Denmark Royal Family

He survived weeks in total darkness, days as cold as 53 below, the isolation and deprivation of six months above the Arctic Circle, and the ultimate indignity of a visit from Mom and Dad bearing cakes and comfort. But what Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark faces upon returning home from his dog-sledding adventure in northern Greenland may prove a trial beyond his now-proven mettle: the expectations of the Danish citizenry that he will settle down and prepare himself to become king.

The age of aristocratic adventures and royal derring-do largely died out with whalebone corsets and dueling pistols, but Danes are getting a glimpse of a modern prince taking on Mother Nature through a four-month expedition to Greenland beamed home over the Internet and television.

Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and five expedition companions fired off flares in celebration as they completed a 2,200-mile Arctic dog-sled trek through northern Greenland's coldest regions.