The Royals in PyeongChang: Opening Weekend

  February 11, 2018 at 10:00 pm by

Following Friday night’s opening ceremony, the XXIII Olympic Winter Games kicked in to high gear over the weekend, with the first medals awarded and dozens of events held across PyeongChang and neighbouring Gangneung.

Amongst the thousands of spectators were royals from the Netherlands, Monaco, Luxembourg and the UK.

King Willem-Alexander, an honorary member of the International Olympic Committee, and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands were on hand on Saturday to congratulate three of their compatriots – Carlijn Achtereekte, Ireen Wust and Antoinette de Jong – who gave the Netherlands a clean sweep of the medals in the women’s 3000m speed skating. Earlier in the day, the couple paid a visit to the Holland Heineken House in the Olympic Village with Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

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The King was alone on Sunday as he returned to the Gangneung Ice Arena (Queen Maxima having left South Korea for a working trip to Indonesia) to watch another Dutch ‘King’, Sven Kramer, successfully defend his Olympic title in the 5,000m speed skating – his third straight gold medal in this event.

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On Saturday evening, Luxembourg’s Grand Duke Henri, a member of the International Olympic Committee, attended the preliminary round women’s ice hockey match between Switzerland and the unified Korean team. Switzerland defeated Korea 8-0.

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Prince Albert II of Monaco, a member of the International Olympic Committee and a former Winter Olympian, spent time over the weekend meeting with different athletes: he stopped in at Switzerland House on Saturday, before doing the same for the German House on Sunday.

The Princess Royal has also spent time with members of the British team, meeting the curling teams during a visit to the Athletes Village.

Filed under Luxembourg, Monaco, The Netherlands, The United Kingdom
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