NordenBladet – On 7 June, Prince Joachim of Denmark celebrated his 50th birthday. In the evening, Queen Margrethe hosted a gala dinner at Christian VIII’s Palace to celebrate her youngest son’s birthday. For the first time, the Queen’s eight grandchildren attended a gala dinner. Only Prince Nikolai had attended an official dinner before, as he is the only one of the Queen’s grandchildren who is over 18.
Other royal guests included Princess Alexandra and her new husband Count Michael Ahlefeldt-Laurvig-Bille as well as Prince Nikolaos and Princess Tatiana of Greece. Princess Benedikte was not able to be at the dinner as she is attending the Danish Championships in Dressage and Para-Dressage from 7 June to 10 June.
Prince Joachim’s ex-wife Countess Alexandra also attended the dinner as well as close friends of Prince Joachim and Princess Marie such as Charles-Henri Keller, Prince Henrik’s nephew, and Francois Zimeray who isFrance’s former ambassador to Denmark. Prince Joachim’s former private assistant Søren Bo Bojesen and Princess Marie’s former lady-in-waiting Britt Siesbye and her husband Oscar Davidsen Siesbye were also there.
The Prinsens Musikkorps was in charge of the music for the evening and they performed the Prins Joachims March as well as several other classics such as Charles Aznavour’s For Me Formidable, Frank Sinatra’s Fly Me To The Moon, Nina Simone’s My Baby Just Cares For Me and G.D. Weiss’s Can’t Help Falling In Love With You. On 3 June, Prince Joachim, Princess Marie, and Crown Prince Frederik attended a birthday charity concert reflecting Prince Joachim’s love for music.
To celebrate his birthday, Prince Joachim also gave an exclusive interview to Danish magazine Billed-Bladet. In this interview, he talked about how important his wife and his family is for him and he said he would like his birthday dinner to be a celebration of their family: “I would not be here today and would not have been who I am today if it was not for my wife and children. The five of them are my everything and will always be.”
Photo: Facebook/Det danske kongehus
Featured image: Prince Joachim, Princess Marie, Prince Nikolai, Prince Felix, Prince Henrik and Princess Athena (Keld Navntoft, Kongehuset ©️)