Denmark's First Princess Born into the Royal Family Since 1946

Denmark has a new royal, as the newest member of the royal family came into the world on Saturday, April 21^st at a hospital in Copenhagen. Born to the Crown Prince Frederik and Princess Mary, the dark haired little princess was 7 lbs 4 oz and was 20 inches long. The big story is that the new addition is the first princess to be born into the royal family since 1946!

The new princess is third in line for the Danish throne, after her father Prince Federik and her older brother Christian. The palace in Copenhagen reported that both the mother and the child are healthy and doing well. The baby's name will not be released until after her baptism, which will probably occur in June before the summer holidays. There is talk that she may be named after her grandmothers, Mary's mother Henrietta and Frederik's mother Margrethe and his grandmother Ingrid. Traditionally Danish royalty have four names. For now she is called "lille pige", translated as "little girl" by her parents, and "baby" by her 18 month old brother Christian. The Crown Princess Mary reported that her "lille pige" is a very good baby, and that her older brother Christian is already showing brotherly love to his new sister.

Mary, who was born Mary Donaldson in Hobart, Tasmania, hinted that there might be more little princes and princesses in the future, but not too soon! Prince Frederik and Princess Mary met in Austrailia during the 2000 Olympics at a bar, and married 4 years later at Copenhagen's Lutheran Cathedral. The happy family had even more reason to celebrate; Queen Margrethe recently celebrated her 67th birthday!

Denmark's royal family is steeped in history, dating all the back to vikings. They are in fact the oldest royal family in Europe, which was brought into existence in the 10^th century by a Viking King named Gorm the Old. He and his son brought unity to Denmark, and their successors would one day rule Sweden, England and Norway. The actual empire itself fell apart in 1035 after King Canute's death, but the descendents of this family continue to rule in the beautiful country of Denmark to this day.

Interesting fact: Constantine of Greece (the last king of Greece) married Anne-Marie, who was a Danish Princess, in 1964. She was his third cousin and the sister of Margrethe II, who is the current queen of Denmark.