Photo: Ritzau Scanpix
His father's childhood in Hanoi: Frederik and Mary host state banquet
King Frederik and Queen Mary hosted a state banquet at Christiansborg for the President of Vietnam. The King spoke warmly of Prince Henrik, who lived in Hanoi as a child, and Crown Prince Christian attended his first state banquet.
King Frederik and Queen Mary hosted a state banquet at Christiansborg Palace on Monday evening for Vietnamese President Tô Lâm and his wife Ngô Phương Ly, who are on a state visit to Denmark. Crown Prince Christian attended a state banquet for the first time.
Earlier in the day the President received the Order of the Elephant, Denmark's highest order. The occasion for the visit is the 55th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Denmark and Vietnam.
A speech about Prince Henrik
Much of the King's speech at the dinner was about his father, Prince Henrik, who had a close bond with Vietnam.
"My father, Prince Henrik, spent the first five years of his life in Hanoi, returned as a young man and ever since carried Vietnam and the Vietnamese people in his heart," the King said.
His father's stories fired his imagination as a child, the King said. In 1997 he visited Vietnam himself for the first time, and in 2009 he and Mary made a state visit there together with his parents.
Towards the end of the speech the King returned to his father, who died in 2018: "In the 1930s, when my father travelled to Vietnam as a very young child, the journey by ship took several weeks. Today we can fly directly from Copenhagen to Ho Chi Minh City in half a day."
Christian's first state banquet
Crown Prince Christian turned 21 last week, and this was the first time he attended a state banquet. His dinner partner was Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, DR reports.
A sapphire jewel with more than 125 years of history
Queen Mary wore Queen Alexandrine's sapphire jewel as a tiara for the first time. Alexandrine received the jewel as a wedding gift in 1898, when she married the future King Christian X. No Danish queen has worn it since 1933, when Alexandrine passed it on to her daughter-in-law, Hereditary Princess Caroline-Mathilde.
The Royal Danish Collection bought the jewel from a private owner in 2024. Together with the Queen and jewellery designers Diana Holstein and Hanan Emquies, they have created new settings so that it can be worn as a tiara, a necklace and a brooch. From 24 October the jewel can be seen at the Amalienborg Museum when the Queen is not wearing it.
