By Camille BAS-WOHLERT

A fan of football and e-sports, 18-year-old Prince Christian of Denmark’s carefree youth is set to change dramatically when his father becomes king on Sunday and he becomes crown prince.

With a relaxed demeanour and a welcoming smile, the young prince has spent most of his childhood and adolescence outside the spotlight, as Danish media largely respected his private life.

But with his father ascending to the throne after 83-year-old Queen Margrethe’s abdication, the future crown prince is set to take on more royal responsibilities.

“Nothing will be normal anymore for Prince Christian,” Cecilie Nielsen, royal correspondent for public broadcaster DR, told AFP.

“He will be the first in line (to the throne) and the first to represent his father when he’s away, so he is very much closer to the front line,” Nielsen added.

Crown Prince Frederik, who will take the title of King Frederik X on Sunday, and his Australian-born wife Mary sought to give their children as normal a childhood as possible.

Christian, the eldest of four siblings, was enrolled in a municipal daycare, a first for a member of the royal family.

He then attended a public school in Hellerup, a chic suburb of the Danish capital.

“It was a huge break with tradition,” expert Simone Kirstine Hansen told broadcaster TV2.

That was followed by a one-year stay at a posh Danish boarding school, whose prestige was tainted by a hazing scandal.

Anxious to preserve his image, Christian was transferred to a state-run high school, from which he is expected to graduate at the end of this year.

The royal court has yet to provide any information about his future academic pursuits, but he could follow in his father’s footsteps by first completing his military service.

– ‘Proud to serve my country’ –

On November 14, Christian signed a so-called “solemn declaration on abiding by the Constitution,” at a meeting of the Council of State which included the government and his grandmother, Queen Margrethe.

The signing paved the way for him to become an active working member of the royal family, able to serve as regent if his father is absent or unable to perform his duties as king.

“I am proud to serve my country,” he said at a dinner celebrating his 18th birthday in October.

“I’m going to give everything I have, and I’m going to learn everything I can,” he added.

He promised “not perfection … but dedication”.

Queen Margrethe has also publicly declared her faith in her grandson.

“His grandmother is proud of him. Prince Christian told it like it was,” she said in her televised New Year’s Eve address where she announced her plans to abdicate.

“Today, young people dare to show that they can also lack self-confidence. This openness is a force that we can admire and from which we can draw inspiration,” she said.

– Prince of sports –

The prince, whose full name is Christian Valdemar Henri John, was born on October 15, 2005 at Copenhagen’s Rigshospitalet hospital.

Three months later, he was baptised in the Christiansborg Palace Chapel in the Danish capital.

Christian has eight godfathers, including his uncle Prince Joachim and the heirs of the royal houses of Norway and Sweden and one of his aunts on his mother’s side, Australian Jane Stephens.

The prince has cultivated an image of a typical teenager who loves sports and going out with friends.

He has proven himself as a runner in the “Royal Run”, a race created by his father to encourage exercise.

He also skis, sails and plays tennis and football. The prince is an avid supporter of FC Copenhagen and the national squad, often seen attending matches.

Like many in his generation, Christian also loves e-sports and even invited professional gamers to his recent birthday dinner. –Agence France-Presse