“The Crown Princess and I are delighted to be back in Australia and particularly in Sydney,” announced Crown Prince Frederik as the dashing Prince took centre stage this morning at a special function hosted by Opera House CEO Louise Herron, to announce the five winners of an exciting student exchange program between Denmark and Australia.
In the past Danes have been critical of the Crown Prince’s public speaking prowess but today he was impressive, mixing gravitas with a few well-nuanced quips and creamy Danish charm.
He paid tribute to compatriot Jorn Utzon , the genius architect, who he explained was inspired by the Kronberg fortress in Denmark, aka “Hamlet’s Castle” when he came to create the Sydney Opera House and “unite two cultures in one design”.
“It is a timeless piece of architecture,” Frederik said.
Dressed in a timeless black ensemble, Mary stayed in the audience, a proud onlooker.
But the real stars of this morning’s event were five impressive final year uni students who the Crown Prince was thrilled to “welcome to Denmark “.
The three girls and two boys in the fields of architecture, design and engineering scored the trip of a lifetime — a scholarship to study in Denmark and work on a collaborative venture inspired by Utzon.
They will visit in February 2014 when five students from Denmark will also take part in the exchange program and come to Australia and “strengthen the relationship between our countries”.
The innovative initiative was the brainchild of Opera House CEO Louise Herron who used all her powers of persuasion to put together a portfolio of partners to fund the scholarship program which will run for 10 years.
“When the Opera House turns 5O there will be 100 alumni of the project MADE by the Opera House (Multidisciplinary Australian Danish Exchange),” she announced with pride.
Next stop for the Crown Prince Couple was all about supporting Danish business to cut the ribbon at the official opening of the Ole Lynggaard flagship store in market Street in Sydney.
The contemporary Danish jewellers make hand-crafted pieces in gold and silver with precious stones and have another famous Dane Helena Christensen as their ambassador.
For the afternoon the royal couple is heading to Five Dock Primary School where no doubt the Crown Princess will be in her element meeting Year 6 students and hearing them read and talking to other students about the school “buddy program”.
