A lifeguard in Australia has received the gratitude of the Danish royal family after he rescued Denmark’s 10-year-old Prince Christian, who had been dragged into the surf by a dangerous underwater current at a popular holiday beach. 
 
 Unaware that he was saving the heir to the Danish throne, Nick Malcolm rushed into the water on Thursday after spotting the boy was in trouble while swimming just offshore at Mermaid Beach on the Gold Coast in Queensland. 
 
 Mr Malcolm paddled back with the prince and returned him to the care of Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark, and Australian-born Princess Mary. 
 
 Prince Frederik thanked the lifeguard, who later said “oh, ok” and returned to his patrol. 
 
 Despite being hailed as a hero and pursued by the international media, Mr Malcolm has refused to comment on the incident. 
 
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 Warren Young, the Gold Coast chief lifeguard, said Prince Christian was a “good little swimmer” and did not panic as a strong rip dragged him into deep waters. The boy had been swimming between the flags which ensured he was in a patrolled area. 
 
 "The rip was pretty strong so he [Mr Malcolm] only had to paddle 10 metres [33 feet],” Mr Young said. 
 
 “He said 'do you want a lift in?' and the boy jumped on and away they went… He was fine and his parents thanked the lifeguards as they left the beach. It was all really low key. He didn’t know who it was until someone said ‘Oh that was the royal family from Denmark’ and Nick said ‘Oh ok’.” 
 
 Photo: Alamy Australia’s beaches can have notoriously dangerous currents, or rips, which kill far more people than sharks and have been labelled the nation’s “silent beach killer”. About 20 people die each year due to rips across Australia; in Queensland, 78 people have drowned at beaches in the past decade. 
 
 Experts said the rip that dragged Prince Christian away from the shore was a “flash rip”, which can occur during wave surges, and that the incident highlighted the need to swim in patrolled areas. 
 
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 Photo: Rex Features "Prince Christian - he may have been caught in a little pulse, in something called a flash rip," Dr Robert McCarroll, from Sydney University, told ABC News. 
 
 “It just highlights how important it is for younger swimmers and less confident swimmers swimming in a patrolled area… Even if you do get into trouble like the Prince, you'll get rescued very quickly." 
 
 The royal family, including Prince Christian and his three younger siblings, have been holidaying in Queensland and will travel to the island state of Tasmania to visit Princess Mary’s family. 
 
 The 43-year-old Princess, formerly Mary Donaldson, famously became a member of Denmark’s royal family after meeting her husband at a bar during the Sydney Olympics in 2000. 
 
 Mr Malcolm was back patrolling the beach on Monday. 
 
 "Council hasn't gagged Nick at all if he wants to talk,” Mr Young said. 
 
 “I guess he's overwhelmed by I guess the attention and you know, I guess that's just the way he is. All the guys are feeling for him because his phone is going off the hook all the time, so I think it is just a bit daunting for him. He's back at work and he's doing what he's good at." ||||| A Gold Coast lifeguard has saved the life of the 10-year-old heir to the Danish throne. 
 
 Prince Christian of Denmark, the eldest son of Princess Mary and Prince Frederick, was plucked from the surf by lifeguard Nick Malcolm while swimming with his family, 7 News Queensland has reported. 
 
 The 10-year-old was rescued from the waters of Mermaid Beach on Thursday, after being swept off his feet and out to sea by a strong current. 
 
 His Australian-born mother had clearly heeded the message of her childhood, luckily for her first-born. 
 
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 Link Camera-shy Gold Coast lifeguard Nick Malcolm has declined to comment on his high-profile rescue. Photo: 7 News Queensland 
 
 She, her husband and her four children were all swimming between the flags at the time. 
 
 7 News reported on Sunday that Mr Malcolm paddled his board out to pull the 10-year-old to safety, after spotting him in trouble. 
 
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 The lifeguard's supervisor, Stuart Keay, said he saved the youngster's life. 
 
 "We got him before it got too serious, but he wouldn't have come back in," he said. 
 
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 Link Prince Christian sitting alongside his younger sister, Princess Isabella. 
 
 Mr Keay said Mr Malcolm had no idea who he had saved until a fellow beachgoer came to tell him. 
 
 The boy's father, Prince Frederick, personally thanked him for the rescue. 
 
 Mr Malcolm is originally from Mairangi Bay in New Zealand but is based on the Gold Coast while he trains full-time in surf lifesaving sports and works as a lifeguard. 
 
 In January 2014, Mr Malcolm helped to save the life of another tourist at the same beach. By the time Mr Malcolm got to the 68-year-old man, he had gone under water, but he managed to flip him over and get him back to shore. 
 
 The man went into cardiac arrest and Mr Malcolm, along with Mr Keay, spent 30 minutes working on the patient until paramedics arrived. 
 
 The tourist was taken to hospital but recovered and later met his rescuers to thank them. 
 
 Danny Morrison, Mairangi Bay Surf Lifesaving Club's head of surf sports, said Mr Malcolm was quiet and "pretty laid back", and had carried out a standard rescue when pulling the prince to safety. 
 
 "What you'll find is what he did happens on a daily basis...," Mr Morrison said. 
 
 "People are pulled out of rips all the time and nobody says a word. 
 
 "They just get back on the beach and do it again." 
 
 The Danish Royal Family has been holidaying on the Gold Coast for the past few days, with Princess Mary and Prince Frederick spotted with their brood at theme park Dreamworld. 
 
 Tasmanian-born Princess Mary was also spotted shopping with her two girls, princesses Josephine and Isabella, at the Marina Mirage shopping precinct on Saturday. 
 
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 With stuff.co.nz
– A lifeguard on Australia's Gold Coast saved a 10-year-old boy from rough waters Thursday, except it wasn't just any 10-year-old boy: It was Denmark's Prince Christian, on vacation with his family, 7 News Australia reports. The young heir to the throne was caught in a riptide at Queensland's Mermaid Beach, and when Nick Malcolm saw the boy struggling, he dove into the ocean, per the Telegraph. Chief lifeguard Warren Young says that Christian, the son of Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary, was a "good little swimmer" who was hanging out in the lifeguard-monitored area between beach flags and who didn't freak out as he started getting dragged into deeper waters. Malcolm paddled out on his board, pulled the boy up, and brought him back to shore. "We got [the prince] before it got too serious, but he wouldn't have come back in" without Malcolm, another of the lifeguard's supervisors tells 7 News. Prince Frederik, who had been swimming nearby with Princess Mary and Christian's three siblings, personally thanked Malcolm, a native New Zealander, the Times notes. But Malcolm didn't realize at first who was doing the thanking. "He didn't know who it was until someone said, 'Oh, that was the royal family from Denmark,' and Nick said, 'Oh, OK,'" Young tells the Telegraph. This wasn't Malcolm's first beach save, either: In January 2014, he pulled a 68-year-old tourist from the water and helped with lifesaving efforts until medics arrived, the Brisbane Times reports. (A Florida lifeguard was fired for saving a drowning man.)