Monday was time for the annual photocall for the Danish royal family at Gråsten Slot Castle where they were spending their summer vacation. This year’s session was more exciting since it allowed the world to see just how big Frederik and Mary’s twins have gotten.
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And boy haven’t they! Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine have developed round, chubby cheeks and were the darlings of the photo session, and of the royal family.
Their elder siblings, Prince Christian 5 1/2, and Princess Isabella, age 4, doted them as did their grandparents Queen Margrethe II and Prince Henrik. Isabella and Josephine wore matching blue and white dresses. Perhaps that is a hint of things to come in future photo sessions?
Although the twins were the stars, one must not forget the other members, including Prince Joachim, who was there with his wife, Princess Marie, and all three of his sons – Nikolai, almost 12, Felix, age 9 and 2 year old Henrik.
The Queen’s sister, Princess Benedikte, was at Gråsten Slot along with her son, Prince Gustav, and his girlfriend, Carina Axelsson.
Vacationing at the castle brings Frederik and Mary some time to relax before they head for a busy autumn. They will do official visits to the United States, Russia and the Crown Princess’ native Australia.
On Wednesday, the President and First Lady of South Korea arrived Denmark to begin a two day state visit to the country. Lee Myung-bak and First Lady Kim Yoon-ok were welcomed at Copenhagen Airport by Queen Margrethe II and the rest of the Danish royal family – minus Crown Princess Mary for unknown reasons.
Click here for more pics of the state dinner
After inspecting the honor guard, the South Korean first couple and the royals headed to the palace to begin the state visit. It included a laying of wreaths at the Monument Jutlandia and the official opening of the Global Green Growth Institute by both President Lee and Crown Prince Frederik.
In the evening, the Danish royals gathered for a state dinner at Fredensborg Palace. This time, Crown Princess Mary was present. The event included speeches by the Queen and the President. Both praised each other’s countries and the relations between the two.
It was also during her speech that Her Majesty revealed that Frederik and Mary will go on an official visit to South Korea in 2012. The exact time is not known.
Thursday saw more of President Lee learning more about Denmark’s eco-friendly industries, such as the inauguration of the Korean-Danish Green Growth Alliance and seeing Danish electrical cars.
In the evening, the President and First Lady Kim Yoon-OK held an honorary dinner for their Danish hosts. Later on, they returned to their country.
Since Friday, Denmark’s Prince Joachim, his wife Marie, and his two eldest sons, Princes Nikolai and Felix, have been touring Greenland. The Danish territory invited the couple there as part of their 2008 wedding present, and now Joachim and Marie are finally making use of it.
Martin Hills / IMAGE LEAVED
“It’s a bit like our second honeymoon. Just even better because we have the boys,” Princess Marie told the Danish press.
One of the first things the family did was visit a museum in the town of Ilulissat. There, Nikolai and Felix, ages 11 and 8, experienced eating whale blubber and dried fish.
Ilulissat’s ice fjord was recently admitted to UNESCO, which Marie is patron of Denmark’s version. She told the media she was looking forward to seeing the fjord.
Another activity the family did was travel by a sleigh driven by dogs to Isefjorden, all while wearing sealskin outfits.
The family will stay in Greenland until Wednesday.
Denmark’s Princess Marie went on her second solo trip abroad Monday when she arrived for a two day visit to Florence, Italy. The Princess was there to see the European University Institute to raise awareness of the school’s 15 Danish students, who are among 555 other PhD students doing research at the Institute.
For her first day in the lovely city, Marie was given a tour of the Frederick Stibbert Museum where she gazed awestruck at its artwork.
The next day, she was given another guided tour, this time at the Badia Fiesolana. Marie took out her camera and snapped away at the gorgeous gardens.
But she was not at the Badia Fiesolana just for sight seeing. The conference for the European University Institute took place there, and in the late morning, the Princess attended the seminar’s round table discussion on “National Minorities & Inter-Governmental Cooperation”. Marie did not participate in the talks, but simply attended.
Sources: Billed Bladet, European University Institute
There’s video of Prince Joachim behaving what many consider to be “rude” and “snobby” towards a Danish reporter. The video is becoming quite popular with Scandinavian viewers, seeing proof of Joachim’s reputation of being arrogant.
During the Christmas weekend, the Prince and his wife, Princess Marie, went on a small yacht where they were approached by a reporter from Denmark’s TV2. Instead of referring to Joachim in the formal “you”, the journalist used the more informal Danish “you”. The Prince corrected him, and even asked the reporter to repeat his question with the correct pronoun.
The one most comfortable with the situation was Princess Marie, who deliberately turned away, not knowing what to do.
Princess Marie was all smiles as she arrived for a UNESCO Conference in the city of Odense Friday. Waiting outside the Gallery Galschiødt were several young children with Danish flags and chanting “Marie – we do like.”
Since Marie is patron of the Danish chapter of UNESCO, she is attend anything related to education, science and culture. Denmark currently has the chairmanship in the Nordic Council for education and research, so with that connection, Princess Marie was at its conference.
But before she sat down for the meeting, she received a tour of Danish artist Jens Galschiøt’s gallery, which was filled with sculptures.
Glaschiøt is a controversial artist known for creating works made to make people think. Some of the artwork Princess Marie saw apparently made her scratch her head, but she received a diplomatic tour of his gallery.
This Tuesday saw the annual opening of Danish Parliament, or Folketinget as Danes call it. While the main reason for this event is to start off the political year in Denmark, the media focused primarily on Crown Princess Mary and her ever growing belly.
Crowds cheered as Mary arrived at Christiansborg Palace with husband, Crown Prince Frederik. She greeted awaiting officials and in-laws Prince Joachim, Princess Marie and Princess Benedikte. The Crown Princess then waited for the arrival of Queen Margrethe II and Prince Henrik.
When those two came, everyone lined up to bow or curtsy before the Queen and her consort. When it was time for Mary to curtsy, she did it very deeply. This, despite being about six months pregnant with twins!
Afterward, the Danish royal family entered Christiansborg Palace for the inaugural session of Folketinget.
Here is a video from Danish television about the Parliament opening:
Denmark’s Prince Joachim and Princess Marie are currently on an official visit to Brazil, where Joachim is working on promoting Danish commerce to the Latin American country. He had visited the nation back in the 1990s, and now he has the chance to bring his wife along for his second trip.
The couple arrived in São Paulo Sunday and attended a ceremony at the Scandinavian Church followed by a reception, which was hosted by the Danish-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce in São Paulo, the city’s Danish community and several select businesses.
On Monday morning, Joachim and Marie met with the mayor of São Paulo, Gilberto Kassab, before going their separate ways to promote Denmark. The Prince went to official openings of two Danish businesses, such as the Nilfisk Brazilian subsidiary and Danish Design, a furniture store.
AP Photo/Nelson Antoine
The Princess meanwhile, did her UNESCO work by visiting its São Paulo offices. She then later stopped by the training project Fundaço which aims to help young people’s educational and cultural development. It was there that Marie saw how the Danish toy favorite LEGO is used to help youths who are at risk of leading destructive lives.
LEGO came into the schedule again in the evening when Joachim and Marie had a dinner hosted by LEGO Education/UNESCO.
The couple will be in Brazil until Thursday. During that time, they will go to Maunas, Rio de Janiero and tour the Amazon rainforest.
Their son, Prince Henrik, is not accompanying them on this trip.
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.
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