Prince Christian of Denmark (Christian Valdemar Henri John), born 15 October 2005, is the son of Crown Prince Frederik and his wife, the Australian-born Crown Princess Mary.
As their firstborn child, Prince Christian is second-in-line to the Danish throne, and will become the heir apparent when his father ascends the throne as king (or dies). Since the 16th century, firstborn sons of Danish monarchs have traditionally been named Frederik or Christian alternately (with a break for Margrethe II, who comes after one Frederik, her father, and presumably before another, her son).
Prince Christian was born in Rigshospitalet, the Copenhagen University Hospital, at 1:57am. [1] He was healthy with an apgar score of 10 (out of 10) after 1 minute. At birth, he weighed 3.5 kg (7.7 lbs) and was 51 cm (20 ins) long. At noon on the day of his birth, 21-gun salutes were fired to mark the event. At the same time, public buses and official buildings hoisted Dannebrog. At sunset later that day, beacon bonfires were put on fire all over the country, while Naval Home Guard vessels lit their searchlights and directed them towards the capital.
Prince Christian was shortly hospitalised on 21 October 2005 because he suffered from neonatal jaundice, a usually harmless illness and a fairly common one (especially in premature births). The first photographs of the then 3-day-old boy showed a yellow tinge to his face and hands. The prince was examined by doctors and underwent blood tests, then spent time in a light box under special coloured light rays to break down the Bilirubin substance which causes jaundice, before his parents took him home again the same day. He has made a full recovery.
Name and baptism
Prince Christian was baptised on 21 January 2006 in Christiansborg Palace Church [2] by Bishop Erik Norman Svendsen. Christian has eight godparents. They are Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, his wife Crown Princess Mette-Marit, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, Prince Joachim of Denmark, Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece (Frederik's cousin, son of Queen Anne-Marie), Jane Stephens (Mary's oldest sister) and two friends of the couple, Jeppe Handwerk and Hamish Campbell. His various forenames were chosen for the following reasons:
If Prince Christian becomes king as expected, he will be known as King Christian XI of Denmark.
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