Prince Christian of Denmark celebrated his 18th birthday in style this past weekend, with royals from around Europe gathering at Christiansborg Palace in their finest gowns and tiaras. After the night ended, however, the Palace discovered one guest had left behind a sparkling heel.
"Is it Cinderella who forgot her shoe last night? 👠" the official Kongehuset posted. "When the guests at Her Majesty The Queen's gala dinner went home yesterday, this lonely stiletto shoe was left at Christiansborg Castle. The owner is welcome to contact us to get it back."
Danish media set out to find the mysterious owner of the shoe, and yesterday, they soon discovered her: 18-year-old Anne-Sofie Tørnsø Olesen. Young people from all over the country were invited, so Olesen was there representing Egedal Municipality. She revealed she left the shoe on purpose, but not with the intent of meeting Prince Christian. "It was meant to be a fairytale ending à la Cinderella," she told Se Og Hør. "I thought it was a bit funny myself, and I talked to my family and friends about it before, and they agreed that I should do it. It's a chance you won't get again."
At the end of the night, when she dropped her stilleto, someone quickly returned it to her, so she had to try again. "I thought that it simply couldn't be and that I had to get it, so when my friend and I left the palace down the stairs, I dropped it and hurried to leave so that no one could stop me," she told Danish television TV2.
She told Ekstra Bladet in another interview, "I'm single. I don't have a boyfriend. But that's not why I did it. I thought it was funny, and then it was also because there is so much war out there in the world. So it was just cool to think about the good times that are in life. So you can have a little hope and a little joy."
Olesen said she has yet to hear from the Palace about getting her shoe back, but isn't too concerned; all she hoped is that people would smile when they saw the story.
Emily Burack (she/her) is the Senior News Editor for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, culture, the royals, and a range of other subjects. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma, a Jewish culture site. Follow her @emburack on Twitter and Instagram.