Foreign Royals in London, Pre-Opening Ceremony Olympics 2012


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PrincessofEurope said:
The torch relay should have been for local people who did community work or exceptional deeds etc NO celebrities etc especially those with no revelance to our counrty ... ie Will.I.Am
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In a perfect world world, this would be what happens, but we don't live in a perfect world. The torch relay has been hugely expensive and has been bankrolled, in large part, by Coca-Cola and Samsung. They will have been given the right to choose some, if not most, of the runners. The celebrities are crucial to ensure that media coverage is maximised and that the corporate sponsors get their money's worth. That sums up the modern Olympics unfortunately.

You may feel Will.i.am has no relevance to our country, but I'll bet the young people across the UK who will benefit as a result of his huge donation to the Prince's Trust would beg differ.

The idea that Frederik was asked because he's a 'sportsman' is laughable. Millions of people all over the country take part in sport on a daily basis, Frederik is not special in that regard. From what I've read elsewhere, his record as an IOC member has been fairly mediocre also.
 
 
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EIIR said:
The idea that Frederik was asked because he's a 'sportsman' is laughable. Millions of people all over the country take part in sport on a daily basis, Frederik is not special in that regard. From what I've read elsewhere, his record as an IOC member has been fairly mediocre also.
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The idea that will.i.am was asked because he 'happened' to donate money on the right day is more laughable. Considering there have been torchbearers in my own county who have done less than Prince Frederik, I see nothing wrong with an excellent sportsman, an IOC member (not the only one mind you) and a royal prince carrying the torch.

Exactly how he is mediocre? Is there a member of the IOC who isn't? I can only recall three names from the IOC excluding the president, Princess Anne, Prince Frederik and Prince Albert. I think you can guess why.
 
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Lumutqueen said:
The idea that will.i.am was asked because he 'happened' to donate money on the right day is more laughable. Considering there have been torchbearers in my own county who have done less than Prince Frederik, I see nothing wrong with an excellent sportsman, an IOC member (not the only one mind you) and a royal prince carrying the torch.

Exactly how he is mediocre? Is there a member of the IOC who isn't? I can only recall three names from the IOC excluding the president, Princess Anne, Prince Frederik and Prince Albert. I think you can guess why.
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Did I say will.i.am was asked to take part because of his donation? No I didn't, and I'd prefer it if you didn't accuse me of saying things I clearly haven't. No doubt he was asked because he's part of one of the most successful music groups in the world, plus he's spent an awful lot of time in the UK, not to mention he was asked to perform at the Diamond Jubilee concert. The charity donation demonstrates that he feels a certain connection with the UK, and appreciates the way that many in the UK have taken to him. I think that's laudable. Even if this were not the case, he got a lot of international press attention for the relay, which is necessary and something that Frederik couldn't do.

There has been criticism of Frederik's work as member of the IOC. See here:

Crown Prince Frederik's Olympic work does not live up to expectations and is contrary to the rules, according to experts.

Crown Prince Frederik is not participating as much in Olympic work, sports politics and sports environment, as was expected of him when he was presented as the candidate for the International Olympic Committee, IOC. Both the Olympic constitution, called the Olympic Charter and the internal laws of DIF (Danish Sports Confederation), state that those serving as IOC members also must be a member of the DIF's board. Since he was elected as an IOC member in the fall of 2009, Crown Prince Frederik has only participated in two of 21 board meetings.
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Kronprinsen omgår idrættens regler - Politiken.dk
 
I never actually suggested you said will.i.am ran because of his donation, I said it as it's my opinion. Please don't get it mixed up.
 
julliette said:
Carlota, you are really lucky. You have no idea how MUCH I envy you right now!!!
Great pics of the dannebrog, i've never realized how big it is!!

Great outfit of queen sofia! that's really wearing the flag


Bigger without tags pics of Mathilde and Philippe with their kids in London can be found in daylife
princess mathilde 26 july - News, photos, topics, and quotes


Edit: here are more pics of Mathilde and Philippe today
belgium july 27 prince - News, photos, topics, and quotes
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Actually, Queen Sofia´s clothes are Spain´s uniform for today´s ceremony. I really pity her (and the team) for having to wear it, it´s pretty awful :whistling::whistling::whistling:


Wow, the Dannebrog is very big! I had seen it in photos before, but it´s the first time I realise how enormous it is! Since some of you were saying that it would be the DRF "hotel" while in London, at that they´ll even host a reception there, I assumed it would be quite a big yatch, but it still surprised me!

And the Belgian children are soooo cute!:)
 
ANNIE_S said:
Actually, Queen Sofia´s clothes are Spain´s uniform for today´s ceremony. I really pity her (and the team) for having to wear it, it´s pretty awful :whistling::whistling::whistling:
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ah ah I immediately recognized the uniform when I saw the spanish athletes at the opening ceremony.
I must say I don't think it's awful, I like it actually
 
PrincessofEurope said:
I understand that Frederick is a royal IOC member but other royal ICO members such as Prince Albert of Monaco or Willem-Alexander havnt carried the torch...
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Prince Albert carried the torch for a segment of the torch relay during the afternoon prior to that evening's Opening Ceremony here in Sydney.
It went down a treat. :)

(For locals, from memory he did a run in the Coogee/Clovelly area)
 
queen margrethe II is present at the opening ceremony. so as queen sofia. im not quite sure but it seems princess marie of Liechtenstein was also present
 
No one from Luxembourg came?
 
carlota said:
I am in london for the Olympics and went today to have a walk around canary wharf where the super yatchs are docked for the Olympics. My surprise when I saw the dannebrog between them! I took a picture for you as I thought you may enjoy it :)
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You're so lucky! Thanks for sharing!!!
 
Here is a BT article with a few pics of some of the yachts moored near Dannebrog.
These yachts however are owned by the super-rich!

Besides these mastodonts, Dannebrog is a mere barge with her 78 meters length.

But she is much more beautiful, with the pure lines of a true ship, instead of the grotesque looking mini cruiseships.

Vanvittige både på Themsen: Se kongeskibets rige naboer - Royale | www.bt.dk
The picture on top of the article show a yacht called Octopus, owned by Paul Allen and it is 123 meters long.

The next picture is of Dannebrog and she is 78 meters long and ten meters wide.

The thrid picture is again of Octopus.

The bottom picture is of Eclipse, owned by Roman Abramovich and it is 170 meters long and the largest yacht in world.

The article tells us that the security is very tight with no less than 800 security to look after the vessels and the ship Dannebrog. However, as far as I can tell Carlota :flowers: was able to get pretty close.
 
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Thanks for the photos.
´For me it´s absolutely fine that Prince Frederick ran with the torch. The Olympics are an international event so, why not,,,,,w Besides he is a sportsman and has links with COI.
 
carlota said:
I am in london for the Olympics and went today to have a walk around canary wharf where the super yatchs are docked for the Olympics. My surprise when I saw the dannebrog between them! I took a picture for you as I thought you may enjoy it :)
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It was very kind of you Carlota to have made the time during your trip to share these photo's. And they are lovely at that.
 
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