THE CARLSBERG FOUNDATIONS RESEARCH AWARDS 2019

1st September

As guest of honor Crown Princess Mary attended the Carlsberg Foundations Research Awards 2019 and following dinner. The honoring took place at the legendary Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek - an art  museum build by Carlsbergs founder, Carl Jacobsen. He was a passioned collector of both antique and modern art. A magnificent place, here.

The Crown Princess was welcomed welcomed by, among others, Ane Halboe-Jørgensen. She is the new Minister of Education and Science. Later in the evening both women entered the stage and presented the two Carlsberg awards.

For quite a few year the Crown Princess has been a regular person on the guest list. I believe she first attended the event in 2013, here. Since then she has been invited to hand over two research awards to scientists who have contributed with decisively scientific research results. According to the Royal House the awards are given to both natural sciences- and a humanist/social science researcher. This year Crown Princess Mary handed over the awards to Thomas Kiørboe, Professor ogf Microscipic Life at Sea and Mikael Rask Madsen, Professor of European Law and integration. Congratulations to both of them!

Along with the honor both winners are given 250,000 Danish kroner as a personal rewards and furthermore 750,000 Danish kroner to their research.

THE CONFIRMATION OF PRINCESS INGRID ALEXANDRA

31st August

Yesterday was a big day for the daughter of Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit, Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway. She celebrated her confirmation in the castle chapel at the Royal Palace in Oslo.

Friends and family from near and far were invited to celebrate the day with her. Also the Danish Crown Prince couple and their oldest son Prince Christian were invited to the ceremony and following lunch. Crown Prince Frederik is the godfather of Princess Ingrid Alexandra. As her godfather, he participated in a very special part of the confirmation - he lit a candle for her with her other godparents (Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, Princess Märtha Louise of Norway, King Felipe of Spain, Kong Harald of Norway and Marit Tjessem).

A confirmation is a significant day in most young peoples life. It is the day where to confirm the promises that were made at the christening. It takes place as a special church service each year around the age of 13-15. The ceremony is not quite the same in each country. In Denmark for instance we do not lit a candle confirmed children, but it is a beautiful tradition.

Let us congratulate the Princess on behalf of her confirmation!

"DANNER - A COUNTESS OF THE PEOPLE"

28th August

She is one busy woman who arrived home from a long vacation only a couple of weeks ago. On Wednesday Crown Princess Mary arrived to the Danner House in Copenhagen to watch 'DANNER - A Countess of the People'. A play that shows life as a woman during the 19th century. The play is based on the life of Countess Danner, who was married to King Frederik 7.

Countess Danner was born Louise Christine Rasmussen in 1815. She later married Frederik 7 as his "second wife" which means that if the couple had any children they would not inherit the throne. But that is a completely other story. In 1873, Countess Danner decided to set up a foundation and built a house for vulnerable women. In the end there were no more money left and the house where sold. The new owner wanted to demolish the building, but it never happened. In 1979, women took over the house and bought it back as a women's house. Danner House has served as a women's and crisis center and today Danner is a private organization that works nationally and internationally to stop violence against women and children in close relationships, here.

Crown Princess Mary attended the event as chairwomen and founder of the Mary Foundation, who shared the post below on Facebook. She was in a splendid mood despite tropic weather. From first raw the Crown Princess watched the play that portray Countess Danner and her life as Countess of the people.

"BEHIND THE COMMUNITY SURVEY" & "THE WORLD HOUR"

26th August

Crown Princess Mary started her day by participating the conference 'Behind the Community Survey' in Copenhagen. She arrived in a wonderful mood and was welcomed with as much smile and kindness as she brought with her. CEO of the Mary Foundation, Helle Østergaard was one of the people welcoming the Crown Princess.

'Behind the Community Survey' is a survey that goes behind the report 'Community Survey' from 2017. This year the survey was developed and carried out by TrygFonden, the Mary Foundation and VIVE with 78 participants. The conference aimed to focused on social exclusion in relation to the survey and its findings.

As Crown Princess and front woman for the Mary Foundation, the Crown Princess entered the stage and gave a speech - a speech that (apparently) caught everybody's attention. Both press and other participants were astonished by her words. The Mary Foundation shared her speech for your to read it, here. They also shared pictures from the event as embedded below.

A couple of hours later Crown Princess Mary attended another event at the City Hall in Copenhagen. Here she attended the launch of the annual event 'The World Hour'. It works with getting children and young people to learn about UN's world goals. More specifically, about sustainable development.

Along with two school classes from Randersgades School the Crown Princess watched a number of speeches etc. on how to spread the word about the 17 world goals in both primary and secondary schools all over Denmark. Both the Crown Princess and all the attending children really seemed to enjoy themselves during the event at Copenhagen City Hall. The day ended with singing and pancakes.