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Denmark

Danish royals attend National Flag Day Ceremonies

On Wednesday, several members of the Danish Royal Family attended ceremonies commemorating Flag Day.

Flag Day has always been commemorated on 5 September since 2009. It was created to honour all the Danish soldiers who were sent on missions abroad since 1948. Since 2011, the ceremonies in Copenhagen were attended either by Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary or Prince Joachim and Princess Marie. In 2017, both couples took part in the ceremonies for the first time with the Crown Prince Couple attending the Copenhagen ceremonies and Prince Joachim and Princess Marie visiting Skive. It seems that this is now the pattern they’ll be following from now on- i.e the Crown Prince Couple attending the Copenhagen ceremonies and the Princely Couple attending the ceremonies in a different city each year.

Crown Princess Mary attended the ceremonies in Copenhagen. She first took part in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Kastellet. The memorial was inaugurated by Queen Margrethe during the first Flag Day in 2011 and says ‘A Time – A Place – A Man’. Afterwards, the Crown Princess reviewed the troops on Thorvaldsen’s Square, and she attended a service at Holmens Church. Crown Prince Frederik was also scheduled to attend the ceremonies but he had to cancel because of his recent surgery.

Prince Joachim and Princess Marie spent the day in Fredericia. At Ryes Kaserne, they took part in a wreath-laying ceremony before watching a military parade. They also attended a service at St Michaelis Church. In the afternoon, Prince Joachim and Princess Marie were received at Meldahls Town Hall where they met representatives from a shelter for veterans. They then walked from the Town Hall to Koljhuset where they had lunch with local veterans. During their walk, Princess Marie stopped to greet children that were waiting to see the Princely Couple.

For the first time, Prince Nikolai, the eldest child of Prince Joachim by his first wife, Countess Alexandra, also took part in the Flag Day ceremonies as a member of the military. Indeed, Prince Nikolai started studying at Haerens Sergentskole in Varde last month, and the school held its own ceremony in Varde’s Kaserne.