How the Royals Spent the First Week of Vancouver 2010

A number of royals are currently in Vancouver, Canada for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. Those who are members of the International Olympic Committee had already been out and about in Vancouver before the Games started. Here is how they all spent the first week of the Games.

Friday February 12th – Opening Ceremony
Royals are a regular fixture at opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games, beginning their support of their nation’s athletes. All the royals in Vancouver attended the opening ceremony at BP Place Stadium, and one was even a flag bearer. Prince Hubertus of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, a descendant of the former Hohenlohe-Langeburg dynasty which was mediatised to Württemberg in the early 1800s, carried the flag for Mexico as the country’s only athlete at these Games.

Princess Anne, the Princess Royal sat in the audience, in front of King Constantine and Queen Anne-Marie of Greece. The Prince of Orange and his wife, Princess Máxima; Infanta Pilar of Spain (who is a member of the IOC) and her daughter Doña Simoneta Gómez-Acebo, and Prince Albert II of Monaco and his long-time girlfriend Charlene Wittstock were also there, some waving flags and scarves as their teams entered the stadium; as were Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, who later met up with Crown Prince Haakon of Norway before spending some time in the vice-regal box.

The British Royals
The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, has been relatively quiet during the competition days, but was spotted on February 13th at the Pacific Coliseum watching several British athletes compete in Men’s and Women’s Short Track Speed Skating. Anne also attended the training session of the British curling team at the Vancouver Olympic Centre on February 15th, one day before the curling competition began.

The Danish Royals
The 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics are the first for Crown Prince Frederik as a member of the IOC, but not a first for him and his wife Mary, who met at the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics. The couple attended the Men’s 10km Sprint Biathlon event in Whistler on February 14th (Valentine’s Day), before Frederik presented the winners with their medals later that night at the Whistler Medal Plaza. Mary watched on from the crowd with Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon as the French, Norwegian and Croatian teams each added a medal to their tallies. On February 15th, Frederik and Mary attended the Men’s Downhill Alpine Skiing finals at Whistler Creekside, after speaking to Danish reporters at their hotel.

The following day, Crown Prince Frederik visited the Vancouver Olympic Park for the Women’s Curling Round Robin match between Denmark and Sweden. Denmark lost the match, 5-6. Later that day, Frederik and Mary attended an ice hockey match between Canada and Norway at Canada Hockey Place in Vancouver, before Mary left Canada to return to Denmark. Frederik was scheduled to stay until February 19th.

The Dutch Royals
Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Máxima were two of the first royals seen at an event of the games, when on Saturday February 13th they attended the first day of the speed skating at Richmond Olympic Oval accompanied by their three daughters Catharina-Amalia, Alexia and Ariane. The family cheered on Dutch skater Sven Kramer during the Men’s 5000m race, who took out the gold, and little Amalia threw her orange ‘Nederland’ beanie in the air due to excitement.

Three days later, on February 16th, Willem-Alexander and Máxima visited the Holland ‘Heineken’ House where they spoke with the volunteers running the House. The Holland House was the location where gold medal celebrations at the 2008 Beijing Summer Games saw the Prince and Princess dancing on stage with Dutch athletes. This visit was after the duo attended the Women’s 500m Speed Skating final, where the best Dutch result was 15th.

The Greek Royals
King Constantine II, who is an honorary member of the IOC, and Queen Anne-Marie attended a day of the speed skating on February 13th, sitting nearby the Prince of Orange and his family. Constantine and Anne-Marie later attended some skiing events, looking on as skiers “flew past” them.

The Monaco Royals
Prince Albert II was first spotted attending the Men’s 12.5km Pursuit Biathlon at the Whistler Olympic Park on February 16th, where he joined up with Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon. Albert’s girlfriend, former South African swimmer Charlene Wittstock, was also with him. On February 19th Prince Albert presented the medals for the Men’s Super-G Alpine Skiing as a member of the IOC.

The Norwegian Royals
After attending the Opening Ceremony, Crown Prince Haakon spent the following days in Whistler (approximately 125km from Vancouver). He first attended the Women’s 7.5km Sprint Biathlon finals at Whistler Olympic Park. Having a royal in the stands unfortunately did not help the Norwegian competitors, whose highest finishing place was 10th. Haakon met up once more with Frederik and Mary of Denmark at the medal presentation for the Men’s 10km Sprint Biathlon on February 14th, where Norway’s Emil Hegle Svendsen picked up the silver medal.

On February 15th, Crown Prince Haakon once again cheered a Norwegian silver medal win by Aksel Lund Svindal in the Men’s Downhill Alpine Skiing at Whistler Creekside. February 16th, and Haakon was back at the Whistler Olympic Park for the Men’s 12.5km Pursuit Biathlon.

Crown Prince Haakon was meant to be accompanied by his wife, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, to Vancouver. The Princess however suffered a neck injury in the week leading up to the Games and has withdrawn from three weeks’ worth of engagements on doctors orders. Haakon’s parents, King Harald V and Queen Sonja, will be taking over the Norwegian cheer squad on February 20th, when they arrive in Canada.

Click here to view the Winter Olympics thread at TRF.

Filed under Denmark, Germany, Greece, Monaco, Norway, Spain, The Netherlands, The United Kingdom
Tagged Albert II of Monaco, Constantine II of Greece, Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, Infanta Pilar Duchess of Badajoz, International Olympic Committee, King Willem-Alexander of The Netherlands, Olympic Games, Prince Hubertus of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Princess Charlène of Monaco, Queen Anne-Marie of Greece, Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, Sport, The Princess Royal, Vancouver 2010.

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