Prince Frederik and Princess Mary's Visit to New York: September 17-21, 2007


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I love Mary`s outfit and hair in the picture:) They also look so much in love:wub:
 
quite lovely pictures in new york! what was the purpose of the gala? was it for charity?

do we have any other information on the press conference? what did they mention? i'm quite lost after some days of not checking the forum!
 
I think it´s a nice change to look beyond the styling aspect of this trip. And I think it´s nice to broaden the horizon and look how things can be done too. I think one can compare this trip with others that have been done before by CP Philippe or CP Haakon for example as they are in the same position and do similar trips (not sure about Felipe&Letizia or Victoria and Willem Alexander and Maxima don´t focus on economy).

One could look at the recent trip of Philippe and Mathilde to China for example. In Hong Kong a charity gala was organized with tickets up to 1.900 $ per seat. And the people who gathered at the ball room of the Four Seasons Hotel belonged to the top ten of the Hong Kong society (e.g Stanley Ho who was seated next to Mathilde) respectively to the Belgian business delegation and even the British consul general came along. So there actually was the chance for networking and promoting Belgian products (food, diamonds, jewellery, fashion which have been on display that evening) to potential clients. Philippe also met with mayors, trade ministers, governors etc. to open doors for “his” businessmen. There have been workshops with both Chinese and Belgian participants and work visit to Belgian plants in China. This promotion trips are quite controversial in Belgium and the trip did not get much attention here (and there is nothing wrong about this), but it sure had an impact on the Belgian-Chinese business cooperation and it was reported in several Chinese newspapers etc.

I don´t know but to me this New York promotion trip was not so convincing. Why did Frederik show up at the New York Coast Guard for example? And why didn´t he meet political or economic keyplayers in New York? Why did they not use the gala as opportunity to bring important investors together with Danish businessmen? Frederik did visit Arla and so on and was surrounded by Danish journalists, but what does this mean for the market chances of Danish products in New York? Just my three cents to add to an open discussion, which does not only focus on fashion and style.

Thank you, Johann. This is exactly what I've been wondering. The Philippe and Mathilde's trip was exactly what I imagine a trade mission should be. I don't know who's at the gala F&M attended but I so far haven't heard of any movers and shakers of NYC. These are things I didn't see:

- No meeting with any American political leaders, not even NYC mayor
- No meeting with NYC leading business leaders
- No visiting of any American companies with a team of Danish business men/women for some high level talks

The only people they met seem to be Danes and the only media covered them was Danish press. I don't see how the trip promoted Danish interests in the US.

As for other royals, Felipe and Letizia's oversea trips usually focus more on diplomatic and cultural exchange rather than solely commerce. Felipe almost always meets the political leaders, from the head of state down to the mayor of the city they visit. He seems to be the leading Spanish diplomat on Latin American relationships. He opens all the Cervante Institute abroad. He sometime was accompanied by Spanish business men for trade talks or attended business conferences.

I remember Victoria did some trips for commerce or cultral exchange. She went to Australia to promote Swedish products about three years ago. I remember she got on Australian TV for an interview. I remember she visited Los Angeles a couple years ago and LA Times ran an article on her visit of Getty Center and Rodeo Drive.
 
:bang:
Oh my, when will people leave this couple alone ? It's endless sometimes ..
 
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- No visiting of any American companies with a team of Danish business men/women for some high level talks.

Too bad the meeting mentioned in the Creative Nation programme between the Danish sustainable energy delegation and the Department of Energy and U.S. energy sector key players doesn't qualify as high level talks.:lol: - or the Pennsylvania Governor for that matter. The visit to to NY Times HQ which focused on the enviromentally an sustainable aspect of the building was very much in line with one of the important themes of the trade delegation - sustainability.

In Denmark paintings, architecture and design happen to be regarded as culture and will you please respect that in your comments. Karen Salicath who was part of the programme also goes by the description artist.

Your comments to the agenda of the visits are marked by an deplorable lack of even basic knowledge about what really took place. You would definitely benefit from reading the official program which is found here Program for Creative Nation - Dansk Industri, Press before commenting further.
 
Fact is : from the PR point of view this trip wasn't a success at all .The public interest has been tiny. If it pays financially or economically time will tell. People who like looking at clothes seem to have had something to enjoy. These 5 persons made their opinions about that very clear.:angel:
 
No fact at all. The trip seemed to go exactly as planned by DI and to fulfil whatever goals DI and the trade delegations had set.

Thanks to all posters who provided links to all the nice pictures from the trip - it was a pleasure to follow :flowers:
 
The trip seemed to go exactly as planned by DI and to fulfil whatever goals DI and the trade delegations had set.

Exactly, no need to make this trip into something it wasn't planned to be. ;)
 
Thank you, Johann. This is exactly what I've been wondering. The Philippe and Mathilde's trip was exactly what I imagine a trade mission should be. I don't know who's at the gala F&M attended but I so far haven't heard of any movers and shakers of NYC. These are things I didn't see:

- No meeting with any American political leaders, not even NYC mayor
- No meeting with NYC leading business leaders
- No visiting of any American companies with a team of Danish business men/women for some high level talks

The only people they met seem to be Danes and the only media covered them was Danish press. I don't see how the trip promoted Danish interests in the US.

As for other royals, Felipe and Letizia's oversea trips usually focus more on diplomatic and cultural exchange rather than solely commerce. Felipe almost always meets the political leaders, from the head of state down to the mayor of the city they visit. He seems to be the leading Spanish diplomat on Latin American relationships. He opens all the Cervante Institute abroad. He sometime was accompanied by Spanish business men for trade talks or attended business conferences.

I remember Victoria did some trips for commerce or cultral exchange. She went to Australia to promote Swedish products about three years ago. I remember she got on Australian TV for an interview. I remember she visited Los Angeles a couple years ago and LA Times ran an article on her visit of Getty Center and Rodeo Drive.

i totally understand that the trips were different for each of the princely couples (i'd place F&L and P&M in one side and F&M on the other) so we can't compare. HOWEVER, what we certainly can do is have a personal opinion on which one of all the visits is the best one in our opinion, in terms of activities and i can personally say i believe felipe and letizia's visits abroad or philippe and mathilde's are much more full of significance than this one. as another poster said, it was a nice display of amazing outfits but quite poor in seriousness and importance of the activities.
 
CP Mary looked very nice for her American visit, but I don't think she realized how much "work" she had to do. Perhaps the next time she comes to NYC she can visit all the lovely shops and see a few plays. My only (slight) criticism is she kept interrupting CP Frederick and rather over shadowing him, but I think that is her strong personality coming thru. All and all she did Denmark proud.
 
as another poster said, it was a nice display of amazing outfits but quite poor in seriousness and importance of the activities.
SOrry, but as a Dane I must say that I find this very condescending. By stating that the goals of the visits lacked seriousness and importance of activities, you basically claim that for example the cultural activities (mostly design and architecture) which are important to Denmark are not deemed noticeable. I cannot imagine saying that about another country.
And surely Denmark is not the only country where sustainability and enviromental-friendly energy sources are considered immensely important? It is a huge business in DK - not least thanks to our windmill industry.

But I take it that we should bow our heads in humble gratitude that the activities were deemed serious and important enough for the US energy department and the governor of Pennsylvania :cool:
 
But I take it that we should bow our heads in humble gratitude that the activities were deemed serious and important enough for the US energy department and the governor of Pennsylvania :cool:

It's Frederiks and Marys fault. They should have begged for a picture oportunity together with the US energy department and the governor of Pennsylvania. :D
 
Perhaps we can leave the sarcasm at home and awnser in a normal way, it would be appreciated as the Danish moderators had to close the thread several times already.

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Re: Carlota, I think the focus on Mary's clothes was mainly something that happened here on the internet, and on other royalty forums, blogs, boulevard magazines etc. I would be surprised if the serious Danish press wouldn't have focussed on something different too and I am sure the people that they met had more interest then in a skirt and a blouse. Nothing wrong with the fous on clothes of course, as it happens with most topics online (state visits, openings of parliament etc) but luckily these visits are more then a fashion parade ;).
 
It's Frederiks and Marys fault. They should have begged for a picture oportunity together with the US energy department and the governor of Pennsylvania. :D
LOL - they should! From the program though I don't think they attended these particular meetings; it says that the Danish sustainable energy delegation had this meeting as well as a meeting with the World Bank which was also about energy supply and efficiency, solar power, wind power and renewable energy fuel cells.
F&M later attended the conference Working Together Towards Sustainability at 'alternating schedules' as it says in the program.
 
Fact is : from the PR point of view this trip wasn't a success at all .The public interest has been tiny. If it pays financially or economically time will tell. People who like looking at clothes seem to have had something to enjoy. These 5 persons made their opinions about that very clear.:angel:

Fact is: From a PR point of view the success of this trip has to be measured according to the goals set by DI and not those set by you Santacruz. If DI is content it has been a success.

If you don't find that this trip has been a success, when it comes to PR, then you are measuring according to your own ideas of succesfull PR. It is your right to do that, but your ideas are not a global fact. The only relate to you.
 
SOrry, but as a Dane I must say that I find this very condescending. By stating that the goals of the visits lacked seriousness and importance of activities, you basically claim that for example the cultural activities (mostly design and architecture) which are important to Denmark are not deemed noticeable. I cannot imagine saying that about another country.
And surely Denmark is not the only country where sustainability and enviromental-friendly energy sources are considered immensely important? It is a huge business in DK - not least thanks to our windmill industry.

But I take it that we should bow our heads in humble gratitude that the activities were deemed serious and important enough for the US energy department and the governor of Pennsylvania :cool:

don't get personal about it, it's my very own personal opinion that some visits have more importance than others and, sincerely, i believe promoting the fashion industry or the furniture industry or the cutlery industry, as big as they can be in denmark or in any other country, can be considered rather "poor" in aims. of course sustainability is a big thing though and denmark is a pioneer in the field and have it very much integrated into their cultures, but don't you think promoting things such as furniture and clothes as well with architechture and windmills is rather disorganized at least?

in any case, i truly appreciate their efforts to support alternative energies. it really is important. now, i just hope it actually does make a difference. don't be offended, but perhaps the governor of pennsylvania should focus in getting windmills produced or speak with their danish counterpart on how to do it, rather than speaking about it with fred and mary that won't know about it and if they do, they won't know as much as the scientists, engineers and ministers in charge of it.

please, don't take it personal, user dane, it's just my opinion.

Re: Carlota, I think the focus on Mary's clothes was mainly something that happened here on the internet, and on other royalty forums, blogs, boulevard magazines etc. I would be surprised if the serious Danish press wouldn't have focussed on something different too and I am sure the people that they met had more interest then in a skirt and a blouse. Nothing wrong with the fous on clothes of course, as it happens with most topics online (state visits, openings of parliament etc) but luckily these visits are more then a fashion parade ;).

i'm the first one to admit that i LOVE mary's clothes and she never disappoints in appearance, but i don't believe it is of much credit if we compare a well-dressed royal or a hard-working royal on important issues. of course appearance is a big deal for royals and other statesmen but... i wouldn't choose a secretary, a lawyer, a doctor or any other person just because they dress nicely. i'd much rather have a professional relationship with someone who is efficient rather than with someone who looks beautiful 100% of the time.



skipping this topic a bit, is there any information on the press conference they did and what they told the press?
 
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Too bad the meeting mentioned in the Creative Nation programme between the Danish sustainable energy delegation and the Department of Energy and U.S. energy sector key players doesn't qualify as high level talks.:lol: - or the Pennsylvania Governor for that matter. The visit to to NY Times HQ which focused on the enviromentally an sustainable aspect of the building was very much in line with one of the important themes of the trade delegation - sustainability.

In Denmark paintings, architecture and design happen to be regarded as culture and will you please respect that in your comments. Karen Salicath who was part of the programme also goes by the description artist.

Your comments to the agenda of the visits are marked by an deplorable lack of even basic knowledge about what really took place. You would definitely benefit from reading the official program which is found here Program for Creative Nation - Dansk Industri, Press before commenting further.

But that's the agenda of Creativenation, not F&M's, is it? F&M didn't visit the Department of Energy or the governor of PA, did they? They didn't set up these meetings, did they? So things happened DESPITE of F&M's visit, NOT because of them.

We're not talking about whether the Creative Nation was successful or not. We're talking about whether F&M's visit added any value to it.
 
in any case, i truly appreciate their efforts to support alternative energies. it really is important. now, i just hope it actually does make a difference. don't be offended, but perhaps the governor of pennsylvania should focus in getting windmills produced or speak with their danish counterpart on how to do it, rather than speaking about it with fred and mary that won't know about it and if they do, they won't know as much as the scientists, engineers and ministers in charge of it.

Perhaps the Pennsylvania Governor is trying get funding for alternative energies by making a statement to his constituencies that alternative energies are fun and hip since such young and attractive people such as Fred and Mary are endorsing them. A lot of people in the public don't pay attention to scientific topics.

Discussions with scientists, engineers, ministers in charge take place after a public relations tour has been a success but they are generally not the purpose of the initial public relations trip.
 
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Speaking of NYC,danish design and beauty: if you really want to see a beautiful woman in NYC that is into danish design and fashion you have to go to Helena Christensens shop " Butik" . I think that it would have been a great idea to let Mary visit Helena in her shop, because the model is a great ambassador for danish fashion worldwide.That would of course have created lots of PR....

But..oops: in this case Mary would not have been the most beautiful woman in the room. I guess thats why it did not happen..:))

Santacruz, give it a rest already!:flowers:
 
in any case, i truly appreciate their efforts to support alternative energies. it really is important. now, i just hope it actually does make a difference. don't be offended, but perhaps the governor of pennsylvania should focus in getting windmills produced or speak with their danish counterpart on how to do it, rather than speaking about it with fred and mary that won't know about it and if they do, they won't know as much as the scientists, engineers and ministers in charge of it.
But the Department of energy and the governor of Pennsylvania did have meetings with the sustainable energy delegations from Denmark - not directly with F&M - who as you rightly point out - can not be as knowledgeable about this as the experts they are travelling with. F&M attended the sustainability conference later on at alternating times.

Royals who undertake these kinds of trips are bound to be the 'icing on the cake' imo. I have seen other royal couples be just that and I cannot understand why it is such a big deal that F&M are just the same?? (this is said in general Carlota, not as a response to your post specifically).

As to 'furniture, design and cutlery'... well, we will probably never all agree on which products are essential - or important ones. There may be Spanish or Italian (no not Italian- I love almost everything Italian...;)) or Belgian products that I would never dream of buying or consider important - but they still are to the producing country - and then who am I to question the importance of selling that particular product to another country?
I am married to an architect and believe me, I know how hugely important architecture and design is in Denmark, not only from an aesthetic point of view but also as an industry. Therefore, I cannot see how for example promoting Danish quality furniture is less admirable than canvassing to sell any other product.
 
sincerely, i believe promoting the fashion industry or the furniture industry or the cutlery industry, as big as they can be in denmark or in any other country, can be considered rather "poor" in aims. of course sustainability is a big thing though and denmark is a pioneer in the field and have it very much integrated into their cultures, but don't you think promoting things such as furniture and clothes as well with architechture and windmills is rather disorganized at least?

I do understand your point of view. Fasion, furniture and culture are luxury goods and can't be compaired to issues like for example poverty or desease. But ind a wider range of scale they can and they are even connected. Millons of people all over the world are employed in industries related to the above mentions areas. Actually when it comes to the design industry in Denmark, for a very big part, only the designs are made her, the products are manufactured in third world countryes. For the employees there fasion, furniture and culture are serious business - it's what feeds their children. But of course this wasn't the agenda for the NY trip. Fortunately sometimes it is only the happy part of life we get to se - that was the case here. I for one did enjoy all the wonderfull pictures that came out of the NY trip.
 
Yes, well would it not be incredibly boring and not to mention not sustainable, if every single country had the same industries?

Hmm - what would we do if every country focused on water preservation, and none on sustainable energy? Fashion and design has to be the main industry in some countries, and Scandavian countries excel at that.

To have a sustainable industry, one has to excel in it, and those that do not excel in a particular industry tend to drift to other industries where they will excel, this is why we have a global economy. A country simply can not make everything that the inhanitants want. Do we want to go back to the middle ages where no one knew anything about anything except what was in their own backyard? Then the whole concept of monarchy as we know it would not exist, and this whole conversation would be a moot point.

Some countries excel at internet technology, which gives us the opportunity to be here, whilst others excel at fashion, design, agriculture, music, shipping, transportation, oil, etc.

If we did not have diverse industries at our disposal, 90 % of what you own, you probably would not own.
 
Some countries excel at internet technology, which gives us the opportunity to be here, whilst others excel at fashion, design, agriculture, music, shipping, transportation, oil, etc.
One country in particular comes to mind, France. The french are known worldwide for high fashion, cusine, the arts etc. I love swedish furniture design, some call the workmanship art. How do we equate importance? I'm sure there are a milion answers to this question.
 
But that's the agenda of Creativenation, not F&M's, is it? F&M didn't visit the Department of Energy or the governor of PA, did they? They didn't set up these meetings, did they? So things happened DESPITE of F&M's visit, NOT because of them.

We're not talking about whether the Creative Nation was successful or not. We're talking about whether F&M's visit added any value to it.

The majority of Frederik & Mary's events are listed at the link UserDane provided. Some of them (the visit to the theatre performance for example), are not. Alternatively, to see all their events, see post 8 on page 1 :) But you're right, other events and meetings took place without Frederik & Mary, because they were not the main focus of the event
 
The majority of Frederik & Mary's events are listed at the link UserDane provided. Some of them (the visit to the theatre performance for example), are not. Alternatively, to see all their events, see post 8 on page 1 :) But you're right, other events and meetings took place without Frederik & Mary, because they were not the main focus of the event

Thanks for the link.

The agenda is full of phrases like: "increase awareness", "showcases", "raise the profile of Danish designer". Without any publicity/media coverage, how could they achieve that?

They visited New York Times's new headquarter and NYT didn't write a word about it? Boy, that's a slight. I'm sure their host and whoever put the agenda together was hoping to get some coverage in NYT by arranging that visit.
 
I really doubt that all people who claim that this was a successful trip to New York are close to the CPC or the Royal Court or even close to business partners on this trip. I really have to say: everything about success, financial and economical, real interest in environmental issues or doing serious work on this trip is pure speculation. Wishful thinking maybe. I really would love to see something of real substance from Mary and Frederik. To me it's still too much CPC show.
 
I really believe that all people who claim that this was not an unsuccessful trip to New York are about as remote from the CPC or the Royal Court and any business partners on this trip as possible. I would like to say: Every negative comment about success, financial and economical, real interest in enviromental issues or doing serious work on this trip is pure malicious speculation. Pityful wishful thinking maybe. I would really love to see something of real substance from these posters. To me they still display too much of a base negativism of an envious nature.
 
I just doubt what several posters are selling as truth. It is not proven that this trip had any effect on economic issues in the US or Denmark. [edited for personal comment- Empress}
 
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Can someone post here some of the answers Mary and Frederik gave during the press conference? If there a link to it?
She really looks like Hundrey Hepburn with that black elegant dress.
I hope we had seen some pictures of Mary and Isabella walking in Central Park! That would make my day!
 
I think we all get the picture by now! Some people think it was a succes, others have doubts. Everybody has made their point more than once (or twice, or over a dozen times). So move on and give it a rest!
 
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