Christian was born on 15 October 2005 at 1:57 am
CET at
Rigshospitalet, the Copenhagen University Hospital, in
Copenhagen. At noon on the day of his birth, a
21-gun salute was fired from the Sixtus Battery at
Holmen Naval Base in the
Port of Copenhagen and at
Kronborg Castle in
Elsinore to mark the birth of a royal child. At the same time, public buses and official buildings flew the Danish flag,
the Dannebrog. He was baptised at the
royal baptismal font which has been used for the baptism of royal children in Denmark since 1671, and wore the
royal christening gown which was made for his great-great-grandfather,
King Christian X, in 1870. Christian's godparents are his paternal uncle,
Prince Joachim of Denmark; his maternal aunt, Jane Stephens; his father's first cousin, the
Crown Prince of Greece; the
Crown Prince and
Crown Princess of Norway; the
Crown Princess of Sweden; 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 Frederik in direct line. He received a number of presents on the occasion of his christening, including a pony called Flikflak from the
Folketing, Denmark's national parliament. On 11 September 2006,
Per Stig Møller, Denmark's Minister for Foreign Affairs, formally wrote and signed a hand-written document confirming Prince Christian's place in the
line of succession. The prince's full name, his dates of birth and baptism, and the names of his godparents were recorded as dictated by the Royal Law of 1799.
Education Christian was the first member of the Danish royal family to attend nursery school. He initially attended nursery school at Kindergarten in
Fredensborg before transferred to
Garrison Church's Congregational Kindergarten at
Sankt Annæ Plads. At the same age, his father had a nanny at the Palace to teach him rudimentary lessons. He is also the first member of the royal family to attend a public state school, in
Hellerup. The Danish court announced in October 2019 that Christian and his three younger siblings would undertake a 12-week school stay at Lemania-Verbier International School in
Verbier, Switzerland, in the beginning of 2020. The stay was cut short and the siblings returned home in March due to the intensification of the
COVID-19 situation in Denmark. In April 2021, it was announced that Christian would undertake his secondary education at the Danish boarding school
Herlufsholm, starting in August 2021. In June 2022, shortly after finishing the first year of his upper secondary education, it was announced that Christian would no longer attend the school, after recurring allegations of bullying, violence and sexual abuse at the institution surfaced in a documentary. Instead, he transferred to the public
gymnasium, . He graduated in June 2024.
Activities Christian undertook his first official engagement when he attended the opening of a new elephant house at the
Copenhagen Zoo with his grandfather,
Prince Henrik in 2008. Christian opened the elephant house by pressing a button on an interactive console. The elephants were a gift from the
King and
Queen of Thailand to the Queen and Prince Consort of Denmark on their visit to Thailand. In 2010, Christian and his grandfather revealed a portrait of
Prince Ulrik at the
Museum of National History at Frederiksborg Castle, and in 2012, also at the Museum of National History, he and
Queen Margrethe II revealed the first ever portrait of him (with his father and grandmother), commissioned for the Queen's Ruby Jubilee. He and his siblings accompanied their parents on an official visit to Greenland on 1–8 August 2014, where Christian partook in several official engagements. Likewise, he accompanied his parents on most of their engagements during the family's official visit to the Faroe Islands on 23–26 August 2018. Christian was confirmed on 15 May 2021 in the Royal Chapel of
Fredensborg Palace. On 13 June 2021, Christian accompanied his grandmother and father at the COVID-19 postponed centenary of the reunification of Denmark and
Northern Schleswig, following the route his great-great-grandfather
Christian X rode on 15 July 1920 over the old border between Denmark and Germany. Accompanying his father, Christian attended a memorial for the victims of the
2022 Copenhagen mall shooting on 5 July 2022. For the 18th birthday of Prince Christian, which marked the beginning of his royal duties, Margrethe II hosted a banquet at Christianborg Palace. In attendance were members of the Danish royal family, including Christian's parents, siblings, cousins and
Princess Benedikte, and 200 members of the Danish public youth who had distinguished themselves in sport, art and culture. Additionally, Margrethe II invited eleven members of foreign royal families –
Queen Anne-Marie of Greece, the
Crown Prince and
Crown Princess of Greece, the
Crown Prince and
Crown Princess of Norway,
Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway, the
Crown Princess of Sweden, the
Duke of Västergötland, the
Duchess of Östergötland, the
Princess of Orange and the
Duchess of Brabant. A photo was captured on the night that contained the future monarchs of Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. On 20 May 2024, Christian carried out his first solo engagement when he participated in Royal Run 2024's Brønderslev leg. On 2 September 2024, he carried out his first solo official trip abroad, visiting the
Danish athletes at the
2024 Summer Paralympics in
Paris,
France. ==Military service==