s? But wouldn’t the treatments have been months before she announced the pregnancy? If she was 3 months at the end of May, when would she have conceived? She went to the Winter Olympics in Feb, vacationed sometime after that without Albert if I remember correctly, and then was working again by March 1, worked the first week or so in March, took a break and was at the Rose Ball by the end of March. And she worked a number of days in April. She worked a few days in May as well.
While I think she was a fashion hit, I am more impressed with her work! More stories like this please!