Princess Mary & Princess Benedikte Visit Aachen, Germany: June 24-25, 2013


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Visit at chio aachen 2013​


HRH Crown Princess Mary and HRH Princess Benedikte visit Aachen, Germany, in connection with the international equestrian event the World Equestrian Festival CHIO Aachen 2013 and business and cultural campaign Experience Denmark.

HRH Crown Princess Mary and HRH Princess Benedikte visits in Aachen on 24 of 25. June and 24-30th June.

On 25 June, Crown Princess and Princess attend the official opening ceremony of the international horse event World Equestrian Festival CHIO Aachen 2013, Denmark has as its main theme.

During your stay Crown Princess and Princess also visit The English Village, where Danish companies and organizations are represented, as well as participate in Experience Denmark conferences and company visits.

The Royal Stables will be represented by four kladrubere and carriage driving at the opening ceremony as well as in The English Village, which selected coaches will be on display.

Published 21 May 2013​


Source: kongehuset.dk

Program will be published at a later time.​
 
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Media guide on the event click here

Princess Benedikte of Denmark will be officially opening the CHIO Aachen 2013. Crown Princess Mary was invited to the event by the Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hannelore Kraft, Read more here
 
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This is such a nice event for Mary since she is a keen rider and likes horses from a young age (thats what i have read) and its also nice to see her attending with Princess Benedikte for a change.
Mary looks great in that blue Prada suit.
 
Thanks for the pics. :flowers:

Yes, the photographers swarmed around Mary. Hardly surprising.

I noticed a little mistake. Mary's adjutant (she outranks Benedikte) while visiting the Landtag had his cord around the wrong shoulder. It should have been the right shoulder, because Mary is royal.

He's also pretty high ranking, so my guess is that he was on loan from the embassy or more likely NATO HQ.
 
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what is an adjutant mulher and what is the reason for having them? what are their duties exactly? (since i pressume mary travels with her LIW or secretary or both on given ocassions?)
 
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Do we know if there are more events at the official program today? :flowers:
I miss an official program with meeting times.
 
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very nice photos of mary and benedicte they looked good together :)and how beautiful is mary:wub: she looks fantastic and glowing!!
 
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what is an adjutant mulher and what is the reason for having them? what are their duties exactly? (since i pressume mary travels with her LIW or secretary or both on given ocassions?)

That's a big question, Carlota. :)

An adjutant in respect to the DRF (things may vary from country to country) has a number of functions:
A: Being a liason between the royal and the local military and other authorities.
B: Being the male equivalent to a LiW. I.e. a personal assistant.
C: Having a ceremonial role in ecorting a royal.
D: Being formally in charge of the entourage of the royal.

Most of this is based on traditions but also very much so on the roles of sexes beforehand.

An adjutant to a female royal like Mary, would beforehand be in charge of the then much bigger entourage that would accompany her. He would be in charge of accomodation, transport, security, where to eat and convey instructions to local authorities and military garrisons. Basically he would be in charge of everything running smoothly.
The LiW would convey the wishes of Mary to the adjutant and it would be his job to carry them out. It was unthinkable that a noble Lady-in-Waiting should trouble herself with all the tasks above. Her job was to service Mary.
It was equally unthinkable that Mary should concern herself with practical details.

Nowadays that has changed. PET is in charge of close security. Mary's LiW is now in charge of the practical details, including conveying Mary's wishes to whomever she is visiting and if need be arrange accomodation.
That's why we rarely see an adjutant around Mary when she's on the job. Unless there is a ceremonial function.
Like today, when Mary visited the Landtag. Mary is here the direct representative of the Danish head of state and that require a certain protocol and a certain style, which is why an adjutant was allocated. In other words Mary's visit to the Landtag is a notch higher than just a "normal" visit. It's also a way to show respect for the Landtag.

However, an adjutant is also helpful to have around as an extra set of hands to relieve the LiW, who often has plenty to do and carry around.
And he is now only formally in charge of the people following Mary around.

But, there is also a much more omnious role of the adjutant. Now, but especially when Mary become queen.
In case of war, a terrorist attack, an assassination attempt on Mary, a natural disaster, troubles while visiting a foreign country - i.e. when something really serious happens, then the adjutant has a specific role.
It will the job of the PET officers with the help of the local police to ensure the immediate safety of Mary. But the adjutant's job is to bring her a temporary safe place and ensure that a security cordon is set up around her, until she can be evacuated to an even safer place or out of a foreign country.
That includes alerting local military units and order a transport and an escort for her. - Depending naturally on the severity of the situation.

In a foreign country that means functioning as a liason for the local security forces allocated to protect Mary in case of problems and, if possible, taking charge of the FET agents from the embassy sent to provide additional protection and being in charge of the (very likely) military transport sent to evacuate her home.

If in Denmark and if an equivalent to 9/11 should take place and the situation is unclear, it is very likely Mary would be brought to a REGAN bunker. And until she is safe it's the adjutant who is responsible of the evacuation and the security cordon around her.

So yes, an adjutant still has a role nowadays. Even though 99% of the time nothing dramatic happens and the role is primarily ceremonial.
However, when the Regent Couple visited Egypt in the 70's troubles erupted and the Regent Couple was de facto "precautionary evacuated" out. That was an example where the adjutants suddenly had an active role.


Thanks, Polyesco. :flowers:

Do we know who the prominent looking lady in blue to Mary's left is?
 
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Thanks, Polyesco. :flowers:

Do we know who the prominent looking lady in blue to Mary's left is?

Newscom has her listed as "Premier of North Rhine-Westphalia Hannelore Kraft." She looks like Angela Merkel IMO.
 
That's a big question, Carlota. :)

An adjutant in respect to the DRF (things may vary from country to country) has a number of functions:
A: Being a liason between the royal and the local military and other authorities.
B: Being the male equivalent to a LiW. I.e. a personal assistant.
C: Having a ceremonial role in ecorting a royal.
D: Being formally in charge of the entourage of the royal.(...)

thanks mulher, i am always amazed about all the work that goes behind the scenes for royals or any other heads of state. it's quite interesting to learn about all this organisation and the protocolar dispositions in place.

adjutants seem also active during royal weddings and other royal events like enthronements, don't they? we saw several escorting royals into and out of royal weddings lately for example. are these people always from the military? (at times we also see people accompaning the royal who seem to be from the country of origin of the royal him/herself, but i am not sure who these people are exactly...)

a REGAN bunker? is that a special danish bunker then?
 
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thanks mulher, i am always amazed about all the work that goes behind the scenes for royals or any other heads of state. it's quite interesting to learn about all this organisation and the protocolar dispositions in place.

adjutants seem also active during royal weddings and other royal events like enthronements, don't they? we saw several escorting royals into and out of royal weddings lately for example. are these people always from the military? (at times we also see people accompaning the royal who seem to be from the country of origin of the royal him/herself, but i am not sure who these people are exactly...)

a REGAN bunker? is that a special danish bunker then?

That's also what really fascinates me as well.

Yes, at weddings and state visits too. It's quite normal to allocate an adjutant to a visiting head of state and his/her spouse. Partly out of curtesy, but also to assist, to function as a liason and to help in case of problems...

An adjutant is always from the military.
The role of an adjutant to a senior officer is however very different from the role of an adjutant to a royal, but that is outside this topic.
An adjutant to a royal or head of state wear his adjutants cord around the right shoulder. An adjutant to a senior officer wear the cord around the left shoulder.
The officer accompanying Mary today, was firstly a full colonel. The head of QMII's staff of adjutants is a full colonel, but that was not him. That's why I believe he is on loan from either the embassy or more likely NATO.
Secondly, an adjutant who is used to work for the DRF would never make the mistake of wearing the cord around the left shoulder, but he would if he is used to working at a major HQ.

At weddings it's normal that visting high ranking royals or heads of states are escorted by an adjutant from their own country. That happened for example with the DRF (and most other senior royals) at Madeleine's wedding. There M&F were escorted by two adjutants, a Dane and a Swede, on the way to the church.
In that case it was ceremonial. You show respect for the occasion and your hosts by turning up the ceremonial.
And you show that you not only attend as a guest but as an official representative for your country.
And the host country, Sweden, repaided the curtesy by allocating an adjutant as well.

REGAN. You can read more about the REGAN bunkers in the section about residencies. There were during the cold war two major bunkers, in which among others the DRF were to stay in case of war.
They are now disused, but there are to this day still bunkers somewhere in DK - just in case...
 
Thanks for the clip, Iceflower.

What's the thing in Mary's hair? Surely it isn't a "blis"?
(Don't know what a blis is called in English. It's the white patch seen in the forehead of many if not most horses).
 
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Thanks for the pics. :flowers:

Good, the visit seems to have been met with a favorable response and press. - And that's the purpose of the whole thing. Germany is the biggest export market for DK, surpassing all the other Nordic countries combined. And we would like even more Germans to come up here on vacation, thank you.
Which is of course why Aachen got the big show.

You may think I'm cynical. I'm not, in fact I'm very pleased indeed that the DRF (and not least Mary) are used as such very efficient tools for promoting DK.
Benefitting Australia too BTW, as each time Mary show her face abroad the word Australia pops up in the back of the mind of people seeing her.
 
Thanks for the pics. :flowers:

Good, the visit seems to have been met with a favorable response and press. - And that's the purpose of the whole thing. Germany is the biggest export market for DK, surpassing all the other Nordic countries combined. And we would like even more Germans to come up here on vacation, thank you.
Which is of course why Aachen got the big show.

You may think I'm cynical. I'm not, in fact I'm very pleased indeed that the DRF (and not least Mary) are used as such very efficient tools for promoting DK.
Benefitting Australia too BTW, as each time Mary show her face abroad the word Australia pops up in the back of the mind of people seeing her.

I don't think you are cynical at all. Promotion of the nation (and its economic benefits) is one of the primary functions of all of our royal families. They can gain us much more attention than a cabinet minister ever could.
 
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