As patron of the Danish Refugee Council, it is Crown Princess Mary’s duty to be involved in and bring attention to its projects as much as she can. This Sunday, Mary was in Viborg to do just that.
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In cooperation with Viborg’s focus on refugees, the Council is setting up a campaign called “The World’s Refugees” and the Crown Princess was there to see just what it does.
Mary met with 152 students who spent a day living under similar conditions as refugees do in Liberia. She also met with a Rwandan family, the Nkubanas, in Volunteer Hall.
The mother in the family was pregnant with twins when she and her family had to flee Rwanda. They had also taken in four other children who were without parents. Mary ate lunch with the family.
She then attended by a large art auction where the profit goes to the campaign.
Mary is expected to attend a gala dinner in Viborg to help support the Danish Refugee Council.
The Crown Princess has been involved in the Council since she married into the Danish royal family. In 2008, Mary spent a few days in Uganda to see firsthand on how refugees in that area live.
Denmark’s Princess Marie opened the Tønder Festival in the town that bears its name Friday. The festival is a major music event in the country, and it attracts musicians from all over Europe.
Hans Chr. Gabelgaard/JV.dk
Marie became patron of Tønder in 2009 and she has been opening the festival ever since.
“It’s great to be back. Last year I was visiting the Tønder Festival, and I was very impressed with the event. I look forward to another festival with great music. Have a good festival for everyone,” said the smiling Princess.
This year’s event includes Irish performers Caladh Nua with violinist Lisa Butler.
As Princess Marie walked around the festival’s main site, she met with many musicians. She was even given a CD from 14 year old Phillip Madsen Eskesen, whom admitted he was a little tense meeting Marie. But he ended up describing her as “clever.”
In Hornsens Monday, Denmark’s Princess Marie gave a speech on poverty and social exclusion among children. It took place at City Hall Square as part of a conference linked to children’s issues.
hsfo.dk/Martin Ravn
“This is a topic that is well worth addressing not only in Denmark,” the Princess began. “The number of children in Denmark living in poverty is on the rise. Not least among children of immigrant families who are not from Western or other highly indusrialised countries. The financial crisis hardly helps either.”
“Poverty is of course not only about being fed and clothed and have a place to live,” she continued. “For children the social contacts and comparing yourselves with other children is very much an issue too.”
“Poverty is also about not being able to afford social medias, like phones, computers and whatever children use nowadays to stay in touch. It’s also about not being able to afford to go on holiday, something children of course discuss among themselves.”
“It’s also about the children wearing cheap clothing, because the parents cannot afford otherwise. It’s also very much about not being able to afford having your child join a sportsclub or other clubs, where the social interaction is extremely important.”
“These may seem fairly trivial problems seen from the outside and they are – except for the children. If there is one thing children do not want, it’s to feel left out,” Princess Marie concluded.
Former Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher is quite known for his foul mouth and foul attitude towards royalty – at least in his country. But on Thursday, he got a chance to meet Denmark’s Crown Princess Mary during Copenhagen’s Fashion Week, where the rocker was displaying his clothing line.
UFFE KONGSTED OG THOMAS GRAVERSEN
The meeting seemed to catch Gallagher off guard.
“You are bitchin’. She looks beautiful. We have big noses, big ears, and things like that. The royal family of England interest me not at all,” Gallagher told Denmark’s BT.
“I have not met them, and I do not like. They are ugly.”
The Crown Princess had stopped by to see his collection, Pretty Green. Upon meeting her, Gallagher shook and kissed her hand, and even made an attempt to bow.
He also congratulated Mary on her pregnancy and even tried to get her to buy some of his clothes. “She can get discounts on Pretty Green. She can get 50% discount.”
Although Gallagher was impressed by the Australian-born royal, Crown Princess Mary didn’t seem to be as equally impressed with his fashion line.
“I do not think it was particularly rock ‘n roll,” she told reporters after the Pretty Green show.
Denmark’s Crown Princess Mary made her first public appearance since announcing Friday she is pregnant with twins.
She emerged for the 500th anniversary celebrations of the Danish navy in the Copenhagen harbor, wearing a beige dress that didn’t display much of a baby bump. With her were two eldest children, Prince Christian and Princess Isabella.
When asked about her pregnancy, Mary said “I and my husband are quite unusual happy. And I feel good, but I am indeed tired once in a while.”
She also said that having twins is “very exciting” and it “was a really huge surprise.”
When journalists asked Mary’s two children about their future siblings, 4 1/2 year old Christian shyly pointed at his mother’s tummy and said, “babies”, while 3 year old Isabella held up two fingers.
On Saturday, Denmark’s Princess Marie was in the town of Bogense, on the island of Funen, for its annual rose festival.
John Fredy/Fyens.dk
It was at this festival that she baptized a rose named the “Princess Marie.”
Crowds waited for hours to see the Princess, who was like cherry on the cake for the festival. She emerged from her car smiling and waving to the people, who snapped away with their cameras.
Mayor Morten Andersen welcomed Marie and conducted the rose’s baptism ceremony at city hall.
After that, the Mayor and the Princess walked through the streets of Bogense where she saw more flowers for the festival.
At one point, Marie was asked about her sister-in-law, Crown Princess Mary’s pregnancy. She responded that it was “lovely.” When asked she herself would have anymore children, Marie said, it would be lovely, “but not right away.”
Friday was day of ups and downs for Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II. First came the announcement that her daughter-in-law, Crown Princess Mary was pregnant with twins. Then came the downside when the Queen attended the funeral of a longtime friend of hers – and the Norwegian royal family – Countess Ruth of Rosenborg.
Claus Bech Andersen/BT.dk
Queen Margrethe arrived smiling at Skovshoved church in Klampenborg, though it is likely that smile was meant to hide her sadness.
On the contrary, Norway’s Queen Sonja and her two children – Princess Martha Louise and Crown Prince Haakon – looked very somber. Martha Louise reportedly wept during the service since she was close to Countess Ruth.
Ruth was married to Prince Flemming of Denmark, who had to give up his royal title because his wife was a commoner. The two became Count and Countess of Rosenborg.
Flemming was a first cousin to Norway’s King Harald V, and in this way, Ruth became close to the Norwegian royal family. She even attended the weddings of Martha Louise and Haakon, and the christenings of their children. Since 1948, Ruth had often spent Christmas with the family. Her last visit to Norway was for Queen Sonja’s 70th birthday.
Born Alice Ruth Nielsen in 1924 in Copenhagen, the Countess grew up in a wealthy family. She married Flemming in 1949, and had four children with him: twins Axel and Birger born a year after the wedding, a son in 1952 and a daughter in 1955.
Count Flemming died in 2002 at the age of 80. His widow mourned her husband, as well as the many royals she met during her long life.
Countess Ruth of Rosenborg was 86 years old at the time of her death.
Yes, you read that headline correctly – Denmark’s Crown Princess Mary is going to be mother again, and this time to twins!
Amalienborg Palace announced Friday that the babies are due in January 2011.
When Mary’s brother-in-law Prince Joachim was asked Friday about the pregnancy, he said “Wonderful news. Absolutely wonderful”.
He added: “You become really happy for such good news and you become even happier for double-good news”.
It was Crown Prince Frederik who told Joachim about it at Gråsten recently.
“He was more than ordinarily happy when he said it. It’s great that he can give the good news to those closest to him. Now the whole family is somersaulting with joy. I see the same joy in his eyes, as I experienced myself, when I became a father”.
He ends by telling that he looks forward to seeing how the twins will look like.
Congrats to Frederik, Mary, Christian and Isabella!
The American magazine, Vanity Fair, unveiled its Internati0nal Best Dressed List for 2010 Tuesday. Among the fashion conscious people in the world was Denmark’s Crown Princess Mary.
Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
Long considered to be a fashion icon in Europe, it appears Australian-born Mary is finally getting recognition.
According to the magazine, the Crown Princess’ favorite labels are Hermès, Prada, Burberry, and Chanel.
She wowed many in the United States with her style when she and husband Crown Prince Frederik visited Washington, DC earlier this year. Even though Mary dealt with a wardrobe malfunction – her shoe fell off while walking through Arlington National Cemetary – she appeared ladylike and regal with her style.
Crown Princess Mary wasn’t the only royal on the list. Pierre Casiraghi, son of Monaco’s Princess Caroline, was named one of the world’s best dressed men. His girlfriend, Beatrice Borromeo, also made the cut.
Another Monegasque girlfriend on the list was Tatiana Santo Domingo, who has been dating Pierre’s older brother, Andrea, for several years now.
Interesting enough, last year when I reported on who should’ve been on Vanity Fair’s 2009 Best Dressed List, Crown Princess Mary was ranked number one by a poll taken by RITN readers.
Click here to see more of the world’s best dressed people.
ROYAL PRESS PHOTO OG NIELS HENRIK DAM / COLOURPRESS
Most of members of the Danish royal family took part in a media photoshoot Wednesday at Gråsten Castle. Queen Margrethe II and Prince Henrik were there with their two sons, their daughters in law and their grandchildren. They were also with the Queen’s sister, Princess Benedikte and her husband, plus her grandchildren.
Absent from the event were Prince Joachim’s two eldest sons, Princes Nikolai and Felix, who are vacationing with their mother in Turkey. Also, Princess Nathalie, daughter of Benedikte, is still in Germany recuperating from delivering her son earlier this week.
ROYAL PRESS PHOTO OG NIELS HENRIK DAM / COLOURPRESS
Despite that, Prince Joachim was proud to show off his youngest son, Prince Henrik age 1, to the press. The little boy is turning into a spitting image of his mother, Princess Marie.
ROYAL PRESS PHOTO OG NIELS HENRIK DAM / COLOURPRESS
Meanwhile, Frederik and Mary were happy to pose with their two children, Prince Christian and Princess Isabella. Christian will be 5 years old this coming October, and there will be a lot of celebrations to mark that milestone. As for Isabella, age 3, she is turning into a lovely young lady – or rather, lovely young princess!
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