Greenlandic Royalty

*Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, Wikimedia Commons

Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. And despite the desire to become independent, the Danish royalty are enormously popular in Greenland. The Queen loves to visit and is popular wherever she goes, which has included most of Greenland. Likewise, Crown Prince Frederik and his foreign (formerly Australian) wife are also much loved. They wear wedding rings made of gold mined from South Greenland. Before he was married, the Prince once dog-sledded in north Greenland with the Danish Sirius Patrol, and has long been in love with Greenland’s remote beauty, returning over and over.

Last week I was lucky enough to meet the Crown Prince at a formal work lunch for around twenty people. The others at the lunch were a fairly high-ranking selection of politicians, diplomats, and company executives. By contrast, I am a middle management Government beaurocrat in the same sector as the more high ranking lunchers. So I am not entirely sure why I was there. I thought it was perhaps because I am female, women being rather poorly represented amongst the rest of the group, but perhaps also because I am Australian – the Prince’s wife is from Tasmania. In any case, there I was.

I had been feeling relaxed about the whole thing, though of course interested and excited to see what he was like. But on the lead up to the event, a colleague also attending the lunch became increasingly nervous, to the point that it was wearing off on me. My main concern was the greeting. I knew that I had to greet the Prince in a very particular way, according to the proper etiquette. “It’s my pleasure to meet Your Royal Highness,” with a respectful nod and a bent knee. I was convinced that I was going to screw it up. But my colleague instructed me, trained me, I practised, and finally I was convinced that actually, yes, I could do it. I was ready.

Lunch rolled around. I was at the restaurant early. Important, suited men trickled into the dining room. We greeted each other with hand shakes and small talk. Soon people were streaming in, the room quickly filling up. There were many people to meet and, as they filed past, shaking hands, I greeted them smiling. Suddenly, I was shaking the hand of a smartly dressed, middle-aged man, a little shorter than me. He was grinning cheerfully. As we shook hands, I looked at him and realised – mid-handshake – that it was the Prince.

“Hi!” I said enthusiastically, grinning back, and he moved on with a friendly smile.

‘Dammit,’ I thought, with a sinking feeling in my stomach. I had completely screwed it up. Well, I guess he knows what Australians are like.