Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik's State Visit to Greece: May 24-26, 2006


If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
fromEU said:
It just shows that it is not as serious as the press makes it out to be IMO. Just a operation. Nothing life threathning:)
It's knee surgery. Had it been something more serious, Henrik would proabably be there by her side.
 
There is pre-op to be done - he may very likely be back for the actual surgery.
 
Well, good people, I think Margarethe, being the noblewoman she is simply told Henrik not to worry and go on his vacation without her. However any surgery is serious. Further a knee operation can be very serious indeed. My favorite aunt died as a result of a blood clot from such a surgery. I do not wish to frighten anybody and no doubt she will come through it just fine, but it is not a trivial affair.

As for the wreath and vase, they are the crown and funeral urn which contained the ashes of Philip II of Macedon, the Father of Alexander the III, the Great of Macedon. (Oh my goodness, was he the second or was he the third??) my poor brain is not working today. The discovery of Philip's tomb was a major acrcheological triumph. The items in question are obviously of solid gold, no less. Cheers. Thomas Parkman
 
Thomas Parkman said:
Well, good people, I think Margarethe, being the noblewoman she is simply told Henrik not to worry and go on his vacation without her. ... Cheers. Thomas Parkman
It must be loads of fun for Henri to be vacationing while his wife is in hospital, musn't it? In his place, I'd be 'delighted' :cool: .
Cheers!
Alejandro
 
alejandro_sk said:
It must be loads of fun for Henri to be vacationing while his wife is in hospital, musn't it? In his place, I'd be 'delighted' :cool: .
Cheers!
Alejandro


I don´t think so...i think that he rather woud be with his wife on a holliday as they had planede.
 
So it sounds like maybe she's having knee replacement surgery. My mom just had hip replacement surgery and it has done wonders for her. She has no more pain! I wish Queen Margrethe all the best with her surgery.
 
Thank you sooo much, Larzen!! ;):)
The photos are great!
 
Speeches at the state banquet om May 24 2006, part I

I hereby give you the speech given by the President of the Hellenic Republic at the state banquet at Athens on May 24. The President's speech was held in English and is simply pasted from the website of the Greek presidency.
/Lasse Pedersen

Speech given by HE Karolos Papoulias, President of the Hellenic Republic, at the state banquet in the Presidential Mansion at Athens, May 24 2006, in honour of HM Margrethe II, Queen of Denmark, and HRH The Prince Consort

Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness,


It is with great pleasure that we welcome you to Greece which has strong historic bonds of friendship with Denmark. We both wish to strengthen these bonds and this is one of the reasons why your state visit here is very important.

I should first of all like to underline Denmark’s active international policy. You are a leader in world development and humanitarian aid; you are involved in the U.N. peacekeeping efforts and in helping to bring about stability around the world, thus setting an example for many countries.

Let me also point out the effectiveness and the transparency of your public sector which is one of the best in the world as well as your exemplary welfare state. You can be really proud of these achievements.

The cooperation between Greece and Denmark is creative and has become stronger in recent years at a bilateral as well as at a multilateral level within our European family and at the UN Security Council.

I am aware of your country’s scepticism about the course of European integration which is the reason you do not participate in the euro zone and in the common defence policy. We respect these decisions of the Danish people which give food for thought in relation to certain policies.

The peoples of Greece and Denmark share some concerns and problems about the future of the European Union which is at a crossroads. Our common objectives are growth, dealing with unemployment and a Europe which focuses on its citizens and on the principle of humanitarianism which has been the cornerstone of European thinking since the Enlightenment.

Today we are called upon to choose between either the road of political integration and strengthening of the Union which will lead to the emancipation of its foreign policy or that of becoming a union of free markets with a strong economic presence but without an autonomous political presence.

The recent enlargement, which was a historic and moral necessity and the ones which will follow, increase the feeling of insecurity of European citizens about a Europe which is growing in size but lacks the necessary depth. We believe that the European Union should keep its promises to the accession countries without offsets and without compromising its principles. The candidate countries should, of course, also fulfil the Union’s criteria.

In relation to Turkey, we support its European course but this does not mean that we consider it a historic necessity. Greece believes that the accession of Turkey to the European Union should be the outcome of their consistent and desirable adaptation to European principles and values.

Greece strives for good neighbourly relations between the two countries, of obvious benefit to our peoples. But good neighbourly relations cannot be just words or a declaration of intent; they should be put into practice.

At this point I want to underline that yesterday’s tragic and politically serious event over the Aegean clearly shows that the Turkish government should respect both the letter and the spirit of international law and of international conventions and realize that their unacceptable behaviour, such as yesterday’s unclear missions, jeopardizes stability in a sensitive area.

At this difficult time, I want to express my sympathy to the family of Flight-Lieutenant Costas Eliakis.
Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness,

We note that the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy to Cyprus, who is now a Dane, Mr. Mikael Moller, is currently preparing a new initiative for a solution to the Cyprus issue. We believe that this is the right time for a courageous effort to deal with an anachronism of which the international community and especially our Union cannot be proud. The issue of Cyprus is a European problem and must be resolved on the basis of European principles. The continuation of the division as well as any other counter-european solution go against Europe’s democratic character and are a blow to its deeper values.

Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness,

I am certain that your visit to Greece will open new horizons in the cooperation between our two countries. The “Greek-Danish Business Conference” organized on the occasion of your visit marks a stronger economic and business cooperation. The activity of the Danish Institute in Athens and the work of the Modern Greek Studies Department of the University of Copenhagen help promote cultural relations between two peoples bound by friendship and mutual respect.

Let me express my joy on your visit to Greece and raise my glass to wish you health and personal happiness and progress and prosperity to the people of Denmark.

Source: http://www.presidency.gr/en/omil_content.asp?rid=685
 
Speeches at the state banquet om May 24 2006, part II

And here you have the speech of HM Queen Margrethe II of Denmark. Since it was held in Danish, I have translated it into English. I hope that you will find my translation useful. As always, it is important for me to stress that this translation has been neither authorised nor even seen by a member of the Royal Danish Court.
/Lasse Pedersen

Speech given by HM The Queen at the state banquet in the Presidential Mansion at Athens on May 24 2006

Mr. President, Mrs. Papoulias.
It is with great joy that The Prince Consort and I begin out state visit to Greece today, and we thank you, Mr. President, for your beautiful words to us and to our country, and for the welcome which has fallen into our share. It emphasises the good and close relations between our two countries.

Scarcely two years ago, The Prince Consort and I visited Athens whilst Greece hosted the Olympic Games; an event which athletes as well as spectators will remember with enthusiasm, not only for the athletic achievements, but equally for the successful hosting of the event.

Denmark and Greece are very different countries in character and position, but they also, in their situations, have similarities which further the mutual sympathy and understanding. Both are smaller countries at the fringes of the European continent, and both countries have a geography that orientates them towards the sea, which makes it natural for us to see ourselves as merchant and seafaring nations. Those are features which have characterised our countries and peoples from antiquity.

For the traveller who is granted the privilege to arrive at Athens by boat, that is an unforgettable experience. The blue, blue Mediterranean, the rugged shores where each island and each foreland tells of the country’s history from ancient as well as modern times, the bay of Piraeus – and there, high above the plain and mist of the modern city, you see a golden chest: The Acropolis; “as a gigantic throne above all the wee houses”, as the poet Hans Christian Andersen put it in 1841.

For all of western civilization, Ancient Greece is part of the foundation. Ever since this connection came to the attention of the people of the Renaissance, the thoughts and styles of antiquity have stamped our lives; we have, so to say, grown up surrounded by the antiquity’s architectural orders and its philosophical terms, even when we are barely conscious hereof. Early in the 19th century, the ancient ideals of freedom and the ideas of the democratic city-state found further nourishment in the Greek Liberation War: Greece was on everybody’s lips; Danish artists now went to Greece, painters and poets described the country, and Danish architects and classical researchers sought to personally familiarise themselves with the places of the ancient culture.

Doubtlessly, they experienced a very different Greece than her whom we meet today; but one thing has not changed and seems as breathtaking on any Dane, now as then: the light. We Scandinavians who come from the many gray days and the low sun, picture to ourselves the South in a warm and golden light; but here, we see something new: Here, the light is white, white and blue like the Greek flag. For a Dane, there is, at the same time, something strangely familiar about the light above the islands or above Attica, for here as at home, the sea is always near; it is both at our feet and right behind the mountain, and borrows its blue glimmer to the shadows, as we know it from our own, sea-encircled land.

One of the Danish writers who let themselves be fascinated by Greece, was Hans Christian Andersen whose fairy tales and stories are known and loved in Greece; this was clearly seen in the vast markings of the bicentenary of his birth, also in this country. Both in his journals and in his great travel book from 1842, ”A Poet’s Bazaar”, he has vividly described his stay at Athens. Even at that time, the traffic made quite an impression: ”… the driving Greeks stand up in the old carriages and go by as were it a horserace”, and, as he writes elsewhere, ”it raised the dust horribly, but after all, it was classical dust”!

Some of the Danish architects of his age put their mark on Greece. I am thinking of Christian Hansen who stayed here for eighteen years, and his brother Theophilus Hansen. The works of them both still stamp the image of central Athens: the university, the academy and the national observatory are merely examples. Christian Hansen also got to leave his stamp on his own city as he, after returning in the middle of the 19th century, was the head of several, characteristic buildings in Copenhagen, now inspired by the Byzantine style he had gotten to know in Greece.

Thus, many contacts between Denmark and Greece had already been made when the Greek national assembly in 1863 made yet another connection by electing my great-grandfather’s brother as king as Georg I. The connections between our countries steadily developed, but not least in the course of the last fifty years, we have seen an almost explosive growth in the communication among our countries. It was not only my own, family related connections which were strengthened, and amongst other experiences led to me also getting familiar with the country; but the communication has reached a hitherto unseen width. Greece has become one of the Danes’ preferred travel destinations and welcomes more than 300,000 Danish tourists each year. Neither scientists nor artists hold themselves back, for Greece has in all time been an attractive destination for research and inspiration. It was therefore gratifying that Denmark could found the Danish Institute at Athens in 1992; here, close bonds are formed between Danes and Greeks in a fruitful collaboration. Also financial and commercial progress prevails, and it is my hope that the discussions between Danish and Greek executives arranged in connection with this state visit will inspire to new initiatives to the benefit of both our countries.

Internationally, there has been, for a long time, a close and frictionless relationship between Greece and Denmark. This also has its effect on the broader, international cooperation within the parameters of the United Nations, where our two countries are both, at the moment, elected as members of the Security Council, and in NATO. Not least, it makes itself felt within the European Union. Fundamentally, the viability of the progress obtained through international collaboration, depends on whether the creation and maintaining of a feeling of mutual understanding and solidarity is successful. In this perspective as well, there is reason to be delighted at the ties that have been formed throughout centuries between Greece and Denmark, and at the many new connections that have been created in recent years.

Mr. President,
as a politician, you have through your entire life been committed to the struggle for freedom and democracy. You have taken part in decisions which have been crucial for the welfare of your country. By virtue of your prestigious office, you are still contributing to the promotion of respect for your country, for her people and her both old and living culture.

Wishing for continuous happiness and prosperity for Greece and the Greek people, I raise my glass in order to, with The Prince Consort, propose a toast to the President of the Hellenic Republic and Mrs. Papoulias.

Source (in Danish): http://kongehuset.dk/artikel.php?id=77594&dogtag=k_dk_aktuelt_presse
 
she looks so happy in those photos...who is she meeting does anyone know?
 
H.M. Margrethe said:
I don´t think so...i think that he rather woud be with his wife on a holliday as they had planede.
Sorry, that's exactly what I meant. That's why I put the ":cool: " face.
I wouldn't have gone on that trip myself if I'd been him. (But then, I'm not married. :p)
Take care! :)
Alejandro
 
alejandro_sk said:
Sorry, that's exactly what I meant. That's why I put the ":cool: " face.
I wouldn't have gone on that trip myself if I'd been him. (But then, I'm not married. :p)
Take care! :)
Alejandro
Didn't Henrik go directly from the trip to the celebrations in Thailand? I could imagine that QMII, practical woman that she is, would have preferred Henrik to adhere to the agreed schedule instead of jetting back to Denmark just to have to leave shortly after for Thailand. Of course it's only my guess.
 
UserDane said:
Didn't Henrik go directly from the trip to the celebrations in Thailand? I could imagine that QMII, practical woman that she is, would have preferred Henrik to adhere to the agreed schedule instead of jetting back to Denmark just to have to leave shortly after for Thailand. Of course it's only my guess.

But it is about what Henrik did, not about how practical QMII is, and surely Henrik has the right to make his own decisions, so yes your post is just a guess.
 
so great to see all these pictures from Greece.

some of you make it sound like the Queen was left in total isolation when she had her surgery.

the telephone was invented some hundred years ago.

I assume the Prince Consort would call the Queen at least on a daily basis.

he also decided to give her a new puppy, which was very sweet.
 
beautiful dresses
of queen margrathe 2
i like her style in fashion
i like her smile
 
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Thanks for the translation we can always check it out ouselves but it is so helpful for people to translate articles/speeches to give us some idea of things. Think of it as your effort in international relations and thank you.
 
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