How a bar room romance put a Scot on the throne of Denmark

He was the first Danish royal to complete an Iron Man triathlon – a 2.4-mile swim followed by a 112-mile cycle and then a marathon. Perhaps most arduously, in 2000 Frederik took part in a four-month, 2,175-mile skiing challenge. He has been hospitalised by scooter and sledding accidents, and in 2016 he broke his back trampolining with his son. Since 2018 he has organised the Royal Run, an annual running event across the country, akin to if Prince Charles were the master of Parkrun.

None of this is to say that Frederik lost his taste for the good life. The same year as his skiing odyssey, during the 2000 Olympics he met his wife, Mary Donaldson, at the Slip Inn, a pub in Sydney. Frederik was with his younger brother, Joachim, his cousin Prince Nikolaos of Greece and Denmark, and Princess Martha of Norway.

A report from the Sydney Morning Herald says the group fell into conversation about chest hair. “We were allowed to touch Prince Frederik and Prince Nikolaos,” Donaldson’s friend Beatrice Tarnawski was quoted as saying. “I liked Prince Frederik best because he was so smooth. Prince Nikolaos had a lot of hair and that really wasn’t my type.”

Donaldson, then 28, the daughter of two Scottish academics who emigrated to Australia for work, had no idea the group were so blue-blooded. “The first time we met, we shook hands and I didn’t know he was the crown prince of Denmark,” she said in an interview in 2003, when she and Frederik got engaged. “An hour or so later someone came up to me and said, ‘Do you know who these people are?’”

They were married in 2004, after a romance that began in secrecy. Frederik would make clandestine trips to Australia to see Donaldson; the relationship only came to light in 2001, after they had been together for several months. When it did, the press was smitten with the fairy tale of a royal marrying a commoner.

In turn, the future queen of Denmark endeared herself to the people by learning Danish. Donaldson and Frederik have four children: Christian, Isabella, Vincent and Josephine, who have mostly been educated at public schools. Sebastian Olden-Jørgensen, a historian, told AFP that Frederik and Mary are “modern, woke, lovers of pop music, modern art and sports”.

Frederik’s reputation for luxuriousness took a hit last year, however. In October, paparazzi photographed him on a night out in Madrid, taking in an art exhibition, dinner and a flamenco show with the jauntily named Mexican socialite Genoveva Casanova, sparking rumours of an affair. Casanova stridently denied the accusation, posting a letter on Instagram criticising what she called “malicious” reports.

Like other monarchies, the Danish royal family has made efforts to modernise. In 2022, Margrethe shocked the country – not to mention her family – when she stripped Joachim’s four children of their royal titles, downgrading them from princes and princesses to counts and countesses. She said the move was vital to streamline the royal family and “future-proof” the institution, but it came as a shock to Joachim and his wife Marie, who were only given a few days’ notice. In an interview, Marie described their relationship with Margrethe as “complicated”.

Margrethe said in a statement, “I have made my decision as queen, mother and grandmother, but, as a mother and grandmother, I have underestimated the extent to which much my younger son and his family feel affected. It is my duty and my desire as queen to ensure that the monarchy always shapes itself in keeping with the times. Sometimes, this means that difficult decisions must be made.” In 2016, she had said that of Frederik’s four children, only the eldest, Christian, who will become the new heir, will draw an annuity from the Danish state.

She has now made another difficult decision with her abdication. In a 2022 speech marking Margrethe’s half-century on the throne, Frederik paid tribute to his mother. “When the time comes, I will guide the ship,” he said. Now he has been handed the tiller sooner than he might have expected. Even as he aims to keep it “relevant”, Frederik, the master yachtsman, must now show that he can sail the ship of state smoothly too.

Goddamn, he's hot for a 55 year old.

He and the 55 year old King of Spain are both smokin'.

Frederik always had a boyish cuteness about him.

The Crown Prince was banging a needy, Spanish socialite and got caught by the press. Now the "OLDE" Queen is abdicating the throne to keep the new Queen married to her adultering, cheating pig of a son. The new King.

R5, she isn't a Spanish socialite. She is a middle upper class Mexican social climber whose mother, Mariana González-Reinmann, managed to ingratiate herself with Cayetano Martínez de Irujo, the Duchess of Alba's youngest son, to whom she had given the title of Duke of Arjona. The Duchess of Alba was the aristocrat with the highest amount of nobility titles in the world (5 dukedoms, 18 marquisates, 20 countships, 1 viscountship, 1 countship-dukedom and 1 Grand Stewardship), and sat on a patrimony worth $5 billion.

Not surprisingly at all, in 2003 Genoveva and her sister were sent by their mother to "study" Art History in Spain, and she asked her "friend" if he could welcome her daughters in his palace and show them around. Genoveva rapidly managed to snag him up and during a trip to Amsterdam, announced that she was pregnant and refused to have an abortion when Cayetano requested it, because she was 'deeply Catholic'. So he married her to prevent a scandal, basically.

They divorced in 2007 and she moved on to Mario Vargas Llosa's son Gonzalo, with whom she travelled to Stockholm as part of MVG's retinue when he received the Nobel prize in 2010. When she realized that Gonzalo didn't have that much money, she moved on to José María Michavila, a JP Morgan banker and former Minister of Justice under the notoriously corrupt PP government (2000-2004). She also tried to get it on with the singer Luis Miguel, but he refused to formalize anything with her.

She met Frederik during a series of hunting trips in Switzerland, Austria and Germany, which are organized by outrageously wealthy people and have one trait in common: very rich men can go on these trips as long as they don't bring their wives along. They can, however, bring "friends" or meet the many "incidental guests" who are there to enhance the trips' ambiance (I guess that after needlessly slaughtering animals, a sociopath needs to fuck some strange). That is where Genoveva charmed Frederik and well, the rest is whore-story.

By the way, it's likely that Genoveva manipulated the situation to make all of this public and force Frederik's hand, because she's basically been living far beyond her means for the last 15 years and is in desperate need of money. Clearly, she has played her cards wrong and embarrassed everyone involved.

That's a crazy story, R6!

If all of these royals and aristocrats know that she's nothing but a gold-digging whore, why is she even invited to these events?

And how could Frederik even get mixed up with her, knowing that she's nothing but trouble?

She's not bad looking, though.

R7, just like his best friends and cousins Felipe of Spain and Pavlos of Greece, Frederik is notoriously stupid, weak and dull and loves whores. The three of them were particularly wild during their youth and their liking for escorts is well known. In fact, Felipe fell in love with one of those escorts (the hideous and vulgar Eva Sannum), and forced his parents to accept the ugly, bitchy and trashy Letizia as a daughter-in-law, in revenge for their refusal to allow him to marry a common prostitute like Sannum.

Pavlos was luckier because his father's banker friends hooked him up with the obnoxious Marie Chantal, whose slum escapee Ecuadorian mother demanded that all her daughters marry men with noble or royal titles. She came with a $200 million dowry and saved the Greek royals from living on the verge of poverty. By the way, Maria Clara Pesantes Becerra, Marie Chantal's incredibly trashy and horrid mother, has a crazy life story. She was born and lived most of her youth in Mapasingue, one of Guayaquil's most dangerous and poorest slums, and managed to travel to the US as an illegal immigrant, where she married Robert Miller when he was a penniless travelling salesman. He then created a Duty Free empire in the early 60s and they became billionaires, but while he was lower middle class, she comes from the gutter - literally.

Anyway, Frederik was madly in love with another beautiful blonde, lingerie model Katja Storkholm, which scandalized his parents. They forced him to break up with her by saying that Danish monarchs cannot marry Danish nationals in order to avoid political conflicts, so he went to the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000 in order to win a medal (the dream of his life), and that's where he met Mary while getting drunk in a bar. I guess she must be exceptionally good in bed, because he did fall in love with her in the beginning and believe me, he had PLENTY of experience with prostitutes. Mary was extremely unpopular with both Queen Margrethe and Henri, but she has produced a male heir and several spares, not to mention that she's been able to successfully manage Frederik's stupidity, so they ended up liking her more than they liked their own children. Still, I guess that old chap Freddie cannot live without his blond hos and when Genoveva opened her legs, he couldn't say no.

As an addendum, I will say this: I cannot believe how trashy royal families are. It's shocking to think that these idiotic sleazes would get money from the rest of us just by virtue of being born.

Nicely done, R8.

I love your stories!!!

Thanks to your information, I googled the three cousins, and I can understand why they were so naughty when they were younger.

All three were HOT, and YOUNG, and RICH and they were all around the same age.

That they were playboys, comes as no surprise.

I'm also finding these interesting "Royal Confessions" in my searches.

This one implies that there is a bit of a split between Pavlos and Felipe, and also their wives.

Not surprising.

Letizia probably doesn't want Felipe to have anything to do with Pavlos, since Pavlos seems to be the ringleader in getting them into trouble.

And then there's this...

I want Fredrick to sit on my face

Fred has a reputation for being a selfish diva who can't stand the attention being taken from him. There's a video of him and Mary being interviewed and he embarrasses his wife for talking.

[quote] Fred has a reputation for being a selfish diva who can't stand the attention being taken from him

He doesn't look like it.

Frederik has a very sweet face.

I'll bet he has a big, uncut Danish dick too!

Preppie realness.

As part of the coronation we should be able to see his uncut staff in all its glory.

I hear that his oldest daughter is a real bitch, and screams at her mother in public.

That’s a surprise, R17. Most mothers and their teenage daughters get along unbelievably well.

Speak of mothers, daughters, and even the Spanish royals, here’s a clip of Letizia trying to start shit with her Mother-in-Law. In a church.

[quote] Princess Mary’s heartbreak: Isabella out of control!

From Princess Margaret to Princes Andrew and Harry, it seems every generation of royals has at least one rebellious member, typically the “spare to the heir”. And now, Princess Isabella of Denmark appears to be joining their ranks.

The 14-year-old, who is currently third in line to the Danish throne behind her father, Prince Frederik, and brother, Prince Christian, recently made headlines when she was caught snapping at her mother, Princess Mary, during Christian’s confirmation.

In the viral video, the Danish royals can be seen lining up for photographs. A frustrated Isabella is then overheard telling Mary, “I was supposed to go with Grandma … Don’t you get that?”

In another sign of her fiery independence, last month the teen attended a major event without her parents, turning up to the opening of Mate Bike’s flagship store in Copenhagen with two pals.

Royal historian Oskar Aanmoen tells New Idea that Isabella has a “strong personality” and isn’t afraid to show it, even when in public.

“[Isabella] is clearly one of the most independent women in the Danish royal family,” Aanmoen explains. “She always has a quick reply waiting and appears fearless in most settings, even though the cameras are aimed at her.”

Mary was reportedly left heartbroken that her eldest daughter spoke rudely to her at such a public event. And, Aanmoen believes Mary, 49, would have had some stern words for Isabella after the event. But as every parent knows, it can be difficult to reprimand a wilful teen.

“I am sure Mary talked to her daughter about this when the cameras were gone.”

Meanwhile, Isabella’s paternal uncle, Prince Joachim, recently opened up about the struggles of being a second-born royal, as the duties of the firstborn, and eventual heir, are defined from birth.

In an interview with French magazine, Point de Vue, Joachim, who is a year younger than Frederik and now sixth in the line of succession, admitted: “Between us, it is more complicated. The Crown Prince simply has to follow the course of events. However, nothing is defined for the second-born son.

“My father became acquainted with the same dissatisfaction and never managed to get his place in the royal family pinned down. But it is not always easy. I experience the same dissatisfaction as my father. We have to find out for ourselves, while staying within the role of number two in the row.”

Now, Mary is concerned that Isabella may be acting out as a result of her position – and this could be just the beginning.

“When Isabella is as strong and independent as she already is, one can only imagine what a strong figure she will be in the future,” says Aanmoen, adding that the Danes love her rebellious streak. “Most people think it is a bit refreshing.”

Isabella looks like a BRUTE!

She tries to steal the limelight in photos, even from her grandmother the Queen.

Little does she know that when her father becomes King, the firstborn son Christian will become Crown Prince, and fat Isabella will get the shaft, like her Uncle Joachim.

Bye, Isabella!

Isabella should go scorched earth and tell her mom, “Dad’s mistress is so much cooler.”

Marry me r6/r8! Brilliant, please continue in our future royal threads. Love the fabulous details.

I thought though that Eva Sannum was a 'pal' of the other standing member of the royal heir hottie gang of the 90s/aughts, Haakon of Norway. He used to be close to Felipe, and introduced them (Eva is Norwegian I believe? and a lingerie model - shades of Frederik's Katja). I do recall that he was heartbroken to have to break up with her, as his parents forbid marriage with her; this led to his firm insistence on keeping his next gf, Letizia, going as far as threatening to drop out of the succession if he couldn't marry her.

I recall he was also upset he had to dump his earlier serious flame, Isabel Sartorius, who was also found unacceptable as a mate due to being a Spanish commoner. This though she was descended from his Spanish nobility (the Grandees) and had great lineage, even if she later admitted her mother was a drug addict for a time. That's how he ended up with Letizia, because his parents kept turning up their noses at every serious gf he brought home.

r6 what do you think of the story of Letizia and her brother-in-law? True, half true, total fabrication?

The Danish Royal Family is BROKE! That's why they can't afford annuities or grants for the lesser royals.

And enough with this "rule" and "reign" nonsense. The Danish monarch has no power under their constitution. He or she is basically a low-paid mascot they trot out to the airport when VIPs come by.

Isabel Sartorius aged horribly!

Felipe did much better, with Letizia as Queen.

In fact, Letizia outshines both Eva Sannum AND Isabel Sartorius....

The Danish monarch, like all other figureheads, do have a lot of "soft power" whereby they represent Denmark and Danish interest/industry at home and abroad. It's not about their net worth, it's about the standing, profile and influence. Plus they have fabulous palaces there, their home palaces in Copenhagen to me are so much nicer and people-friendly than say, Buck Palace or Zarzuela in Madrid.

R27 What "industry?" Legos? Tinned herring?

Can someone please provide a summary translation of this article? It sounds juicy!

[quote] El 'infierno' que vivieron Eva Sannum e Isabel Sartorius con su exnovio, el rey Felipe VI

El rey Felipe VI encontró al amor de su vida en 2002, cuando conoció a Letizia, quien sería, años después, su mujer y la madre de sus dos hijas. Pero antes, el monarca tuvo otras relaciones sentimentales que, obviamente, no llegaron a buen puerto.

Dos de las novias más conocidas de Felipe VI fueron Eva Sannum e Isabel Sartorius. Ambas tuvieron una relación de años con el hijo del rey emérito Juan Carlos, y cada una vivió su particular infierno. La primera, durante su relación con él; y la segunda, antes, durante y después de su noviazgo ‘real’.

A continuación, y cuando se cumplen 20 años del nacimiento del amor entre Felipe y Letizia, actuales reyes de España, echamos la vista atrás para recordar qué ocurrió con las dos exnovias más famosas del monarca.

Un año antes de caer rendido ante Letizia, que en aquel momento era periodista y trabajaba en TVE, el rey Felipe VI estaba saliendo con Eva Sannum, quien por aquel entonces tenía sólo 25 años, nueve menos que el monarca.

La modelo noruega vivió un auténtico infierno durante los cuatro años que duró su relación: era acosada día y noche por los reporteros, que viajaron hasta Oslo –donde vivía– para seguirla, fotografiarla e intentar obtener declaraciones suyas.

«En el 98, ella apenas podía salir de su casa sin que la jauría de periodistas y fotógrafos se le echaran encima», asegura el periodista español Miguel Mielgo, quien lleva más de cuatro décadas trabajando en Noruega y que fue uno de los primeros en destapar el romance entre la joven y el entonces príncipe.

El noviazgo entre ambos fue seguido –y tergiversado– por la prensa rosa de la época, que poco a poco comenzó a ensuciar la imagen pública de Eva Sannum, publicando noticias falsas como un romance entre ella y el rockero Inger Ingebrigtsen.

«La campaña mediática de desprestigio y acoso a Eva Sannum, provocó que millones de españoles comenzaran a odiarla, sin tener ni idea de quién era ella realmente», detalla Mielgo. España no la quería y la Familia Real tampoco, pues no se publicaba nada bueno sobre ella, a pesar de que no se le conoció ningún novio antes de Felipe.

Los padres de la joven estaban muy preocupados por la situación que estaba atravesando su hija. No comprendían por qué la prensa española llevaba a cabo ese acoso, ya que en Noruega los reporteros mantienen las distancias siempre. El padre de ella, Björn Sannum, llegó a decir que ya era «demasiado».

Durante todos los años que fue seguida, Eva nunca tuvo un mal gesto con los reporteros ni una palabra más alta que la otra. Pero años después, en 2017, se atrevió a hablar de lo sucedido durante su noviazgo con el rey: «Ser perseguida y observada fue extremadamente devastador para mí. No tenía privacidad y me volví absolutamente loca. Fue un milagro que aquello no me destruyera», dijo a un diario noruego.

El tiempo pasó y Eva Sannum siguió con su vida. Conoció al publicista Torgeir Vierdal y ambos comenzaron una relación que dura hasta el día de hoy y que afianzaron con el nacimiento de sus dos hijos.

En cuanto a su carrera, dejó el modelaje. Actualmente trabaja como consultora de Comunicación y le va bastante bien. De hecho, tiene un palacete valorado en 1,6 millones de euros y, sobre todo, mucha tranquilidad.

Antes de Eva Sannum, el rey Felipe VI salió con la aristócrata Isabel Sartorius. Ambos mantuvieron una relación sentimental entre el año 1989 y 1991. Durante aquel periodo, la madrileña, que en aquel entonces tenía 24 años (tres más que el rey) tocó el cielo.

Well, whatever industry there is in Denmark. That's my point, regarding the royals. It's true of all of the standing figurehead monarchs.

Denmark is Europe's third largest oil producer, for example.

La hija de Vicente Sartorius Cabeza de Vaca, marqués de Mariño, e Isabel Zorraquín, contó en sus memorias (Por ti lo haría mil veces), publicadas en 2012, lo mal que lo pasó durante los tres años que estuvo con el príncipe.

Igual que le ocurrió después a Eva, Isabel también vivió acosada por la prensa, algo que ella tilda como «insoportable»: «En una ocasión tuve que escapar en el maletero del coche, y una vez publicaron una agenda personal que tenía y que encontraron en las bolsas de basura. El acoso de la prensa es el peor recuerdo que guardo de esos años», asegura en el libro.

Al margen de este infierno, Isabel Sartorius tiene palabras de agradecimiento para con el rey Felipe, pues le aportó «mucha paz y tranquilidad», ya que estaba pasando por una mala época: «Llegó un príncipe azul. No era un chico de 21 años corriente, era el príncipe de las películas, el que llega a tiempo al rescate. Me ayudó a que las emociones no me arrollaran».

Lo cierto es que la licenciada en Ciencias Políticas no ha tenido una vida fácil. Durante años ha estado luchando con un trastorno de codependencia que le provocó la triste niñez y adolescencia que vivió por la adicción a las drogas de su madre, quien también sufría depresión. En 2009 falleció, y antes de ello le pidió perdón a toda la familia.

Isabel, por su parte, encontró el amor de nuevo con el economista madrileño Javier Soto Fitz-James, con quien estuvo hasta 1997. En aquel año nació la única hija de la exnovia del rey Felipe VI, llamada Mencía.

Tras su separación, la aristócrata sufrió una profunda depresión en 2002, se incendió su casa, perdió a su padre y engordó muchísimo, como resultado de su enfermedad. Después vinieron tiempos mejores y ella siguió buscando el amor. Primero con Gerardo Lorenzo, luego con el empresario Fernando Ballvé Lantero y posteriormente con el expresidente de Telefónica, César Alierta, con quien rompió en febrero de 2021. Esta es la última relación que se le conoce a Isabel, quien trabajaba hasta hace relativamente poco en la Fundación Telefónica.

Letizia, como vemos, llevó mejor el interés de la prensa, o ésta, quizá, fue más considerada con ella.

[quote] In fact, Felipe fell in love with one of those escorts (the hideous and vulgar Eva Sannum), and forced his parents to accept the ugly, bitchy and trashy Letizia as a daughter-in-law,

That story's rich.

Who could ever be uglier or bitchier than Felipe's mother Sofia, and who could be trashier than his grifting whoring father Juan Carlos?

[quote]And enough with this "rule" and "reign" nonsense. The Danish monarch has no power under their constitution. He or she is basically a low-paid mascot they trot out to the airport when VIPs come by.

Well, whoever said "rule" is wrong, but you're every bit as wrong yourself to quibble with "reign."

Ipso facto, a monarch reigns.

[quote]What "industry?" Legos? Tinned herring?

Ozempics's maker pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk is a Danish company.

Denmark is also big in SHIPPING and SHIP BUILDING.

The video of the Spanish royal fam squabble at r18 is a hoot. Good God, such ban manners in public! I felt sorry for Felipe, having to run over to the scene to disentangle his mother, daughters and wife, in front of so many people and cameras. Juan Carlos looks on, shocked.

I get Martha Louise vibes from young Isabella. They even look a bit alike, they are distant cousins, after all. As long as Izzy doesn't start speaking to angels and hooking up with shady American New Age shamans, she'll be ok.

ban= bad in r36^^

[quote] As an addendum, I will say this: I cannot believe how trashy royal families are. It's shocking to think that these idiotic sleazes would get money from the rest of us just by virtue of being born.

As a royal you cannot win. William and Kate are models of family life and dress unflashily and lead mostly quiet lives, and yet Dataloungers bitch endlessly about them (especially Kate) for being boring. Then came the rumor that William was cheating on Kate with Rose Cholmondeley, and he's instantly treated as if he's trash. Then that story disappeared, and people complain again about how boring he is.

And speaking of unrealistic standards...

[quote] I hear that his oldest daughter is a real bitch, and screams at her mother in public.

A sixteen-year-old girl, fighting with her mother in public?? Why, I have never heard of such a thing!!

[quote] A sixteen-year-old girl, fighting with her mother in public?? Why, I have never heard of such a thing!!

Indeed.

Wait until that monstrous beast Charlotte starts kicking her mother Kate in the CUNT!

Just business as usual for royals, I guess.

R40 The future Princess Royal is going to be as headstrong and as unfortunate looking as the current one.

I've used Scott on the throne for YEARS.

[quote] I've used Scott on the throne for YEARS.

Oh yeah?

Well my dick smells like a ROSE.

[quote] She's not bad looking, though.

You have your answer r7. Beautiful women willing to do ANYTHING have strong appeal to str8 men of every strata.

Fred is good-looking for a total, but I have never found him remote attractive. He looks kind of like an Ewok.

Eva Sannum has man jaw. And poor Isabel Sartorius would be treated like Bridget Fonda if she were a U.S. celebrity.

How do you know all these things, r6/8? Do you devour gossip magazines from several European countries?

Point de Vue and Billed Bladet are some of the findest reading around, r46. There's more out there than the Fail, Sun, and NY Post.

Now Crown Prince Christian is funny lookin’. He looks like a big, jolly Trump brother thanks to his hair, chin and small mouth.

[quote] Now Crown Prince Christian is funny lookin’. He looks like a big, jolly Trump brother thanks to his hair, chin and small mouth.

He didn't get that from his father.

Frederik is handsome.

Mary, on the other hand, is not very attractive.

And Christian looks GIGANTIC next to his tiny father.

I wonder what Freddie saw in her?

CP Christian is fairly tall, he now towers over both his parents. Gets it from his grandmother, the Queen, who is supposedly 6 feet. Her father was also rather tall iirc. Frederik is tiny in comparison to the rest of his family, although I don't think his father had a lot of height.

Frederik liked Mary's spunk, ambition, decent figure, middle class upbringing and ability to generally keep her mouth shut in the early days of their romance. No one knew about her for a couple of years. Most importantly, she was foreign-born and raised, a pre-req for Danish heirs. Tasmania is pretty far away from Copenhagen - more distance for any bad news or past scandals to travel.

At R20 Christian looks like a carbon copy of his mother, unfortunately.

The younger son favors the dad, but in pic at R49 he looks like a tiny, weasely Pete Buttigieg.

R51 How dare you! My Peter has chiseled good looks!

Does anyone here actually think that entitled twat actually earned all those medals he’s wearing on his silly little outfit in OP’s link?

Congratulations to Crown Princess Mary. I hope this Queen of Denmark gig works out better for you than it did for me.

All hail the Bogan Queen.

The male royalty in Denmark wear those nutty Cap’n Crunch hats. I love those.

R55 you must be so grateful to your bitter jealous friends on RoyalDish for teaching you the term “bogan”.

Well done!

All these posts with great gossip about the younger royals, and Mary and Fred's 2000 Sydney meeting, and hardly a word about the biggest gossip that came out from that time: that Mary and her Slip Inn pals had set their sights on the royals, knowing full well who they were, and bagged Fred's hot Greek cousin Nikolaos first before moving onto Fred himself!

This was well-discussed back on DL around the time of their 2004 wedding (yes, I'm dating myself here). It's too bad those threads aren't archived, there was a ton of good stuff there. Also about Felipe's fling/relationship with Goop Paltrow, how it went down and how his cousins helped it along.

Oh FFS R58 is RoyalDish shut down today? Best that you head back there.

It's no surprised that the descendants of horrible monarchs from our history are now horrible people too.

When we will have the first royal couple to meet online?

The current generation of crown princesses and younger kings seem entirely dependent on their wives for their popularity and ability to function in a public role.

What industry?

Clearly, someone is not a fat whore.

At least Mary is more accomplished than She Who Shall Not be Named. She actually held real jobs and doesn't have ambitious parents.

Royal Dish is interesting for their prejudices - they trash Mary as inbred and ill educated (neither of which is true) but leave Maxima of the Netherlands (father was a member of Argentinian junta), Letitzia of Spain (divorced) and Mette-Marit of Sweden (single mother and self confessed drug user) alone.

It must be her previous nationality.

I find it refreshing that the woman Fred allegedly cheated on Mary with is rather age appropriate - late 40s - instead of 25.

Have you seen his mother? He clearly wasn’t raised valuing youth and beauty.

[quote] Does anyone here actually think that entitled twat actually earned all those medals he’s wearing on his silly little outfit in OP’s link?

Of course, he earned those medals.

(I'm convinced that Anne wears the military uniform so that she doesn't have to pick out a dress.)

R66. Ummm. Frederik’s mother was not always in her 80s. People age, including mothers.

Margrethe was not bad looking in her prime. Six foot blonde milkmaid looks.

r59 this is Datalounge, where we mindlessly gossip about all kinds of famous people, all day every day. No one needs to head anyplace. Take your elderly tut-tutting elsewhere. My grandmother was more fun than you.

Those threads on Frederik and Mary's meeting at the Slip Inn were DL gold, there was some good dish there from the Sydney crowd IIRC.

R70 - reading for comprehension is always helpful. I was commenting on Royal Dish, not on Datalounge.

You dumb fuck.

You're a very unhappy elder-type person who keeps trying to shove people "back" to other forums, when they're perfectly fine here. You need to re-read what was said. And your language is gross. Tut-tut.

Any gays among these Danish?

[quote]R6 what do you think of the story of Letizia and her brother-in-law? True, half true, total fabrication?

Why no one in DL is talking about this??

r27's mention of their palace brought back memories of my lovely visit to Copenhagen in 2016. The palace, Amalienborg, might be better described as the royal subdivision. It's four houses on a circle.

Wasn't one of the women on the Bravo show "Ladies of London," part of the Danish Royal Family?

I think her name was Caroline, or something.

She let the other women stay at her family's huge estate in Denmark, and it was gorgeous.

Pretty much all of the younger royals are now just half-royal, half-commoner.

This is only just considering Danes have already been on the throne of Scotland.

Why did Margrethe prefer that her children marry foreigners instead of Danish women?

Caroline Fleming was on Ladies of London, she was born a Danish baroness and hails from one of the oldest prominent families in Denmark. She is also pals with CP Mary, who was godmother to one of her children.

R78. It predates Margarethe. It happened almost automatically in the past when royals were expected to marry other royals.

That's her, R80.

Caroline Fleming. Thanks!

Her estate is named "Valdemars Slot," and it's beautiful.

I liked Ladies of London. It was better than the Housewives shows.

R77. Yes. But so was Elizabeth Ii who was more regal than most.

[quote]Pretty much all of the younger royals are now just half-royal, half-commoner.

Very true. Does it matter? We won't know until we see the next generation take over, who have all of these commoner mothers (or fathers, in the case of Sweden).

Sofia and Juan Carlos were so adamant that Felipe marry another royal/demi-royal, they used to throw get-togethers with suitable potential mates to push Felipe in this direction; of course it didn't work, he wouldn't bite. I recall some of the invitees were the likes of his distant cousins the daughters of the late Duke of Calabria: Ines, Victoria, etc. Very attractive and modern-educated, they would up good friends with Felipe, Pavlos, Frederik and hung around with them quite a bit, before marrying commoners themselves.

R35. There was a 70-year experiment with using a half royal, half-commoner monarch in the UK that just ended.

The Queen Mother was a commoner, but a very wealthy and high-born one. Daughter of an Earl.

Most of the new crop of younger royal heirs have mothers who were born middle class, non-noble, with no connections (Mary, Mette-Merit, Letizia). Or fathers who are the same (Daniel of Sweden). I think this is what we're talking about. I don't think it will matter much, however.

[quote] Most of the new crop of younger royal heirs have mothers who were born middle class, non-noble, with no connections (Mary, Mette-Merit, Letizia)

Interesting how you left out Kate Middleton from your list.

No matter how hard you try to pretend that she was born "Catherine the Princess," the fact of the matter is that she too is a commoner from a middle-class, non-noble background.

Her mother was a flight attendant and her father was a flight dispatcher, for fuck's sake!

Sorry!

(Oh and PS, she still has horrible middle class commoner taste)

R79 it’s not her, it’s a longstanding custom or tradition. Danish heirs do not marry Danes—they marry foreigners. Take a look at the family tree—her mother was Swedish, her father’s mother was German and so on going back.

She married a Frenchman, etc.

And not just the current heirs - the queens of Sweden and Norway, the former Empress of Japan and the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, the Queen of Jordan, the Queen of Bhutan and the late Princess of Monaco are/were all commoners. It’s not something new.

R88 you do seem to have a problem with the mother of the Princess of Wales having once been a flight attendant - what would a more appropriate career choice have been, according to you?

Even a future king needs a woman born to handle nuts and serve cold beverages.

[quote] Even a future king needs a woman born to handle nuts and serve cold beverages.

William has Rose Hanbury for that.

R58, would you mind re-serving some of the highlights of the Frederiek/Mary threads of old? I must have skipped by them at the time, but would love to know now what was discussed.

Thank you

"Scot" my eye. Mary is Australian. Her father is of Scottish heritage and likes to wear a kilt, but she is no more Scottish than Prince William, whose father does the same at Balmoral.

(If her father were black and someone suggested she was therefore African, all hell would break loose.)

P.S. R19, it is, shall we say "speculated", that New Idea makes up the majority of its stories based on whatever photos it has to make them look plausible. It has had Harry and Meghan divorcing and Jen and Brad remarrying about 20 times so far. The majority of its intelligence comes from "insiders" and "pals". In other words, on New Idea's evidence alone, Isabella could just as easily be a candidate for sainthood as a problem child.

New Idea and Woman's Day are among the worst trash slag mags in the world. Apart from Nicole and Keith, most A-listers would find appearing on their pages regularly to be appallingly embarrassing.

R88. The Queen Mother, born to a grand family, had an invincible love of kitsch.

[quote]"Scot" my eye. Mary is Australian. Her father is of Scottish heritage and likes to wear a kilt, but she is no more Scottish than Prince William, whose father does the same at Balmoral.

Blame the Telegraph for trying to glom onto a foreign royal on behalf of the UK.

R96. Mary’s father was born in Scotland, reached adulthood and married there to a woman who was also born m Scotland and reached adulthood there. That is not equivalent to be the son of someone who wears a kilt.

The condescension towards Mary’s family is bizarre. I knew her father was a professor of mathematics, but I was unaware her stepmother was a successful novelist. You could argue Mary has married down.

They don’t know what Bogans are.

Mary was an educated, type A, corporate bitch in her 20s, social, polished and self-assured. She had the practised life skills to take on learning another language and lead charities, raise children and take on the task of soft diplomacy in that language, due to the years of hard work and organisation in her 20s.

R96,

The kilt is often worn on formal occasions in Scotland. Mary’s father is Scottish, so he has every right to wear it. With Charles it’s just cosplay.

Pretty soon, it's going to feel pretty silly bowing down to royals who are 15/16 middle class in origin.

r88: I actually simply forgot about Kate when typing out my post at R87. Of course she's a commoner and belongs on that list.

D R A M A

Apparently Genoveva has inducted herself in a self-imposed exile in San Sebastian, and has turned off her mobile:

Genoveva must be really fucking stupid, only 2 years married. She got nothing in a pre-nup or settlement. Stupid fucking bitch

It's too bad Mary doesn't have the convict DNA that Aussies are known for.

[quote] No matter how hard you try to pretend that she was born "Catherine the Princess," the fact of the matter is that she too is a commoner from a middle-class, non-noble background.

She'll never be anything but a common frump whose father lived over a grocery store and whose mother took in washing!

So tired, R108. I’d ask if that’s the best that you can do but sadly, it obviously is.

^ butt hurt Aussie

^^ stupid ill-educated yank.

[quote] No matter how hard you try to pretend that she was born "Catherine the Princess," the fact of the matter is that she too is a commoner from a middle-class, non-noble background.

[quote] She'll never be anything but a common frump whose father lived over a grocery store and whose mother took in washing!

I wouldn't be surprised.

Interesting video of a parade of royals attending Prince Christian's 18th birthday gala.

OMG check out the parade of weirdos at the (marked) 25:38 point in the video.

Tattoos, trashy dresses, and trashy hairdos. That huge black kid with the afro made me chuckle a bit.

Are these kids Christian's friends? Or kids of European royalty, or what??

Some of these guests are VERY trashy.

Lol check out the skinny blond boy and his date... tons of fun!

And then there's this clueless ass hole who wore SNEAKERS to a Royal Gala with the Queen of Denmark.

Did no one read him the invitation?

Even Prince Christian did a double-take and seemed shocked by the boy's footwear.

Honestly, he should have been turned away at the door.

Even some nightclubs won't allow you in with those crappy shoes!

I ain't watching all that. I'm happy for u tho. Or sorry that happened

The clips from Christian’s birthday were interesting to watch (for a few minutes). One thing that became obvious is those were not all couples greeting him. Guests alternated between male and female…so most probably didn’t even know each other.

The young men appeared to be classmates. But the women’s relationship to him is less clear. Some were old, some were young. Most were white, but there was also a South Asian girl, black woman, and Muslim…

Mary’s parents emigrated to Australia where she was conceived, born, grew up and met the Prince. She’s Australian, not Scottish.

R103, I wasn't suggesting for a moment that Mary's father didn't have the right to wear a kilt. I was saying that his being Scottish does not make her Scottish. R120 is completely correct.

I was also pointing out that OP's remark is like saying (to Mary), "Yeah, but where are you REALLY from?" and that if she were black it would be unacceptable.

Sorry, R96 at R121.

Did any of the "demoted 1st cousins of the future Crown Prince" show up at his party?

Fuck dat shit, I would not have shown up at all!!

[quote] Did any of the "demoted 1st cousins of the future Crown Prince" show up at his party?

Yes. All of them.

They looked happy to be there.

The “parade of weirdos” weren’t Christian’s friends - each region within Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands was requested to send two representatives of Christian’s age so it wasn’t just a bunch of royals and politicians. I don’t think anybody considered that the dress code might present problems, though.

Probably in Greenland and Faroe Islands they don't have fancy shoe stores.

I once went hot river bathing with 2 Danish lesbians in Iceland. They were very nice.

Rubbish, R126. Besides they seem to have worn their traditional national dress which includes some fancy boots. It was the Danes who were pretty disheveled.

[quote] I was also pointing out that OP's remark is like saying (to Mary), "Yeah, but where are you REALLY from?" and that if she were black it would be unacceptable.

OP is just replicating the headline the Telegraph used. Your problem is with them, not him.

[quote] It was the Danes who were pretty disheveled.

Some of those girls were HUGE!!!

What do women in Denmark eat??

Not only that, but their dresses were awful, some were wrinkled, the girls and boys had horrible posture, and bad manners. Some barely curtsied or shook hands. Most of them were very awkward.

Interestingly, I noticed that the more attractive girls wore better gowns, had better posture, had better looking dates, and had good manners.

I can't get over how cute Frederick was.

He's still a handsome man, but he was downright adorable back then.

I love how he had a little bit of pudge, compared to his super thin brother.

And look at how cute and nervous he was before walking into the chapel.

Frederik is so my type!

I didn't realize that Joachim's two eldest sons were orientals, on their mother's side.

That's pretty shocking.

What’s more shocking is that you think that the word “Orientals” in describing people is appropriate, R132.

It’s hardly earth shattering that their mother is of Chinese, British and Austrian descent. Joachim married Alexandra in 1995. Do keep up.

R132. And there are some mulattos in the British royal family!

For r95 and anyone else interested in some of the stories surrounding Frederik and Mary's meet cute in Sydney: the Mail posted some repeat stuff from past interviews with Mary's Aussie pals detailing how they actually met.

In early interviews, Mary gave an alternate version about how she randomly met Fred at a local pub during the 2000 Olympics; in reality she was invited to a planned private party at the poshy Slip Inn, and knew all of the royals would be there...this piece leaves out some of the more scandalous details regarding who hooked up with who first, among that group.

Link in the next post.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

R135 you’ve obviously never been to Sydney. Nobody would describe the Slip Inn as “poshy”. It’s still there - just a CBD pub for people to go for after work drinks, get drunk and pick up.

Which is what Mary did during the Olympics - good on her, I say!

The Slip Inn is not and never was especially “posh”. And like a bunch of royals will socialising with a bunch of random Sydney slappers rather than attend a private party.

I started reading about Queen Margrethe II's husband Prince Henrik, because I didn't know much about him.

Boy, was this guy bitter.

He so desperately wanted to be titled King Henrik, but she wouldn't allow it. And he held a major grudge about that, for the rest of his life.

In one instance when Margrethe II was not able to attend an event and represent the monarchy, he had a fit when his son was chosen over him to represent the family over him. So he left the country and went to the South of France for three weeks!

And instead of being buried next to Margrethe, he decided to be cremated and have his ashes scattered.

It sounds like at the end of his life, he basically told the whole family to fuck off.

What a crazy guy!

Frederik has a tattoo on his leg. Lol.

Naughty, naughty.

Mary has earned her own living very successfully. Waity Katie was raised to marry well. She had a very expensive education;, but has done nothing with it. She is just a glorified WAG.

Henrik smelling cookies at r139!

Mary looks better in the videos than the photos.

R135: thanks! Who hooked up first?

Isabella has her eye on Christian's throne!

She's the Princess Charlotte of Denmark.

R140. If a leg tattoo os naughty, his grandfather Frederik IX was super naughty.

If you research the archives of some of the royal websites, they allude to Henrik's lovers, who they were and what his type was.

I think Queen Mary is very pretty.

R145 what was his type?

I'm curious too, R147!

R145 share some gossip, please.

It never even would have crossed my mind that Henrik would be into men.

Does anyone speak Danish?

What are they talking about here?

The new King has always been cute.

A pretty darn good video. It cuts out from time to time so just go with it.

And here's Part 2

I think Mary is lovely. She took the role of future, and now, present Queen Consort very seriously. The Danish people seem to love her.

I agree r153. She's handled herself really well all of these years, never hardly put a wrong foot forward. I think she'll be a popular queen.

One more day!

I am very excited for this accession!

R22, Felipe met Eva Sannum in Madrid in 1996, during a "private party" organized by Pedro López-Quesada, one of his best friends and the husband of Felipe's cousin Cristina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. This has been confirmed by Sannum herself in several interviews, although she conveniently left out the fact that she was flown in for the orgy alongside several other prostitutes. She claims that she was "studying" in Madrid at the time, even though she has never specified what she was studying... Probably French and Greek, is you ask me.

Moving on, Eva could not have been at university because she was a functionally illiterate escort who left school at 13, after her mother went to Greece on holiday and fell in love with a younger man, leaving her family in Norway behind. Eva's father has always worked in a fish-canning factory and he couldn't support her, so she started "modelling" at 16. 🙄 In order to save face, Felipe fabricated the story that Haakon had introduced them because she was friends with the sleazy Mette-Marit. I doubt this, because Eva's escorting placed her several rungs above a single mother on welfare who had a bastard child with a convicted drug dealer, but you never know.

Felipe's parents were scandalized, because even though fratricidal sociopath Juan Carlos LOVES prostitutes, he is conservative when it comes to marriage and wanted his son to marry someone with a title, or at least A LOT of money. Moreover, the shockingly ignorant, stupid and narrow-minded Sophia is a raging snob and wanted a high-born aristocrat for her adored son. Thus, they has several courtiers threaten Felipe with exposing Eva's colourful career, and had their lackeys in the press relentlessly attack her - thus, Felipe acquiesced and broke up with her. To compensate her, he gave her a job as a cultural attaché in the Spanish embassy in Oslo, which comes with a very considerable salary. I don't know how he justified giving such a job to a former hooker who only had an elementary education and didn't speak Spanish at the time, but alas, corruption starts with these little adjustments at the top of the social scale.

Letizia is a nasty social climber who comes from a very poor family: both branches of her family were coal miners in the very poor region of Asturias, her grandfather was a taxi driver and her parents were the first members of her family to ever step on a university (her father is a very minor journalist in Asturias and her mother is a nurse).

Letizia was a mediocre student and at 16, she started an affair with her geeky Spanish literature teacher at school, Alonso Guerrero Pérez, whom she rapidly married. He had some contacts in the Complutense University in Madrid, and he supported her during her journalism studies - as soon as she graduated and didn't need him anymore, she divorced him and went to Latin America to "hone her craft" as a journalist. She learned a lot, because she rapidly started working for the Latin American branches of Bloomberg TV and CNN+, and then returned to Spain, where she entered the government's TV channel RTVE and started fucking Ernesto Sáenz de Buruaga, then Head of the News Department. That is how she got to be one of the channel's star presenters.

Letizia met Felipe during his escapades in the bohemian Malasaña quarter in Madrid, and she was one of his many fuckbuddies (he may have been in love with Eva, but that didn't prevent him from having fun - at the time, he was even fucking Gwyneth Paltrow). I have no idea how Letizia managed to snag him up, but many people say that to this day, he is fascinated by the fact that she is incredibly mean, bitchy and domineering toward him, who until he met her was accustomed to having everyone fawn all over him and go to ridiculous lengths to please him. His parents were equally unhappy with this choice, but he threatened them with renouncing to his title as Crown Heir, and they were forced to agree to the marriage.

R22, to continue (DL wouldn't allow me to post the full message, as it was too long):

As for Isabel Sartorius, you're right: she was rejected because her mother was a raging drug addict who frequently disappeared for months at a time, and this was well known in aristocratic circles. Sofia was scandalized and refused to allow Felipe to formalize the relationship, and Juan Carlos agreed because he didn't want scandals. Thus, Felipe rapidly broke up with her and wasn't particularly heartbroken, because he had plenty of other options and Isabel has always been a meek, boring and sanctimonious prude and as I have already mentioned, Felipe likes whorish, aggressive and ambitious party girls.

Well, sorry for the long post, but there's plenty of lurid gossip among royal families.

That is some crazy gossip at R157!!!

How did you get all that dirt?

[quote] narrow-minded Sophia is a raging snob and wanted a high-born aristocrat for her adored son.

[quote] Letizia is a nasty social climber who comes from a very poor family: both branches of her family were coal miners in the very poor region of Asturias, her grandfather was a taxi driver and her parents were the first members of her family to ever step on a university (her father is a very minor journalist in Asturias and her mother is a nurse).

[quote] Letizia was a mediocre student and at 16, she started an affair with her geeky Spanish literature teacher at school, Alonso Guerrero Pérez, whom she rapidly married.

Sofia should have agreed to the Hooker or the daughter of the drug addict.

Both probably would have been nicer and more manageable than that awful bitch Letizia.

r22 here r157/r158 - thanks for the dish. So the story of Felipe 1st meeting Letty at a 'dinner party' or at the big oil spill site aren't true then. Not surprised.

What's the scoop on Nik and Tatiana then? Her background story has always been a bit shaky as well. They were a decent couple though, imo.

Hi, R159! This is all vox populi, but if you know Spanish you can go to the forum Cotilleando, where they have ALL the dirt on most royals and have ample receipts to prove it (for example, they were talking about the Noos corruption scandal in 2007 and posting articles from minor regional newspapers to track the situation, but the national press didn't publish anything 'till 2010).

You can also go to Royal Foibles' Patreon, as the owner knows A LOT of dirt.

R160, Tatiana's father Lotti Blatnik was a Slovenian engineer and penniless social climber who emigrated to Venezuela in the 50s and rapidly married an heiress of Italian ancestry in Caracas. He made a fortune by setting up gold and rare earth mineral mines in the Venezuelan and Colombian jungle with his wife's money. He also had MANY shady dealings with corrupt politicians in Venezuela, and increased his fortune by investing in oil thanks to Isaías Medina Angarita's Hydrocarbons Law, which effectively privatized Venezuelan oil. Lotti's legal front was a shoe factory (Williams Shoes, which his brother Aleksandar/Sasha managed) and he dominated the market in Venezuela, so he was known as 'The Shoe King'.

Apparently, he was insanely pretentious and desperate to be both famous and an aristocrat, so he courted many Hollywood actresses (including Natalie Wood), but eventually settled for Tatiana's mother Blanca as his mistress, because she was the daughter of the abjectly poor Countess Ellinka von Einsiedel (who, incidentally, was the cousin of the much celebrated Nazi Luftwaffe pilot Count Heinrich von Einsiedel). Ellinka is supposed to have married Ernst Bierlein in 1945 (although some sources say that they never really married), and had two children with him: Peter and Marie Blanche/Blanca. Ellinka left Ernst for the much wealthier Walter Rupprecht in 1957, and they rapidly moved to Venezuela, where there were plenty of business opportunities for anyone willing to get his hands dirty. Sadly, the marriage wasn't a happy one and Walter dumped Ellinka in 1970, leaving her in financial dire straits - which is why Blanca couldn't marry someone rich, and was reduced to being Lotti's maîtresse.

Lotti would eventually divorce his first wife and marry Blanca, setting his sights on the European jet set. He bought his way into very exclusive circles and eventually became friends with Diane von Fürstenberg - which is how Tatiana met Nikolaos. Tatiana claims that she got a job with Diane thanks to her merits, but that is untrue. She is a nepo-baby through and through and got a job thanks to la Fürstenberg's friendship with her late father, as well as the fact that Blanca still had lots of sway among the jet set thanks to her marriage to the insanely wealthy Atilio Brillembourg. Tatiana became friends with Diane's hideously ugly daughter-in-law Alexandra (Marie Chantal's sister and Alexander von Fürstenberg's then-wife), and they set her up with Nikolaos.

As for Lotti, he mysteriously committed suicide in Gstaad in 1986 and very little is known about his death, or what assets he left behind. As I've said before, Blanca rapidly got over the loess by marrying someone wealthier and more powerful. As for Ellinka, she lived in poverty until she could use her daughter's connections to marry the wealthy US businessman Peter Ordway in 1979, whose estate she inherited when he died in 2001.

So yes, Tatiana has some shady origins herself, but nothing as trashy as Marie Chantal and her "Incan Princess" mother. 🙄

As for Nikolaos, he is said to be even more stupid than Pavlos but, unlike his affable and inoffensive older brother, many people have described Nik as a rude, nasty and arrogant SOB. Still, he was a definite favourite of his father, the dumb and voraciously greedy Constantine.

Well thank you r161, for coming back to the thread to respond. Great details re Tatiana's family history. Will check out the Spanish forums you mentioned.

Nik may be meaner than Pavlos, but is he as promiscuous? Pavlos hasn't spent one day faithful to M-C, and I wonder if the two other princely brothers have followed suit.