Crown Princess Mary, Current Events Part 13: August 2016 - May 2018

[Muhler]

Summary of article in Billed Bladet #04, 2018.
Written by our Strassbourg correspondent, Ulrik Ulriksen.

As you know Mary went to Strassbourg with a Danish delegation in order to address the European Council.
Mary's agenda was about gender equality for women and girls worldwide, not to mention their basic rights.
At the same time the Danish government is currently advocating an overhaul of the European Human Rights Conventions. - The interpretations of these conventions have on many occasions prevented expelling foreign criminals or undesired asylum seekers - to the considerable frustrations of politicians and well as the general public. Such proposals would have been next to unthinkable fifteen years ago, today there is an ever growing public demand for it in many if not most European countries. (Otherwise one can fear the brown-shirts will take over and they don't care much about human rights...)
The reason for that, and as such also for Mary addressing the European Council is because Denmark currently holds the chairmanship of the council.

But back to Mary, she started the trip by visiting the Danish ambassador in his private residence. Present was also the permanent Danish representative of the European Council.
Actually Mary's visit was supposed to be low key, so no flowergirl was ready, but - Two Swedish girls (probably daughters of diplomats) had heard about Mary coming and had taken up position outside the danish ambassadors residence. Six year old Josefin and ten year old Johanna. "Thank you very much for the flowers", said Mary. And upon learning that the youngest name is Josefin, Mary told her that her own youngest daughter is named Josephine.

Then it was time for Mary's speech at the first session of the European Council in 2018 and marking the Danish chairmanship until May 2018.
On such occasions it custom to lay visions and ideas which the country that holds the chairmanship wish the council to address and prefarably start doing something about.

Mary gave a 20 minutes speech in which she said: "Actually it's the first time I'm in Strassbourg and it's definitely the first time I give a speech in the European Council.
A well educated child self confident child which is appreciated and a respected member of his of her community is an important player, who can take an active part in a democratic society and be a guardian and champion of the human rights".

After Mary's speech the Italian President of the European Council's Parlamentary Assembly, Michele Nicoletti, praised especially Mary and her work with among other things the Mary Foundation to the sky in his return speech. (That is of course to be expected but Michele Nicoletti went well above what is polite and diplomatic).

See for yourselves here: BB #04, 2018

[iceflower]

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Crown Princess Mary attended a dinner in connection with the opening of Copenhagen Fashion Week at Copenhagen's City Hall today, January 30. The following gallery is mixed with photos of her attending the Designers' Nest Award, see our extra thread.


** ppe gallery **

[eya]

Crown Princess Mary presents the Danish Cancer Society Honorary Award 2018 in connection with World Cancer Day in Royal Danish Playhouse, Copenhagen today

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DVMaVaFX0AE-Ug0.jpg

https://www.facebook.com/detdanskeko...16904655314786

Gallery

http://www.ppe-agency.com/show.php?z...2018%20Denmark

[iceflower]

Here's some more information including some more photos:


** belga gallery **


** BB: Kronprinsesse Mary overrækker hæderspris til to særlige personer ** translation **


** kongehuset.dk: H.K.H. Kronprinsessen overrakte Kræftens Bekæmpelses Hæderspris 2018 ** translation **


** dailymail: Happy birthday! Princess Mary looks chic in an embellished coat at a charity event in Copenhagen..**

[polyesco]

Mary attended the inauguration of Hammershus medieval fortress visitor center.
https://bornholm.nu/?Id=83653
Kronprinsesse Mary Fremragende arkitektur

http://public.tidende.dk/thumb.aspx?....jpg&Width=640
http://public.tidende.dk/thumb.aspx?....jpg&Width=640
https://www.instagram.com/p/BgoSXX0h...le_upsell_test

more info on the center
https://bornholm.info/en/hammershus/

[iceflower]

Thank you! The court has released some photos as well:


** kongehuset.dk: H.K.H. Kronprinsessen indviede nyt besøgscenter ved Hammershus ** fb gallery **


Here's another gallery and Billedbladet has another video:


** belga gallery **

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHBd-0Rjz98

[Muhler]

This is interesting!

The castle, or rather fortress, Hammerhus was build in the 1200's as a very important strategic military installation.
By that time Denmark was emerging as the strongest power in the Baltic region, in very steep competition with the Hanseatic League, against which this fortress was also directed.
Denmark was in undisputed control of the seaways to and from the Baltic, and after having gained control of Sweden and the very wealthy island of Gotland and setting up colonies in Estonia, there was a need for a fortress smack in the middle of the Baltic, and that's why Hammershus was build.
To the south the Teutonic Order, which were very much on friendly footing with Denmark, was beginning to establish their own state in what is now northern Poland and the Baltic states, so they very much appreciated having an allied fortress covering their ports from attacks from the sea. The Teutonic Order didn't run around killing Poles and Balts all the time, even though it was admittedly a favorite pastime hobby of theirs... It was also very much about trade.
Money makes the world go around, also in regards to religious crusades.

Hammershus has been a fortress, it saw (successful) action against the Swedes as late as 1645.
It has also been a prison, a labor camp actually. Like in most European countries prisons where criminals served a determined time is a relatively new thing. Beforehand criminals were usually imprisoned until they were flogged, executed or put to use in other ways. In comes Hammershus. Here criminals were put to use in the quarries on Bornholm. That was hard work, with a considerable mortality rate!

Today the fortress is a ruin, yet it is still one of the absolute main attractions on the island of Bornholm, so no wonder the locals are delighted!

Ironically it's actually cheaper for German and Swedes (and now also Poles) to visit Bornholm, than it is for Danes in the rest of DK. Bornholm is a bit out of the way.

Hammerhus. The word "hus" today means house. But in medieval times "hus" means a large building made from stone, that is not a barn or a church or an abbey. And that included castles. So if you look at a map of DK, and see a name ending in "hus" it's almost certain it started as a medieval castle.
The word "borg" which comes from the German "Burg" that also means castle, was not put into use in DK until several centuries later. So if you look at the map of DK again, and see names ending in "borg", it almost certainly stated as a late medieval castle.

Mary was accompanied by the Minister for the Environment and Foodstuff, Esben Lunde Larsen. - He is without a doubt in the top three of the most... I won't say idiotic... ministers in the current government. But I safely say that there are single-celled organisms living at the bottom of the Mariana Trench in Pacific who will comprehend E=MC2 way before he does!

[Muhler]

Summary of article in Billed Bladet #13, 2018.
Written by our woman on the island of Bornholm, Marianne Singer.

Mary went over to Bornholm on an otherwise chilly day to inaugurate the new visitors center at the ruins of the fortress Hammershus.
Hammershus is the largest fortress in Northern Europe. (The even larger Teutonic castles in the same style and same period are located mainly in present day Poland and Lithuania.)
The Baltic castles from 12-1400's were predominantly made from red bricks, rather than rocks or chiseled stones as was common in most of the rest of Europe. - The Russian castles were unsurprisingly very much made from timber.
It's one of the absolute main attractions on Bornholm and the current interest, indeed fascination for medieval times, it's hoped that a modern visitors center will attract even more tourists, backed up by reenactors who tend to flock to historical places.

When you look at the scans (located in the general DRF news thread) notice the "Dannebrog" in one of the photos in the D-scan or the article.
Dannebrog fell from the sky in 1219 and Hammerhus was build during the 1200's. The flag you see is basically a copy of the very first Dannebrog. - Which is suspiciously looking like a Hospitaller flag... You know, the knights order that at the time had their HQ on Rhodos and later on Malta.
And it very likely was.
Because Dannebrog fell from the sky during a battle at a crusade in Estonia and the peculiar thing about the crusades in the Baltics is that apart from the locals, mainly a Danish army, supported by Swedes and not least the two crusader knights orders the Teutonic Knights and the Sword Bretheren, who had a permanent present in the Baltic, the majority of the crusader armies consisted of "crusader-tourists".
The local forces were relatively limited in regards to manpower and the garrisoned the castles and constituted the core of the crusading armies during the campaign season which, in contrast to almost anywhere else, took place during the winter.
The terrain in northern Poland and the Baltic countries was densely forested with hardly any roads at all, so all transport depended on the rivers and lakes. And the best time to move an army on a river or a lake is when it's frozen, I.e. in the winter months. That means the vast majority of castles and outposts and colonies were located along the rivers, protecting communication and supply lines.
In the 1200's the Poles/Prussians were heathens and certainly in the Baltic countries with a very advanced culture who were perfectly able to build their own copies of the latest brick-castles and with large cities, they were all formidable opponents!
Now, the Poles and Balts weren't that adverse to Christianity they just objected to be force-Christened - and made serfs at the same time... So they fought as hard as they could against the annual crusader campaigns.
Because most years, towards the late autumn, the crusaders mobilized to be ready for the winter campaign.
They were reinforced by thousands of volunteers from mainly present day Germany but certainly also Britain and France, even Spain! - That was very convenient, because it's an awful long way from say Nottingham or Hamburg to Palestine! But the Baltics, that was just a few weeks away by ship and fairly safe too and it counted as a crusade, so you earned brownie points in regards to God, got to spend a couple of months with old friends, killing and fighting in a handful of skirmishes and perhaps even a battle. And all that during winter where nothing else happened, it simply couldn't be better!
And if you died you went straight to Heaven...

And inbetween this very mixed group were the occasional vistors from fellow crusader orders, like the Templars and Hospitallers - who brought along their own banners. - Hence why Dannebrog fell from the sky on what must have been a windy day during a battle in Estonia on the 15th June 1219.

[polyesco]

Mary attends the OECD Global Forum in Paris, which begins tomorrow April 5th.
Tonight she attended a dinner with the Danish ambassador to OECD Klavs A. Holm.
https://twitter.com/AusAmbOECD/statu...50339144327168

[iceflower]

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Today, April 5, Crown Princess Mary held the opening speech during the opening session of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) global forum for developpement in Paris and met with the OECD Secretary General Angel Gurría:


** gettyimages gallery **


** kongehuset.dk: H.K.H. Kronprinsessen ved OECD Global Forum **


** dailymail: Queen of the department store! Princess Mary dons a chic tailored suit in Paris..**

[gerry]

Originally Posted by Muhler

Summary of article in Billed Bladet #13, 2018.
Written by our woman on the island of Bornholm, Marianne Singer.(..)

Muhler! Mange tak for this fascinating story about Bornholm and Hammershus! Who knew that the 13th century was so exciting in northern Europe? I am very curious about this period and will certainly look for more information, but wonder how these stories were preserved? Is there a Danish version of the Bayeux Tapestry or a foundational written text? All and any information is welcome

[polyesco]

More on Mary attending the OECD Global Forum in Paris,

https://www.billedbladet.dk/kongelig...rollen-i-paris
https://www.flickr.com/photos/oecd/s...57695301829145

[Muhler]

Originally Posted by gerry

Muhler! Mange tak for this fascinating story about Bornholm and Hammershus! Who knew that the 13th century was so exciting in northern Europe? I am very curious about this period and will certainly look for more information, but wonder how these stories were preserved? Is there a Danish version of the Bayeux Tapestry or a foundational written text? All and any information is welcome

You are welcome.
The 1200's in particular was an extremely exciting century in especially Danish history.
It was the century when DK became truly Christian.
It was during the 1200's that hundreds of churches were build in DK - along pretty much the same template. Which makes it so easy to roughly date Danish churches.
It was in this period that the Danish kings undisputedly won control of the country and started to establish a more permanent administration of the country.
During the 1200's DK (And Norway and also Sweden) was able to free itself from the economic dominance of the Hanseatic league. - You can buy armies with money, but you can't buy loyalty.
It was during the 1200's that Denmark truly joined the Christian European countries on equal footing and that established the future wealth of DK. It was based on herring. There were enormous amounts of herring in Danish controlled waters, which were salted and exported to all the other Catholic countries as food during lent.
During the 1200's DK established itself as the dominant Baltic power, including conquering the very wealthy island of Gotland and sacking it to the bone.
That Gotland was sacked meant that modern Sweden suddenly found much more room to maneuver. Otherwise Sweden might have been a province of Gotland, not the other way around.
It was during the 1200's that a genuine Swedish national feeling was established, including their own nobility, who did not want to be dominated by Denmark! Starting some 600 years of war between DK and Sweden, with Norway caught in the middle. It started slowly mind you, if was only during the 1500's these wars became an established pastime. One war per generation until 1720, with the last one being fought in 1814. - Thus we have the world-record in numbers of wars fought between two countries.
It was in 1286 that the last Danish king was assassinated. We still quite don't know who was behind it, but it backfired so much that none have been murdered since. - It is one of the best murder mysteries in Danish history!
It was in 1282 that the Danish copy of Magna Carta was written and that became the basis of our Constitution, to this day.
In 1219 Dannebrog fell from the sky, giving first the king (they were the only ones allowed to use it) then our ships and armies and in the mid 1800's the people a very strong deep-rooted national symbol.

And that's just Denmark!

For those interested in economy, the confederate Hanseatic League is a must to study!
It was during the 1200's the Teutonic orders established themselves in what is now Prussia/Poland and also mainly Lithuania. The core of their army consisted of what we today may call religious fanatics, who did not get paid, got no land, no castles, had no families. - No wonder the order got rich!
Their magnificent brick castles are very much worth a visit! Especially Marienburg, their HQ. If you ever visit Poland, go there! You won't regret it.
When you have studied the Teutonic order, jump over the fence to the other side to the today little known Baltic cultures. They were pagan cultures but almost as advanced as the rest of Europe - and they learned fast!
It was in 1241 the Mongols came! - Brushing aside the Baltic defenses and destroying the Teutonic army at Liegnitz. - And at almost the exact same time a central European army at Budapest.
Had the Great Khan not died in 1242, Europe would have fallen, certainly as far as the Rhine, probably as far as the Channel and the Pyrenees.
Italy, which was fragmented into city-states, would likely have fallen as well. - No papacy in Rome. No universities at Paris or Padua. There would not have been a Holy-Roman empire. No German League. No Burgundy. No Jeanne de Arc. No Habsburgs. No European Renaissance. No Protestantism. No pope in Avignon. - Imagine that...

I cannot help mentioning the assassination of Count Gerhard III of Holstein in 1340.
That was a medieval special forces operation that saved Denmark as a nation, and a very dramatic story!
We don't know quite who was behind that operation, but it was executed in a way that would earn the respect of modern special forces!

- So there is a lot to study!

[eya]

Crown Princess met today with Director of Global Fashion Agenda Eva Kruse to talk about Copenhagen Fashion Summit 2018, which takes place in Copenhagen on the 15th of 16th. May.

https://da-dk.facebook.com/detdanske...51468145191770

[polyesco]

Mary attended the opening of the photo exhibition 'Transformation'.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DalfqPUXcAckOpl.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DalrO8qWkAEfwHj.jpg
https://www.instagram.com/p/BheU0THg...ource=ig_embed
https://www.instagram.com/p/BheOatEh...ource=ig_embed

more information on the exhibition
http://bornefonden.com/~/media/BORNE...se_english.pdf

large gallery
https://kendte.dk/mary-deltog-ved-fo...piger/?image=1

[iceflower]

Thank you!

Here's an additional article:


** BB: Bevæget kronprinsesse Mary til udstilling om voldsramte kvinder ** translation **


And some more photos:


** kongehuset gallery ** belga gallery **

[Muhler]

Mary will present the award at the Danish Rainbow Award, which takes place the 25th April.

https://www.bt.dk/royale/mary-skrive...ger-ved-saadan

At the same time Danish Rainbow Award will celebrate it's tenth anniversary.

As you can guess the award is presented to those who work for LGBT rights.
It will be the first time a DRF member takes part in something like that.

Mary is not a DRF pioneer however, in the respect. That is QMII who years ago invited a minister's spouse to an official dinner. The minister was as such officially "outed" that way. Because the press knew perfectly well that the minister was gay and living with another man, but didn't write about since it was a private matter.
That was before registered partnerships let alone same sex marriages were legal here in DK.

There were written a few lines about it, but AFAIR no one battered an eye lid. The minister didn't mind being accidentally "outed" that way, after all it was a pretty big stamp of approval!

[Muhler]

Summary of article in Billed Bladet #15, 2018.
Written by Ulrik Ulriksen.

Mary recently went to the OECD Global Forum on Development in Paris.
The forum took place at Chateau de la Muette, and Mary started the day with a meeting with the general secretary for OECD, Angel Gurria, before giving a speech, really on behalf of Denmark and the Danish government where she said:
"For way too long decisions have made and political strategies been formed without involving women and the young. We know that the most efficient methods to kick start the economic development is to reduce poverty and create sustainable societies all over the world is by strengthening the opportunities for women and girls."

In fact Mary arrived the day before and attended a dinner with the Danish ambassador to OECD, Klavs A. Holm. - Presumably to discuss the final details and get a little insider briefing.

- It is as you hardly the first time Mary is giving a speech in a major international forum. It is very clear to me that various Danish governments are very pleased with Mary and not least her skill in delivering speeches, (especially in English) and she has a higher international profile than practically any minister. Apart from that Mary has been around much longer than any Danish leading politician within these subjects, so her contacts and network are very valuable.
As since we have a Crown Princess with a clear talent, why not use it?

Anyway, here is this weeks BB for your viewing pleasure:
BB # 15, 2018

[polyesco]

Mary conducts the opening of The Miniverse science exhibition.
https://www.facebook.com/experimenta...55969248303381

[iceflower]

What a special outfit she had! Here are some more photos:


** ppe gallery ** dailymail mixed article **


** kongehuset.dk: H.K.H. Kronprinsessen åbnede Miniverset på Experimentarium **


** gettyimages gallery: Crown Princess Mary Opens Science Center For Toddlers At Copenhagen Exploratorium **