Danish State Visit to Vietnam, Day Five

  November 7, 2009 at 7:24 pm by

The Danish State Visit to Vietnam ended on Friday,with the royal men once again attending business forums in the morning at the Sheraton Hotel.

TRH Prince Henrik and Crown Prince Frederik once again viewed business stands and attended environmental seminars throughout the morning; while their wives, HM Queen Margrethe II and HRH Crown Princess Mary, paid a visit to the Phasion-Viedam Moulding factory where they were given a tour around the building.

They then moved on to Maersk, a company which produces helmets, in Ho Chi Minh City. The Queen and Crown Princess were introduced to a campaign for children’s regarding them wearing helmets when riding bikes. The duo then headed up to the stage with a group of young children, and assisted them in putting on their white Maersk helmets. And then it was the royal visitors’ turn to try on the helmets – Princess Mary managed to somewhat successfully place her helmet on top of her large brown hat, while Queen Margrethe laughed and passed her helmet on to her daughter-in-law to take back to Denmark, presumably for her two children Christian and Isabella.

The State Visit concluded at 16:00 local time, with a press conference with both Danish and Vietnamese media in the Thao Dien Village. The royal family discussed the visit, and what it was like to go on a state visit together. “It has been lovely, and it has been instructive,” Crown Princess Mary said of accompanying her in-laws to Vietnam. Queen Margrethe quickly agreed, “It’s fun to be two generations together. And instructive – also for an old hand like me.” Prince Henrik, who has no doubt enjoyed showing his family around the country he spent his early childhood in, also spoke highly of the visit and the family’s time together. Crown Prince Frederik was asked what it was like to attend a state visit with his mother and replied, “It’s always good to be able to learn in this subject that I am in right now. To be able to follow my parents in this way. It’s things that I of course put in my backpack.”

The visit concluded officially on Friday, but HM and the Prince Consort will stay on in Vietnam until November 11th. Crown Prince Frederik is off to South Korea on the 10th, for the annual meeting of the International Sailing Federation. It is unknown whether Crown Princess Mary will stay in Vietnam with her in-laws, or head back to Denmark.

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