President Papoulias’ First Day in Denmark leads to Car Trouble

The Greek President and his wife have spent their first day in Denmark, after accepting an invitation from Queen Margrethe II.

President Papoulias and Mrs Papoulia arrived the Kastrup Airport in Copenhagen in the late afternoon, and were greeted by almost the entire Danish Royal Family. Queen Margrethe and President Papoulias inspected a Danish guard of honour as per custom, before the entire group travelled to Fredensborg Palace for the official welcoming ceremony.

This is where the trouble began. Just metres from the red carpet waiting outside the steps of the Palace, the vintage 1958 Rolls Royce carrying the Queen and President Papoulias broke down, leaving the two heads of state to disembark the vehicle and walk the remainder of the way. The car trouble did not seem to phase either party, with Queen Margrethe smiling gleefully in refrence to the trouble for the reporters.

Once inside the Palace, a brief photo opportunity with the Queen, President and their spouses occured, before each party presented the other with orders of merit from their home nations. It was at the evening’s gala banquet where which order each party had received was revealed.

Queen Margrethe wore the Order of St Olga and St Sophia, Prince Henrik and Crown Prince Frederik each wore the Greek Order of Honour, Crown Princess Mary wore the Greek Order of Beneficence, and Prince Joachim the Order of the Phoenix. The Greek President was bestowed the Order of Elephant, and the First Lady the Order of the Dannebrog.

In her speech at the gala, Queen Margrethe spoke of the Athens Olympic Games in 2004 and climate change issues, which is the one of the main themes of the State Visit.

The thread for the State Visit from Greece can be found here.

Filed under Denmark
Tagged Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, Greece, Margrethe II of Denmark, Orders, President Papoulias of Greece, Prince Henrik the Prince Consort, Prince Joachim of Denmark, State Visit.