Crown Prince Christian given another major role after family separation

Crown Prince Christian has been given another major responsibility, just days after enrolling at military school.

The Danish royal palace has listed the 19-year-old as acting as regent from Friday 7 February to Sunday 16 February, indicating that his father, King Frederik, is out of the country.

It’s not known where King Frederik has travelled or if he has been accompanied by his wife, Queen Mary.

Many schools in Denmark also take a winter break mid-February so it’s possible that Frederik and Mary are on a private holiday with their youngest children, Princess Isabella, 17, and 14-year-old twins, Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine.

Earlier this week, Frederik celebrated Denmark’s fourth world handball title, while Mary marked her 53^rd birthday on Wednesday.

The palace shared an elegant new portrait of the queen wearing a high-necked, fluted sleeved blouse and a pink lace skirt.

Meanwhile, Christian moved out of the royal family’s residence at Amalienborg Palace on Monday, to begin his military training with the Gardehusarregimentet (Grand Hussar Regiment) at Antvorskov barracks in Slagelse – about an hour’s drive from Copenhagen.

Dressed in casual clothing, the prince arrived at the barracks unaccompanied and carrying his own holdall as he checked into his dorm room.

© Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Ima

Christian is currently on a gap year after finishing high school last summer. He spent three months, from September to December, in East Africa, where he worked on two farms and learned about conservation.

He is following in his father’s footsteps, who undertook his own working visits in his youth – Mongolia in 1986 and a vineyard in California in 1989.

© Kongehuset

Frederik also completed military training in all three services, including training as a frogman in the naval elite special operations forces, Frømandskorpset.

The Danish palace has confirmed that Christian is not currently earning a wage while at the military academy.

He became Crown Prince in January 2024 following his grandmother Queen Margrethe’s abdication after 52 years on the throne.