Princess Marie in the Faroe Islands For Autism Awareness

Denmark’s Princess Marie has been in the Faroe Islands over the past few days to help mark the National Association for Autism’s 25th anniversary in the region.

She arrived on Tuesday for her first visit to the island and was given a tour of the historic city Kirkjubøur. Among her stops were the Magnus Cathedral, built in the early 14th century, and the Kongsgård (royal farm) where she met members of the Patursson family, who are the 17th generation of the family to live at the farm, and have a son with autism (who took a particular shine to Marie, only reluctantly .

“It’s so beautiful and unique,” the Princess said of her first impressions of the island.

On Wednesday, Marie attended a conference presented by Professors Christoph Gilbert and Thomas Bourgeron, which focused on their research on ‘autism genetics and the prevalence amongst the Faroese population’.

The final event of Princess Marie’s Faroe Islands journey was a visit to the Torshavn Gymnasium, which has two dedicated classes for students that have autism.

On her 2nd day at the Faroe Islands, Princess Marie visited Torshavn Gymnasium for students with autism. pic.twitter.com/wfE5B9XBjb

— Scandinavian Royals. (@crownprincely) March 3, 2016

Speaking of the school’s work, Marie said that what they have set up was “very, very important” because children with autism “should also have an education…they have dreams and they must become more independent.”

Filed under Denmark
Tagged Children, Education, Faroe Islands, Health, Patronage, Princess Marie of Denmark, Working Visit.