The first thing that strikes you about Princess Benedikte of Denmark is that she wears her royalty rather lightly. Accessible and friendly, she is easy to talk to and on a visit to Chennai last week she talked in some detail on issues as diverse as horse riding, skiing and religious extremism. At the end of the interview one was amazed to find that one did not have to prefix every sentence with ‘Your royal highness’! If this was possible, it has a lot to do with the fact that as a child she was brought up in as less an ostensible manner as possible. When asked to comment on why royalty should be so popular in countries like Denmark or Thailand, while receiving brickbats in some others, she says simply, “That may be because we try not only to mingle with the people but also have very close contact with our people.” This was one of the reasons why she and her siblings went to a public school.
That was in the 1950s and, believe it or not, they actually walked the distance of nearly 2 km to school and walked back too! The walk to the school took 21 minutes and “we had to walk regardless of whether it was raining or snowing. There were very few exceptions when we were allowed to take a car.”
The tall and slim regal woman, who became patron of the World Diabetes Foundation last March, loves to exercise and keep fit. “Which is good because I am a patron of this organisation and we all know that people with diabetes need to exercise to keep the condition under control.” Her dream for the future is for a more peaceful world and here she gives the example of the girl guide movement with which she is closely associated.
“At international gatherings, when you see children from all over the world—different countries and different communities—what strikes you is that all of them get along so wonderfully well... and it does not matter if they are Christians, Hindus or Muslims. They all relate at an equal level. Princess Benedikte participated in a meeting of the Diabetes Research Foundation in Chennai and also visited the Arvind Eye Hospital in Madurai, with which she was most impressed.
Excerpted from an article by Rasheeda Bhagat with permission from The Hindu Business Line dated March 22, 2004.