Danish State Visit to France: March 31 - April 2, 2025


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King Frederik and Queen Mary will pay a state visit to France from March 31 - April 2, 2025,
it was announced today.




The King and The Queen travel on a state visit to Finland the days of 4-5 March. Later in the month, from 31 March through 2 April, The King and The Queen pay a state visit to France.
The days of 23-25 April, The King pays an accession visit to Japan, where The King will also participate in the international world exhibition Expo 2025 in Osaka.
More information about the programmes and news coverage opportunities for the individual visits will be made available on an ongoing basis.


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:flowers: Happy Posting! :flowers:
 
I'm surprised the program for the state visit has not been posted yet. The visit begins this coming Monday.
 
"The Royal Couple will be accompanied by a large Danish business delegation focusing on European resilience in the areas of defence, energy and health. The delegation consists of 55 Danish companies and will begin the visit with an economic forum, sector-specific visits and partnership events with French stakeholders.

The state visit also highlights the cultural ties between the countries. The royal couple will visit the weaving mills at La Manufacture des Gobelins, where the tapestries for Koldinghus are made, as well as the reopened Notre-Dame Cathedral. The Queen will also visit a school where the Mary Foundation's anti-bullying program is being implemented.

The Royal Couple will be accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Troels Lund Poulsen, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Minister of the Interior and Health Sophie Løhde, and Minister of Climate, Energy and Utilities Lars Aagaard, all of whom will participate in various activities during the state visit."

Program

Monday, March 31

Arrival at Paris-Orly Airport 2:30 PM

The Royal Couple arrives at Paris-Orly Airport.

Official reception and welcoming ceremony at Les Invalides 16:00
The official welcoming ceremony will take place in the Court d'Honneur at the Hôtel National des Invalides – also known as Les Invalides. The Royal Couple will be received by President Emmanuel Macron and First Lady Brigitte Macron at a military ceremony, marking the official start of the state visit.
Upon arrival, the Danish and French national anthems are played, after which the King and President inspect the guard of honor. The French presidential couple are then introduced to the Danish delegation, and the Royal Couple greets the French delegation.
The Hôtel des Invalides houses museums and monuments, all relating to France's military history

Escort to the Élysée Palace 16.35
The Royal Couple is escorted by La Garde Républicaine to the official residence of the President of France, the Élysée Palace. La Garde Républicaine is a unit of the French Gendarmerie, particularly known for its cavalry corps.

Arrival and official welcome at the Élysée Palace 16.45
The Royal Couple arrive at the Élysée Palace escorted by La Garde Républicaine. Upon arrival, the Royal Couple and the Danish delegation are received by the Presidential Couple on the steps of the Palace.
Gifts and decorations will be exchanged in the Salon des Portraits, after which a courtesy audience will be held in the Salon Pompadour with the President and the First Lady. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Minister of Defense, Troels Lund Poulsen and Denmark's Ambassador to France and Monaco, Hanne Fugl Eskjær, will also participate in the meeting, where bilateral relations and cooperation will be discussed.

Gala dinner at the Élysée Palace 20:00
The French presidential couple will host a gala dinner in honor of the Royal Couple. During the dinner, the President will welcome the King, after which the King will give a speech. Musical entertainment will be provided by the French National Guard.


Tuesday, April 1

Visit to the Manufacture des Gobelins 09.35

The Royal Couple visits the historic tapestry weaving factory Manufacture des Gobelins. The workshop was founded in 1601 and is known for producing some of the world's most famous tapestries and textiles.
The focal point of the visit is the 16 tapestries that were commissioned for Koldinghus in 2018, and which will be cut from the looms during the presence of the Royal Couple and can thus be seen in their full extent for the first time.
Later this year, the tapestries will be exhibited at the Grand Palais in Paris before becoming part of the permanent exhibition at Koldinghus.

Official opening of the Economic Forum 11:00
The Franco-Danish economic forum France-Denmark: A European Partnership for a Resilient Future will be held at Palais Brongniart. The Royal Couple will participate in the official opening, where the King will give a speech.
The conference aims to create the best possible platform for networking between the Danish business delegation and their commercial and political partners in France under the common theme of economic resilience.

Meeting with French Prime Minister François Bayrou 12:00
The King arrives at the Hôtel de Matignon via the Palace's garden, Jardin de Matignon, which is known for its elegant French garden architecture. Prime Minister François Bayrou receives the King on the steps of the Palace, after which a short meeting is held. The Hôtel de Matignon is the official residence and workplace of the Prime Minister of France.

Visit to Ecole Maternelle Dussoubs 12.00
The Queen and the Mary Foundation visit the Ecole Maternelle Dussoubs. Students and teachers at the school have recently become part of the Mary Foundation's Bullying Free program, and during the visit, The Queen will gain insight into the French experience of working with the program.
Ecole Maternelle Dussoubs is a public school for children between the ages of three and six.

Lunch with the President of the Senate 13:00
The King is received in the Senate by the President of the Senate, Gérard Larcher. The Senate is one of the two chambers of the French parliament, the other being the National Assembly. The Senate is housed in the historic Palais du Luxembourg in Paris and serves both as the Senate's meeting room and as an important symbol of French parliamentarism.
Denmark's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, Troels Lund Poulsen, will also participate in a joint lunch.

Partnership Event at Palais Brongniart 14.20
In Palais Brongniart, where the King and Queen officially opened the Economic Forum conference earlier in the day, Danish and French companies will present their work to the King and Queen. The short meetings with the companies will take place in three tracks:
The King meets 16 companies with a focus on defense.
The Queen meets 16 companies with a focus on health.
The royal couple each meet 11 companies with a focus on green energy.

Visit to the Grand Palais 4:00 PM
The Queen will visit one of Paris' most iconic cultural institutions, the Grand Palais, where the exhibition 'Tapisseries Royales' presents French expertise in tapestry weaving. Later in the year, the exhibition will also house the modern Danish contributions to tapestry art, which The Royal Couple got to see up close during their visit to the Manufacture des Gobelins earlier in the day.
The Grand Palais was built for the World Exhibition in 1900 and is known for its beautiful combination of classical and modern architecture with a magnificent glass and steel structure.

Return dinner at Le Grand Hôtel 19.00
The Royal Couple invites the members of the delegation and selected French and Danish guests to a return dinner at Le Grand Hôtel. The return dinner celebrates French-Danish relations in diplomacy, culture, politics and business.


Wednesday, April 2

Reception by the Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo 09.15

In the courtyard in front of the Paris City Hall (Hôtel de Ville), the Royal Couple is received by Mayor Anne Hidalgo. Flanked by the Garde Républicaine, the Royal Couple and the Mayor then stroll down to the Seine, where the delegation boards the electric boat The Mistinguett.
During the cruise on the Seine, an energy conference will be held, where The Royal Couple will be introduced to Paris' green transition in transport, heating, cooling and electricity. During the boat trip, Mayor Anne Hidalgo will also present the city's initiatives to address climate challenges.

Visit to the defense company KNDS 10.45
The King visits KNDS France, one of the largest defense companies in Europe. During the visit, the King will be introduced to advanced military solutions and concrete collaborations between Denmark and France within the defense industry.

Visit to Hôpital Foch 10.45
The Queen will visit Hôpital Foch, where there will be a tour and presentation of the hospital's research and technological innovations within the healthcare sector.

Visit to the Assemblée Nationale 12:00
The Royal Couple arrive at the French National Assembly and are received by the President of the Assemblée Nationale, Yaël Braun-Pivet. After a short meeting and signing of the guest book, the Royal Couple are given a tour of the National Assembly's newly renovated library.
The Bibliothèque de l'Assemblée Nationale was founded in 1796 and houses one of France's most significant collections of legal, political and historical works.

Visit to Notre-Dame de Paris 15.00
The Royal Couple will be given a tour of the iconic Notre-Dame Cathedral, which has been a symbol of French culture and history since its construction in the 12th century. The visit will focus on the extensive restoration work the cathedral has undergone since the devastating fire in 2019.
The reconstruction of Notre-Dame is a global collaboration in which architects, engineers and craftsmen have restored the cathedral using traditional methods and materials to preserve the authenticity of the structure. The cathedral reopened in December 2024.
The visit to Notre-Dame also marks the end of the state visit.

 
That is quite a packed 3 day state visit for the King and Queen. Looking forward to all the engagements.
 
Very interesting program. Almost the full pump package ( even a rarely seen return event) except the "small" State welcome and procession from The Invalides to the Elysee palace instead and the "grand" Welcome at the Arc the Triomphe and procession down the Champs Elysees ( seen for Charles III, Biden and King Philippe).
 
A very busy visit!
It's actually the delegation that accompanies the Regent Couple that is most interesting.

DK and France have become close allies within EU. (Beforehand it was UK and DK) And for years DK and France has had an ever closer military and security political co-operation and that has over the past few years very much extended into military development, because DK has a number of advanced software products that France are very interested in as well as exchange of new and in particular naval technology.

As always with state visits money is involved as well as politics. Here we are talking about very serious money and very real politics! I dare say this is the most important state visit the Regent Couple has taken part in. The first were laid back trial runs among good friends and neighbors. This one is for real, if you get my meaning.
We are very fortunate in having a King who speaks fluent French.
France is now a vital ally for DK within EU. Politically, but of course not economically, more than even Germany. While to France DK is to a large extent seen as the bridge to the Nordic countries, not least because DK has been a member of both EU and NATO for so much longer.
 
A very busy visit!
It's actually the delegation that accompanies the Regent Couple that is most interesting.

DK and France have become close allies within EU. (Beforehand it was UK and DK) And for years DK and France has had an ever closer military and security political co-operation and that has over the past few years very much extended into military development, because DK has a number of advanced software products that France are very interested in as well as exchange of new and in particular naval technology.

As always with state visits money is involved as well as politics. Here we are talking about very serious money and very real politics! I dare say this is the most important state visit the Regent Couple has taken part in. The first were laid back trial runs among good friends and neighbors. This one is for real, if you get my meaning.
We are very fortunate in having a King who speaks fluent French.
France is now a vital ally for DK within EU. Politically, but of course not economically, more than even Germany. While to France DK is to a large extent seen as the bridge to the Nordic countries, not least because DK has been a member of both EU and NATO for so much longer.
Thanks @Muhler for a bit of background as to the higher stakes for this visit...with current events probably adding to it.
I noticed the large amount of Danish companies involved too.
Plus it is also a full 3 day visit which is pretty rare these days. The Mary Foundation taking part as one of the biggest programs of the foundation is established in France.

I will be interested to see of this visit gets more visibility than it normally would given the leading role France has taken and the focus Denmark has received due to the Greenland issue.

Will Frederik give his speech in French I wonder.

And I agree this is a heavy state visit for the royal couple. I am sure that as usual they are very well prepared and up to the task in every way.
 
Thanks @Muhler for a bit of background as to the higher stakes for this visit...with current events probably adding to it.
I noticed the large amount of Danish companies involved too.
Plus it is also a full 3 day visit which is pretty rare these days. The Mary Foundation taking part as one of the biggest programs of the foundation is established in France.

I will be interested to see of this visit gets more visibility than it normally would given the leading role France has taken and the focus Denmark has received due to the Greenland issue.

Will Frederik give his speech in French I wonder.

And I agree this is a heavy state visit for the royal couple. I am sure that as usual they are very well prepared and up to the task in every way.
Normal convention with at least Danish state visits is that the speeches at the gala dinner are spoken in the native languages of the ones who give the speeches. In that way both languages are "equal" so to speak. But of course it's always an extra bonus if you can utter at least a few sentences in the language of your host/guest. And that King Frederik can do with ease.

As all French women without exception are chic (mandated in their Constitution BTW) and Queen Mary is chic as well, her lack of French skills will no doubt be forgiven.
 
This will be a Return State Visit , France State Visit was in 2018.
No Versailles , but this Visit has a symbolic importance concerning Greenland
I hope the Queen will wear part of the Desirée parure as Bernadotte was french.
 
A video message from the FA Minister before the start of the state visit

Press release regarding the importance of the 55 companies comprising the business delegation and increased trade between Denmark and France
 
According to the Palace, Paris is ready ;)



Added:
King Frederik and Queen Mary have arrived - a live link:




** Pic 1 ** Pic 2 ** Pic 3 ** Pic 4 ** Pic 5 **

Video:


Galleries:


** gettyimages gallery ** rex gallery **


 
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King Frederik X and Queen Mary arrived at the Élysée Palace and were welcomed by the Presidential Couple,
Emmanuel Macron and Brigitte Macron.

Billed Bladet is live following the arrivals for the gala dinner.

 
What a lovely start so far.
Another gallery

Exchange of Orders.
"The King and Queen of Denmark have today been awarded the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour (Legion d'Honneur), France's highest order, by HE the President of the Republic of France Emmanuel Macron, in connection with their state visit to France.
The King has also awarded Mrs. Brigitte Macron the Grand Cross of the Order of the Dannebrog with a breast star in diamonds. Mrs. Macron received the Grand Cross of the Order of the Dannebrog during the Presidential Couple's visit to Denmark in 2018, but now receives the breast star in diamonds as a special gesture.
President Macron received the Order of the Elephant, Denmark's finest order, during the state visit in 2018."

Great photos from the DRF

a special appearance from the doggie. You can see the warmth between the two couples

She doesn't speak French, so no.

Margrethe and Marie speak French, though.

According to Billed Bladet, Mary speaks French.

Maybe she has learned over the years. She has done multiple trips to France with and without Frederik due to their work. And the Mary Foundation Free from bullying has expanded to France.
I don't know if she is fluent but maybe has picked up just enough
 
Reuters transmitted the events of the day - live. Here is the YouTube video. It is about 43 minutes long!


Exchange of Orders.
"The King and Queen of Denmark have today been awarded the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour (Legion d'Honneur), France's highest order, by HE the President of the Republic of France Emmanuel Macron, in connection with their state visit to France.
The King has also awarded Mrs. Brigitte Macron the Grand Cross of the Order of the Dannebrog with a breast star in diamonds. Mrs. Macron received the Grand Cross of the Order of the Dannebrog during the Presidential Couple's visit to Denmark in 2018, but now receives the breast star in diamonds as a special gesture.
President Macron received the Order of the Elephant, Denmark's finest order, during the state visit in 2018."
Lovely! The King and Queen had previously received the National Order of Merit during the French State visit to Denmark in 2018.

Lovely photos during the viewing of gifts and exchange of orders

Post on the DRF website regarding the orders exchanged. President Macron had already received the Order of the Elephant during the French State Visit to Denmark in 2018. At that time, the King and Queen had received the National Order of Mert. They have now received the next (and highest) order of France.


According to Billed Bladet, Mary speaks French.

Maybe she has learned over the years. She has done multiple trips to France with and without Frederik due to their work. And the Mary Foundation Free from bullying has expanded to France.
I don't know if she is fluent but maybe has picked up just enough
Thanks. I had been wondering if maybe over the years she had picked up some French. It would not surprise me tbh. Just like I think that she at least understands some Swedish and Norwegian. I am not saying she is fluent by any means, but given the commonalities of the dialect, it would not be difficult to at least understand them.

Billed Bladet is live following the arrivals for the gala dinner.

Another live stream video from the events of earlier today. Great coverage so far!!
 
I was just about to ask whether Mary spoke French. It makes sense that after learning Danish, she also spend some time on learning (or improving - if she happened to study the language in high school) French - given that most of the family speaks French and is French or half-French (including her husband).
 
According to Billed Bladet, Mary speaks French.

Maybe she has learned over the years. She has done multiple trips to France with and without Frederik due to their work. And the Mary Foundation Free from bullying has expanded to France.
I don't know if she is fluent but maybe has picked up just enough
She lived in Paris before she moved to Denmark. So I guess she knows a bit of French, though she may "understand it better than she can speak it".
 
According to Billed Bladet, Mary speaks French.

Maybe she has learned over the years. She has done multiple trips to France with and without Frederik due to their work. And the Mary Foundation Free from bullying has expanded to France.
I don't know if she is fluent but maybe has picked up just enough
According to the Q&A in the article, Queen Mary speaks fluent French.
I allow myself to question that one. The reply is BTW not from a journalist I'm familiar with.
I seem to remember some years back that Queen Mary had or is studying French but I have ever ever heard her utter a word in French.
 
If she was fluent in french the home page would probably say so, and it says her first language is english and the second is danish. For the other grown up members they list all the languages they speak.
 
She probably knows some French to get by - given her past residence in France and the fact that she works with many organisations like the UN which have French as their official language and as she travels around the world it probably comes in handy to be able to speak some?

A very packed visit for them! I sometimes wonder how the royal ladies are able to go full days on high heels for these sort of visits. Must be no easy feat!

Can’t wait for pictures of the state banquet.
 
Can’t wait for pictures of the state banquet.
Here's a first video:



And the gettyimages gallery, already posted earlier today, is getting updated with photos of the evening.
 
If she was fluent in french the home page would probably say so, and it says her first language is english and the second is danish. For the other grown up members they list all the languages they speak.
Say so her third language is up to some debate at the moment. But some heirs and/or present/future consorts only speak one language, so I don't think Mary should be worried.
 
Say so her third language is up to some debate at the moment. But some heirs and/or present/future consorts only speak one language, so I don't think Mary should be worried.
I don't think anyone is worried - it would makes communication just a bit easier during this State Visit if they could all converse in French.

As to the language skills within other royal houses, I will respond in the appropriate thread.
 
Here's a first video:



And the gettyimages gallery, already posted earlier today, is getting updated with photos of the evening.
That's a warm greeting!
This is where King Frederik's people-skills are so very useful. Apart from the fact that the the gentlemen obviously have a good relationship.
 
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