European Royals (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Benelux, Spain etc.)

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I don't think that's the prerequisite to become a member - the order predates the colonization of India by both Denmark and Great Britain and one of the current knights is Germany's president Steinmeier. I'm not familiar with the fineprint of what the order does, though.

As far as I can tell, they don't really do anything. Only hand out the membership to heads of state etc. occasionally.


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Fun fact: The elephants are numbered and they don't make any more of them. Whenever a member of the order dies, they must return all the insignia back to the order. Usually it's not revealed who gets which elephant but when Crown Prince Christian received his, it was revealed he received the one that used to belong to his grandfather Prince Henrik.
 
Strange to be given something, only to have to relinquish it upon death.
What would happen if the Elephant gets lost?
This could be the basis of a great mystery book…

Well... I guess looking at it in a philosophical sense, we all have to relinquish our earthly possessions when we die. 🤷‍♀️

Would be interesting to know if anyone has lost their Elephant 🤔 I did find this article explaining it all pretty thoroughly

 
Well... I guess looking at it in a philosophical sense, we all have to relinquish our earthly possessions when we die. 🤷‍♀️

Would be interesting to know if anyone has lost their Elephant 🤔 I did find this article explaining it all pretty thoroughly


Ha! You brought to mind one of my favorite movies - Harold and Maude. We are only here for a short time and only borrowing the things we have in our possession.

Maude: “Well, some people get upset because they feel they have a hold on some things. I’m merely acting as a gentle reminder, here today, gone tomorrow, so don’t get attached to things.

I rather like the idea of the elephants being put back into circulation - the unique "ownership" history of each one and how meaningful that can be to the recipient. More than just a token item to be worn, it carries many lifetimes of memories and events.
 
Ha! You brought to mind one of my favorite movies - Harold and Maude. We are only here for a short time and only borrowing the things we have in our possession.



I rather like the idea of the elephants being put back into circulation - the unique "ownership" history of each one and how meaningful that can be to the recipient. More than just a token item to be worn, it carries many lifetimes of memories and events.
Early recycling, I suppose.
Plus, the bragging right. I share an elephant with Churchill, therefore I must be as great…

My hobby for the day:
One elephant was given to Emmanuel Macron

The French presidents before him:
Emmanuel Macron est le 14e président de la République française à recevoir cette haute distinction. Avant lui figurent Patrice Mac Mahon (nommé en 1869, sous le Second Empire), Sadi Carnot (1891), Émile Loubet (1900), Clément Armand Fallières (1907), Raymond Poincaré (1914), Alexandre Millerand (1920), Gaston Doumergue (1927), Paul Doumer (1932), Albert Lebrun (1933), Vincent Auriol (1950), René Coty (1955), Charles de Gaulle (1965), Valéry Giscard d’Estaing (1978) et François Mitterrand (1982).
 
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Something to be said for spontaneity imo



Nice choice of music 😊

Maybe it's the music, maybe the glimpses behind the scenes but they appear human. Emotional, nervous about going out there in front of the people not knowing if they will cheer or boo you and knowing you have a speech to get through... Christian seems to be like his mother, both can keep their emotions in check on official occasions - and maybe that is good - but Fred, Joachim and Margrethe all struggle to hold back the tears in public sometimes.
 
This must be the funniest pic in a while... :lol: It looks like the brothers are rubbing their noses together while actually Fred is not face to face with Joachim. He's actually more in front of him and already passing him but the weird angle makes it look funny.

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Add to this the weird caption DM has written: "The brothers seemed as close as ever as they sheltered under an umbrella going into parliament" :lol: They're not even under the same umbrella!
 
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