Prince Christian was likely to have been caught in a flash rip while swimming at a beach on Queensland’s Gold Coast.

The 10-year-old Danish prince was rescued by on-duty lifeguard Nick Malcolm at Mermaid Beach on Thursday. Malcolm, however, was not aware that it was Prince Christian whom he rescued. It was a bystander who told him that he had saved the prince.

According to Dr. Jak McCarroll from the School of Geosciences at Sydney University, the prince might have been caught in a flash rip. "What this situation highlights is how important it is to swim in a patrolled area,” The ABC quoted McCarroll as saying. "Even if you do get into trouble like the Prince, you'll get rescued very quickly."

McCarroll says lifeguards put flags on beaches where there is no obvious rip channel. However, there are possibilities of occasional pulses of flash rips which may “send a pulse of water outside the surf zone.”

"As a nation, we still tend to not be aware as we should be of the risk that they pose and how best to identify them, how best to stay safe before you get in trouble, before you get in a rip current."

Crown Prince Frederick personally thanked Malcolm for saving his son. The lifeguard, on the other hand, has kept a low profile since the rescue. According to his supervisors, Malcolm might have saved the Danish prince’s life. "We got him before it got too serious, but he wouldn't have come back in," Stuart Keay told 7 News.

The royal family is on a holiday trip in Australia as they are going to visit Princess Mary’s family in Tasmania over Christmas.

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