An audience with HM the Queen of Denmark. That is how US President Barack Obama and his wife, First Lady Michelle, ended their visit to Copenhagen yesterday, October 2nd.

Click to see the Berlingske gallery

The duo first met with Queen Margrethe II and HRH the Prince Consort at Christiansborg Palace, before the President was presented with a guard of honour by the Royal Danish Life Guard. President and First Lady Obama were then introduced to TRH Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary. The meeting took place in the Palace’s Banquet Hall, which is home to the ‘Dronningens Gobeliner’, or the Queen’s Tapestries.

The seventeen 300m2 tapestries, created by Bjørn Nørgaard and presented to the Queen as a gift for her 50th birthday, stunned the President, who was greatly impressed by the pieces. Queen Margrethe wasted little time, pointing out various features of the tapestries and explaining their meanings to her guests. The Obamas spent approximately fifteen minutes in the Banquet Hall with the royals, Michelle was seen chatting with the Prince Consort and Princess Mary. View a video of the Obamas’ arrival and inital meeting here.

From there, the President went on to an audience with Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen. Here, there was a press conference where Obama thanked the royal family and the people of Denmark as a whole. “I would like to thank the Danish Royal Family for their extraordinary hospitality during our visit,” he said. The Prime Minister also thanked President Obama for coming to Copenhagen, saying everyone was delighted by their trip and hoped they would visit again soon, and wished the Chicago 2016 Summer Olympic Games bid well.

Click to see the image at Daylife

Luck was not with the Obamas and the Chicago delegation, which also included Oprah Winfrey, though as they were eliminated in the first round of the voting. Coming down to Madrid and Rio de Janiero, IOC President Jacques Rogge announced that the Brazillian capital would be the first South American city to host an Olympic Games, sending joy and jubilee throughout the Rio delegation and in the city itself.

The 121st IOC Congress continues until October 9th. View the Congress thread here.

JessRulz Danish Royals Audience, IOC, Margrethe II, Michelle Obama, President Obama, Prime Minister Rasmussen, Prince Frederik, Prince Henrik the Prince Consort, Princess Mary, Rio 2016

 The Danish Constitution on the Act of Succession will be ammended to allow the monarch’s first-born child of either gender to succeed the throne, following the successful referendum on equal primogeniture this weekend.

According to Politiken.dk, 45.5% of the entire Danish electorate (4.03 million Danes) voted in favour of the proposed change, which will see future first-born daughters of Danish monarchs retain their place in the order of succession even if a younger brother is born. At least 40% of the electorate was required to vote ‘yes’ to the referendum for it to pass. 59% of eligible Danes voted, with 7.8% voting ‘no’ and 5.3% casting a blank vote.

Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen told his Liberal Party that, “It’s a strong signal that shows that we want to be a society where men and women have the same opportunities, whether it’s for ordinary people or princes and princesses,” after the result was announced.

It was unsure just two hours before the polls closed if the ammendment would pass. Exit polls provided by Politiken and TV2 stated that only 75.5% of those who turned out to vote had voted ‘yes’ – which overall created a 37.9% ‘yes’ from the total electorate, falling 2.1% short of the required target.

This caused Prime Minister Rasmussen to tell the Danes that, “The polling stations are open until 8 pm. I appeal, of course, to people to use their right to vote, and if you share our point of views to vote in favour,” via TV2.

Doubt was also raised months ago when the referendum was announced to be held on the same weekend as the elections for the European Parliament (where Denmark has 14 seats), which generally see a lower voter turn-out than national elections. The fact that this law will not have any large effect on the succession until at least second-in-line Prince Christian has children also caused debate about the reason of holding the referendum in 2009.

Read more about the succession referendum here.

JessRulz Danish Royals Elections, Prime Minister Rasmussen, Prince Christian of Denmark, Succession

Yesterday, Queen Margrethe II named Lars Løkke Rasmussen as the 40th Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Denmark, the fifth in her reign. The decision came after the previous Prime Minster, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, handed her his resignation to become the Secretary General of NATO.

Prime Minister Løkke Rasmussen heads the Liberal-Conservative Coalition, which holds the parliamentary majority, enabling them to head to November 2011 without holding a general election.

Mr Fogh Rasmussen left Amalienborg Palace after his meeting with the Queen a normal citizen, and he will take over as NATO’s Secretary General on August 1.

JessRulz Danish Royals Government, Margrethe II, NATO, Parliament, Prime Minister Rasmussen