Prince Christian of Denmark

Prince Christian
Count of Monpezat
Prince Christian on his first day of school in August 2011
Born	(2005-10-15) 15 October 2005 (age 11) Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark
Full name Christian Valdemar Henri John
Father	Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark
Mother	Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark
Religion	Church of Denmark

Prince Christian of Denmark, Count of Monpezat (Christian Valdemar Henri John; born 15 October 2005) is the elder son and eldest child of Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary. He is a grandson of Queen Margrethe II and her husband Prince Henrik. He is second in the Danish line of succession, after his father. His sister Isabella is immediately after him in the line of succession.

Prince Christian was born at 1:57 am in Rigshospitalet, the Copenhagen University Hospital, in Copenhagen on Saturday, 15 October 2005. At noon on the day of his birth 21-gun salutes were fired from the Sixtus Battery at Holmen in Copenhagen and at Kronborg Castle to mark the birth of a royal child. At the same time, public buses and official buildings flew the Danish flag, the Dannebrog. At sunset on the same day beacon bonfires were lit all over Denmark, while Naval Home Guard vessels lit their searchlights and directed them towards the capital. Bonfires were also lit in celebration in Australia.

Christian was hospitalised briefly 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 6-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. His parents took him home again the same day and he made a full recovery.

Christian was christened on 21 January 2006 in Christiansborg Palace Chapel by Bishop Erik Norman Svendsen. Christian's godparents are his paternal uncle, Prince Joachim of Denmark; his maternal aunt, Jane Stephens; the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Norway; the Crown Princess of Sweden; the Crown Prince of Greece; and two friends of the couple: Jeppe Handwerk and Hamish Campbell. He was named Christian Valdemar Henri John, continuing the Danish royal tradition of alternating between the names Christian and Frederick in direct line.