State Visit from Latvia March 2005

[Yennie]

in this photo the "skiing effect" (white body, tanned head :) ) is clear. But in others it doesn´t show that much...

[Ms Layevska]

Im just saying whatever comes to mind - Madeleine looks drunk in those pictures...

[Danielle]

Originally Posted by Ms Layevska

Im just saying whatever comes to mind - Madeleine looks drunk in those pictures...

I think that is a terrible thing to say about Madeleine. :( Anyway, thank you to everyone for posting the photos and articles about this State Visit. I really love this photo. http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums...hmentid=118637 :)

[Genevieve]

Originally Posted by Ms Layevska

Im just saying whatever comes to mind - Madeleine looks drunk in those pictures...

I think that this is a rather unnecessary and cruel comment. Madeleine is not my favourite royal but nothing has ever been written about her to imply that she abuses alcohol even occasionally.

Have you ever considered that the pictures are not the best quality or that the pictures were taken at a moment when Madeleine was caught off guard?

Perhaps saying "whatever comes to mind" isn't always the best thing. Perhaps giving some thought to your comments so that they aren't unfair or unnecessarily cruel is a better idea.

[Dennism]

Well said, Genevieve. The amount of photos taken at such an occasion is large and they manage to capture every nanosecond. Just imagine if they were speaking or gesturing with their hands. But it is also true that it was a cruel comment. Also I must be the only person who likes the Button tiara. The "Mickey Mouse tiara" as Lena so lovingly put it. :)

"Victoria's dress for the welcoming ceremony looked Christmasy with the shiny red."

ha ha ha. Very funny. It does.

"http://www.theroyalforums.com/forum...chmentid=118637 :)"

Great photo. Love the looks.

[Dennism]

Originally Posted by GrandDuchess

Pictures from Fotomarktplatz showing King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia together with Latvia's President Vaira Vike-Freiberga and her husband, Professor Imants Freibergs, as they visited Uppsala University and its library Carolina Rediviva today!

http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums...hmentid=118635

This is a map of Latvia and parts of Estonia and Sweden that they are looking at. Well, considering the age of the map, I would say that it´s a map of the Swedish Empire!

[GrandDuchess]

The welcome ceremony for the President of Latvia

On 31 March, the arriving day of the State Visit from Latvia to Sweden, the usual official welcoming ceremony was held at the Inner Courtyard at the Royal Palace of Stockholm.

350 men at foot and by horse from the Life Guard’s grenadiers paraded in to the Courtyard in their parade uniforms (dating back to the 1800’s) with bearskin hats and white plumes. Helicopters covered the air as the Life Guard’s Dragoon Batalion escorted the cortège with the royals and the President through Stockholm, and several hundred Life Guards covered the sides of the streets.

Representatives, for example from the Government, Defence and Diplomatic Core, awaited the cortège at the Courtyard. The welcoming ceremony continued with the national anthems, an inspection of the Honorary Guards and when the official ceremony was over, the attendants greeted the enthusiastic crowd. Afterwards the King and Queen hosted a private luncheon for the guests at the Palace.

According to tradition 4 men from the Life Guard’s drabant core stands guard in the Guest Apartment at the Royal Palace, and during State Visit they always wear the Karl XI uniforms on the first day.

Pictures from the Defence:
1: The grenadiers march
2: The flag guards
3: The grenadiers
4: The King with the President of Latvia
5: The King and President of Latvia before the grenadiers
6: Inspection (after the ceremony)
7: The Royal Couple and guests greet the crowd
8: The bearskin hat with plume anno 1823
9: The King with the President of Latvia
10: The drabants

[Poppy]

From the gala pictures, Madeleine is wearing some decorations that she did not usually wear in the past such as the badge hanging from the light-blue ribbon and an extra star. She is not wearing her family order with a portrait of her father in the centre.

[Josefine]

Originally Posted by Poppy

From the gala pictures, Madeleine is wearing some decorations that she did not usually wear in the past such as the badge hanging from the light-blue ribbon and an extra star. She is not wearing her family order with a portrait of her father in the centre.

i did not see that
can someone tell us about this i would love to know

[GrandDuchess]

I am by no means an expert on orders and medals, this is rather one of the things I haven't quite got the hang of yet - but - I think that Princess Madeleine is wearing the Latvian Order of the Three Stars (the one hanging from the ribbon and then the second one), and the ribbon is the ribbon of the Order of the Three Stars... I'm not certain of this, but this is what I think.

[GrandDuchess]

A nice "group" picture from the State Visit