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Denmark’s future King and Queen are currently on a six day official visit to Australia – Crown Princess Mary’s native country. This is the first time the couple have been Down Under since 2008. The purpose of this visit is to promote Danish eco-friendly technology.
 Click here for images of Day 1 Crown Prince Frederik and his wife arrived in Sydney Friday, the city where he and Mary met at a pub back in 2000. Their first stop was to the Sculpture by the Sea exhibition at Bondi Beach. There, they were met by Barry O’Farrell, the premier of New South Wales, who gave them a tour of the art exhibit.
Frederik and Mary then went to another exhibition, this time the Curating Cities: Sydney-Copenhagen, which aims to show alternative energies. The couple took turns to try an “energy-generating bike” which is designed to power a smoothie blender.
Later in the day, the royals took a boat trip across the Sydney harbor to meet with Governor-General Quentin Bryce and her husband, Michael, at the Admiralty House for a barbeque. They took the time to pose for the media not just with the Bryces’, but with their 10 month old twins, Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine. The babies have accompanied their parents on this trip while older sibling, Prince Christian and Princess Isabella are staying in Denmark.
 Click here for photos from Day 2 On Saturday, Frederik and Mary were still in Sydney and were still promoting green technology. In the morning, they went to the Sofitel Hotel for the State of Green – Join The Future – Think Denmark conference. Upon arriving for the event, Mary was welcomed by three young girls who showered her with bouquets and compliments.
“She said thank you for the beautiful flowers, and it was really, really, really nice,” said Evi Karagorge. “And she wasn’t just pretty, she was glamorous!”
Inside, Frederik gave a speech about how both Denmark and Australia are working together to make a more environmentally friendly world.
“Both our countries are looking to reduce our dependency on oil and gas and coal. At the time we are not willing to compromise our economic prosperity in order to do so,” the Crown Prince said.
“My country has shown that it is possible to maintain economic growth and job creation (and) at the same time move towards a more climate friendly and green economy.”
 Click here for images of the Sydney dinner gala
After the conference, the Crown Princess went to the kitchen of the Sofitel to learn how to make a seafood salad and a white chocolate and jelly dessert by Australian chef Matt Moran and Danish chef Rasmus Kofoed.
Afterward, Frederik and Mary went their separate ways – he went to the Darling Quarter while she headed for the Westmead Hospital. The Crown Prince was given a tour of the Commonwealth Building, which uses energy-saving tools and methods.
At the hospital, his wife was honored by its cancer center by renaming it after Her Royal Highness. Its director, Professor Paul Harnett, said the center built a strong relationship with the Danish health system over the years. During her stay, Mary met with the staff and patients, and was given a tour of the facility.
In the evening, Frederik and Mary reunited for a black tie dinner at the Doltone House in Pyrmont. 400 guests were there, as well as the Australian String Quartet, which had played for the Crown Princely couple’s wedding reception in 2004.
The next day, the royals headed for Canberra, Australia’s capital. There, they went to the Parliament House after meeting with Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott. They also toured the National Gallery of Australia and National Portrait Gallery. At the National Arboretum, Their Royal Highnesses planted a Field Maple tree, native to Denmark. About 500 locals were chosen to attend the planting and get a glimpse of the Australian-born Mary.
There was a better chance of seeing her when she and her husband laid a wreath at the Australian War Memorial afterward.
“For the children particularly I think they love to see royals and Prince Frederik and Princess Mary have a strong affiliation with Australia,” said the War Memorial’s Carol Cartwright.
In the evening, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess attended a children’s charity gala.
Sources: News.com.au, Telegraph.com.au, Sydney Morning Herald, Herald Sun, ABC.net.au
 View original source of photo here Friday saw the release of the latest portrait of the Danish Crown Princely family.
Frederik and Mary posed with their two eldest children, Christian age 6 and Isabella age 4, plus with their twin babies, Vincent and Josephine, who are nearly 11 months old.
In less than two months, those twins will be celebrating their first birthday! Amazing how time flies!
Wednesday morning saw the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge take part in their first humanitarian cause outside of the United Kingdom, as they flew to Denmark to visit a UNICEF emergency supply center. The depot is sending food and medical supplies to east Africa, with Somalia being the main target. That country is facing its worst famine in decades.
 Click here to check out more photos Who was there to greet them and join them in their visit to the center? Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary. This was the first time Catherine met the Danish crown princely couple since they did not attend her April wedding, but William has met Frederik a few times previously.
At the aid depot, the royals were given a tour of the place. They sampled some of the food, such as a high protein peanut paste, but the Duchess reportedly declined for unknown reasons.
This whole visit was instigated by William and Catherine because, according to St. James Palace, they are very concerned with the famine occurring in the region. They also have ties to East Africa. It is where they became engaged last year, they have friends in Kenya, and the Prince once spent part of his gap year there.
“The two couples felt they wanted to do something more to bring the profile of the tragedies back into the public domain,” a spokesman for St. James Palace said.
After the tour of the supply center, William said this: “I think what impresses me the most is that there is just an incredible amount being done.”
“UNICEF are leading the way and they’re doing a fantastic job and sadly there’s still a lot more to do and that’s why we’re here today, to try our best to … get as many people as possible realising the truly horrendous situation that’s going on in east Africa.”
Giving her first interview since the announcement of her engagement nearly a year ago, Catherine said, “It’s really just how shocking the situation still is.”
“It’s been going for 100 days or so and it’s really still ongoing, and a huge amount still has to happen with hundreds of children still malnourished at the moment. Hopefully we can do as much as we can really.”
Drought and food shortages are leaving 13 million people in east Africa on the brink of starvation, with more areas being included in the crisis. So far, 320,000 children are facing malnourishment and are near death.
Crown Princess Mary personally saw the struggles when she visited the Dadaab refugee camp in northern Kenya in late August.
Sources: AFP, The Daily Mirror
The royals of Scandinavia spent some time together in New York, both in the morning and in the evening. They are in the Big Apple mainly to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Scandinavian-American Foundation.
 Click here for images of the Ground Zero visit But sadly, no visit to New York is without a visit to Ground Zero, site of the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks. Together, King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden, and Denmark’s Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary went to the place where nearly 3,000 people died. With them were the Presidents of Finland and Iceland. Everyone went to the memorial and laid flowers there. All look solemn during the visit.
For the rest of the day, each royal couple went to their separate engagements. The Danish Crown Princely couple went to the BIG Architectural Studios, the Norwegian King and Queen attended an awards ceremony, while their Swedish counterparts met with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, and his wife Yoo Soon-taek at the United Nations headquarters.
 Check out more photos of the gala here In the evening, it was time to dress up for a black-tie event for the American-Scandinavian Foundation’s centennial ball. All three royal couples, plus the Presidents of Finland and Iceland, went to the Hilton Hotel for the event. Even Sweden’s Princess Madeleine, who’s been spending most of her time in New York these days, attended.
After today, Frederik and Mary will spend a few more days in New York, while the Kings and Queens of Norway and Sweden will go north to Jamestown, near Buffalo, New York Saturday, to celebrate the Norden Club’s centennial anniversary and visit the Roger Tory Peterson Institute. The Norden Club was founded in 1902 by Swedish immigrants to the area.
Source: WGRZ, The Royal Forums
On Thursday evening, five Scandinavian royals – and Finland’s President – opened the art exhibition, Luminous Modernism:
Scandinavian Art Comes to America 1912, at the Scandinavian House in New York.
 Click here for image gallery at Daylife.com Norway’s King Harald V and Queen Sonja, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen of Silvia, and Crown Princess Mary were present for the inauguration. All are in New York for tomorrow’s centennial ball for the Scandinavian-American Foundation.
It was Queen Sonja who did the actual ribbon cutting.
The exhibition showcases 48 works by Nordic artists who did modernism style, such as Edvard Munch, Vilhelm Hammershøi,and Anders Zorn. It is a sort of remake of the 1912 exhibit that displayed the modernism painting style. The exhibit will be open to the public on October 25th and will run until February 11, 2012.
“During the 100 years of its existence,” said Edward P. Gallagher, President of The American-Scandinavian Foundation. “The ASF has played a leadership role in promoting American awareness of Nordic culture. In looking back at the 1912 exhibition of Scandinavian modernists, we pay tribute to our founders’ vision and to a pivotal event in the study and appreciation of Nordic art in this country.”
Source: Scandinavia House
The Danish Parliament was officially opened Tuesday, and the royal family of Denmark were there to witness it.
 Click here to view gallery at SN.dk Princess Benedikte, Prince Joachim and Princess Marie were the first to arrive. They were followed by the Crown Princely couple, Frederik and Mary. The group waited a few minutes before the regal couple – Queen Margrethe II and Prince Henrik – arrived.
As they waited, the five chatted with each other. At one point, Joachim and Marie put their arms around each other. The two are expecting their second child in January.
Then Her Majesty and her husband showed up. The Queen was wearing a pink outfit she has worn a few times before. Its been noticeable that Margrethe has been recycling her clothes more so than any royal in Europe.
Different this year, though, when she greeted members of her family, the Queen kissed her sons and daughter in laws on the cheek, rather than simply shaking their hands.
Inside the Parliament, or Folketinget as the Danes call it, the royal family sat in a balcony and watched as politicians made their speeches opening the political year.
As they do each year, the royals made no secret they were bored during inauguration. Some were even photographed staring off into space or rolling their eyes.
Source: TV2
Last night saw Denmark’s Crown Princely couple distribute their own cultural prize in Aarhus. The Crown Princely Couple Award was started back in 2004 by Bikubenfonden as a wedding gift for Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary.
 Click here for gallery at SN.dk The couple arrived at the Concert Hall and posed for the media along with this year’s recipients. Mary was wearing a dress that she had previously worn during an official visit to Thailand back in 2008.
During the award ceremony, which was aired live on Danish television, Frederik and Mary gave speeches before giving out three awards.
Architect Bjarke Ingels was honored for his various designs, including Denmark’s pavilion at this year’s World Expo in Shanghai and Greenland’s national museum. “The whole world is now open for the architect Bjarke Ingels, whose work can almost recall the playfulness,” said the Crown Prince as he announced Ingels’ award.
Ingel won this year’s main Cultural Prize and took home 500,000 kroner.
Next came the two other awards, the Stardust Prizes. One of the winners was author Josephine Klougart, who was presented by Crown Princess Mary.
“With just two books on the market, she is one of the most important writers, not just of her generation, but in her time. The heat and cold meet in the language, is more important than the actual story,” Mary explained about the 26 year old author who released her debut novel in 2010 and wrote her second earlier this year.
The final recipients were The William Blake Band, who were described as “an explosion of musical imagination” by Frederik. The band have been releasing albums since 2008.
The winners of the Stardust Prizes was 50,000 kroner.
The Crown Princely Couple Prize is awarded every two years.
Source: JV.dk, Berlingske
 See more photos here at SN.dk Crown Princess Mary spent Sunday in the town of Kalundborg, where she named the newest vessel of the Danish navy.
The vessel is called the Holger Danske, after both Denmark’s national hero and the resistance group during the Nazi occupation. A few surviving members of the group were guests of today’s event.
As part of the naming ceremony, there was a military parade and a naval band performing a few songs. Crown Princess Mary inspected the honor guard during the ceremony. She trained with the Danish Home Guard, from 2008 to 2009.
After she officially named the vessel, the Crown Princess joined its crew for a short sailing around Kalundborg’s harbor. When that was over, Mary took part in a reception at Restaurant Fjorden.
Source: The Royal Forums, Nordvestnyt.dk
On a rainy Monday in Copenhagen, many of the adult members of the Danish royal family turned up at the Citadel for the unveiling of a monument dedicated to Danes who died while serving abroad for international efforts. 100,000 of Denmark’s soldiers have participated in peacekeeping and fighting efforts since 1949. Some returned home, others didn’t.
 Click here for more photos at SN.dk Queen Margrethe II gave a speech during the inauguration of the monument: “The monument stands in its simplicity as a symbol of the efforts of Danish men and women for many years has made around the world. Here are the names of the many who paid the highest prince who gave their lives. Here we will remember them and remember that Denmark’s efforts have costs that are not made up in dollars and cents,” she said.
Afterward, the Queen laid a wreath underneath the inscription that read: “A Time, A Place, A Human Being”.
The rest of the royals in attendance – Prince Henrik, Crown Prince Frederik, Crown Princess Mary, Prince Joachim and Princess Marie – followed Her Majesty in a tour around the octagon shaped memorial. It is divided into three parts: an outer section to be used for future ceremonies, an inner part that lists the places where Danish forces were placed, and a more inner part has the list of the 107 soldiers who died while serving Denmark since 1949.
There is also an eternal flame in honor of those who fell.
This monument was unveiled on Denmark’s Flag Day.
Sadly, another name will be added to the 107 names already listed. A 22 year old soldier was killed by an explosive device in Afghanistan over the weekend.
Sources: Billed Bladet, The Royal Forums, Billed Serie
 Click here for more photos of the event Thursday evening had Denmark’s Crown Princely couple attend the INDEX Awards at Copenhagen’s Opera House.
The award honors innovative designers from around the world, and Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary were among the 1,200 audience members from 48 countries applauding this year’s winners.
The INDEX award has five categories: Games, Body, Housing, Community and Class.
The winners were a Swedish company that created invisible airbags for motorcyclists. Their invention won the Games category. The Body award went to a Mexican company that provides free eyeglasses for children. Another Mexican company won for the Housing award. The Community category winners was a South Korean designer who won for his planning. The last category – Class – went to an event in India meant to encourage creativity in children.
Source: Pure People
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