Crown Princess Mary of Denmark has given birth to a baby boy who is second in line to the Danish throne, after his father and heir to Europe's oldest reigning monarchy Crown Prince Frederik. Gun salutes reverberated throughout Copenhagen, Denmark’s capital, to mark the royal arrival. Australian-born Mary delivered her child two weeks before her due date, though both mother and child were doing very well, royal aides reported. Frederik was by her side at the birth and was visibly moved by the experience. He said, “It is a tremendous joy. It is impossible to describe.” The couple has not yet named their bundle of joy, but it is expected they will follow tradition in calling him Christian. Danish kings are alternately called Christian or Frederik.

The birth of the new prince continues this enchanting and modern day fairy tale. The princess was born as Mary Donaldson, an Australian commoner. She was a real estate agent when she met the Danish Prince in a bar during the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. Romance quickly blossomed and the dashing prince swept his future princess off her feet in a whirlwind courtship. The two married in May 2004 in a lavish wedding at Copenhagen Cathedral, attended by royalty and dignitaries from around the world. She is the first Australian to become a European princess. Australian Prime Minister John Howard sent his congratulations to the couple but did not have any suggestions for a possible name. “I don't want to provoke any diplomatic incidents,” he joked.

WARM-UPS

1. BOY OR GIRL? If you had a baby, would you prefer a boy or a girl? Why? What are the differences between boys and girls? What would you name the baby? What names would you definitely not consider?

2. MOVING UP IN THE WORLD: Which of the following people do you think it would be best, most interesting or most exciting to marry? Talk about the advantages and disadvantages of each choice with your partners.

A prince or princess A billionaire business person Your favorite sports star Your favorite actor or singer

The leader of your country An explorer A supermodel An English teacher

3. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words are most interesting and which are most boring.

Princesses / Denmark / baby boys / monarchies / tremendous joy / tradition / baby names / fairy tales / 2000 Sydney Olympics / royal weddings /  congratulations

Have a chat about the topics you liked. For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently.

4. FAIRY TALE: In pairs / groups, create a modern day fairy tale about a prince or princess and a commoner. After you have finished, change partners and tell your stories. Encourage each other to change your stories to make them more enchanting and wonderful.

5. PRINCE: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word “prince”. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

6. ROYAL BABY OPINIONS: In pairs / groups, talk about what you think of these opinions on Denmark's royal baby:

1. Wonderful. It makes a whole nation happy.
2. Who cares? It doesn’t change our lives in any way.
3. Royal babies show how unfair today’s world is – not everyone is created equal.
4. Third world babies die without anyone knowing their names.
5. The whole question of royalty is out of date. Privilege should end.
6. A new royal baby ensures the wonders of history and tradition continue.
7. Another mouth to feed from the taxes common people pay – most unfair.
8. It’s good to have some nice news for a change. I’m tired of bad news.
9. Your opinion __________________________________________________.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):

a.	A Danish princess has married a Spanish prince.	T / F
b.	Gun salutes echoed around Copenhagen to mark a new royal arrival.	T / F
c.	A Danish prince missed witnessing the birth of his child.	T / F
d.	Danish kings are called either Christian or Frederik.	T / F
e.	The birth of a prince continues an enchanting, modern day fairy tale.	T / F
f.	A dashing prince swept his future princess under the carpet.	T / F
g.	A royal couple had a simple, quiet wedding in 2004.	T / F
h.	Australia’s leader provoked a diplomatic incident over a baby’s name.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

a.	throne	emotional
b.	reverberated	baby
c.	tremendous	start
d.	moved	echoed
e.	bundle of joy	romance
f.	enchanting	delightful
g.	blossomed	crown
h.	courtship	VIPs
i.	dignitaries	terrific
j.	provoke	flourished

3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):

a.	second in line	courtship
b.	heir to Europe's	day fairy tale
c.	both mother and child	oldest reigning monarchy
d.	visibly	his future princess off her feet
e.	follow	were doing very well
f.	enchanting and modern	any diplomatic incidents
g.	the dashing prince swept	to the Danish throne
h.	a whirlwind	tradition
i.	attended by royalty and	moved by the experience
j.	I don't want to provoke	dignitaries from around the world

AFTER READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words in the column on the right into the gaps in the text.

A new prince for Denmark

Crown Princess Mary of Denmark has given birth to a baby boy who is second in ________ to the Danish throne, after his father and heir to Europe's oldest ________ monarchy Crown Prince Frederik. Gun ________ reverberated throughout Copenhagen, Denmark’s capital, to ________ the royal arrival. Australian-born Mary delivered her child two weeks before her ________ date, though both mother and child were doing very well, royal ________ reported. Frederik was by her side at the birth and was visibly moved by the experience. He said, “It is a tremendous joy. It is impossible to describe.” The couple has not yet named their ________ of joy, but it is expected they will follow tradition in calling him Christian. Danish kings are ________ called Christian or Frederik.		bundle reigning aides mark line alternately salutes due
The birth of the new prince continues this ________ and modern day fairy tale. The princess was born as Mary Donaldson, an Australian ________. She was a real ________ agent when she met the Danish Prince in a bar during the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. Romance quickly blossomed and the ________ prince swept his future princess off her feet in a whirlwind courtship. The two married in May 2004 in a ________ wedding at Copenhagen Cathedral, attended by ________ and dignitaries from around the world. She is the first Australian to become a European princess. Australian Prime Minister John Howard ________ his congratulations to the couple but did not have any suggestions for a possible name. “I don't want to provoke any diplomatic ________,” he joked.		sent dashing commoner royalty enchanting incidents estate lavish

LISTENING

Listen and fill in the spaces.

A new prince for Denmark

Crown Princess Mary of Denmark has given birth to a baby boy who is ________ ___ _____ to the Danish throne, after his father and heir to Europe's oldest __________ monarchy Crown Prince Frederik. Gun salutes ______________ throughout Copenhagen, Denmark’s capital, to mark the royal arrival. Australian-born Mary delivered her child two weeks before her ____ _____, though both mother and child were doing very well, royal aides reported. Frederik was by her side at the birth and was visibly _______ by the experience. He said, “It is a tremendous joy. It is impossible to describe.” The couple has not yet named their ________ of joy, but it is expected they will follow tradition in calling him Christian. Danish kings are ________ called Christian or Frederik.

The birth of the new prince continues this __________ and modern day fairy tale. The princess was born as Mary Donaldson, an Australian __________. She was a real estate agent when she met the Danish Prince in a bar during the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. Romance quickly __________ and the dashing prince swept his future princess off her feet in a __________ courtship. The two married in May 2004 in a __________ wedding at Copenhagen Cathedral, attended by royalty and dignitaries from around the world. She is the first Australian to become a European princess. Australian Prime Minister John Howard sent his congratulations to the couple but did not have any suggestions for a possible name. “I don't want to __________ any diplomatic __________,” he joked.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘baby’ and ‘boy’.

• Share your findings with your partners.
• Make questions using the words you found.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

• Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the gap fill. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

5. STUDENT “MONARCHY” SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about monarchies and their role in the 21^st Century.

• Ask other classmates your questions and note down their answers.
• Go back to your original partner / group and compare your findings.
• Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

6. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall exactly how these were used in the text:

second oldest salutes aides tremendous alternately

modern day commoner blossomed lavish John Howard joked

DISCUSSION

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

1. Did the headline make you want to read the article?
2. What do you think of the news of Denmark having a new prince?
3. What do you associate with Denmark?
4. What do you know about the Danish royal family?
5. Do you agree with the idea of monarchies?
6. What kinds or roles should a monarchy play in today’s society?
7. What do you think of this fairy tale, modern day romance?
8. Do you think the couple should stick to tradition and call their baby Christian?
9. Have you ever been swept off your feet or swept anyone off their feet?
10. Would you like a lavish wedding?

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

1. Did you like reading this article?
2. What do you think about what you read?
3. Would you like to be a member of a royal family?
4. What kind of life will the new baby have?
5. Is the birth of a baby in your country greeted with such national attention and affection?
6. Do you think it is unfair that even though God creates all people equal, this baby will have an extremely privileged life?
7. Do you think royals do enough to warrant being given taxpayers’ money?
8. Have you ever had a whirlwind romance?
9. When was the last time you experienced tremendous joy?
10. Did you like this discussion?

AFTER DISCUSSION: Join another partner / group and tell them what you talked about.

1. What question would you like to ask about this topic?
2. What was the most interesting thing you heard?
3. Was there a question you didn’t like?
4. Was there something you totally disagreed with?
5. What did you like talking about?
6. Do you want to know how anyone else answered the questions?
7. Which was the most difficult question?

SPEAKING

GUARDIAN: You are the legal guardian of the new Danish prince. It is your job to make decisions about his future. In pairs / groups, discuss and make decisions on the areas in the left hand column regarding the upbringing and life of the new prince. State your reasons in the right hand column.

AREA	DECISION(S)	REASON(S)
Name
Roles and duties in life
Schooling
Hobbies and interests
Relationships
Careers
Sources of income
Other

Change partners and tell each other the decisions you made and the reasons behind them.

Decide which of your decisions are best.

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find more information on the new Danish prince. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson.

3. LIFE: Make a poster outlining the kinds of lives two different babies born today might lead. One baby is the newborn Danish prince. The other baby was born at the same time in a poor village in Sudan. Show your posters to your classmates in your next lesson. Did you all describe similar things?

4. DIARY / JOURNAL: You are the member of a royal family. Write the entry in your diary / journal for one day in your life. Show what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all write about similar things?

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. F

b. T

c. F

d. T

e. T

f. F

g. F

h. F

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	throne	crown
b.	reverberated	echoed
c.	tremendous	terrific
d.	moved	emotional
e.	bundle of joy	baby
f.	enchanting	delightful
g.	blossomed	flourished
h.	courtship	romance
i.	dignitaries	VIPs
j.	provoke	start

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	second in line	to the Danish throne
b.	heir to Europe's	oldest reigning monarchy
c.	both mother and child	were doing very well
d.	visibly	moved by the experience
e.	follow	tradition
f.	enchanting and modern	day fairy tale
g.	the dashing prince swept	his future princess off her feet
h.	a whirlwind	courtship
i.	attended by royalty and	dignitaries from around the world
j.	I don't want to provoke	any diplomatic incidents

GAP FILL:

A new prince for Denmark

Crown Princess Mary of Denmark has given birth to a baby boy who is second in line to the Danish throne, after his father and heir to Europe's oldest reigning monarchy Crown Prince Frederik. Gun salutes reverberated throughout Copenhagen, Denmark’s capital, to mark the royal arrival. Australian-born Mary delivered her child two weeks before her due date, though both mother and child were doing very well, royal aides reported. Frederik was by her side at the birth and was visibly moved by the experience. He said, “It is a tremendous joy. It is impossible to describe.” The couple has not yet named their bundle of joy, but it is expected they will follow tradition in calling him Christian. Danish kings are alternately called Christian or Frederik.

The birth of the new prince continues this enchanting and modern day fairy tale. The princess was born as Mary Donaldson, an Australian commoner. She was a real estate agent when she met the Danish Prince in a bar during the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. Romance quickly blossomed and the dashing prince swept his future princess off her feet in a whirlwind courtship. The two married in May 2004 in a lavish wedding at Copenhagen Cathedral, attended by royalty and dignitaries from around the world. She is the first Australian to become a European princess. Australian Prime Minister John Howard sent his congratulations to the couple but did not have any suggestions for a possible name. “I don't want to provoke any diplomatic incidents,” he joked.

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