Denmark’s Crown Prince Couple Arrive in Sydney

On a stunning Sydney morning Crown Princess Mary and Crown Prince Frederick walked out onto the Sydney Opera House steps to wish “Happy Birthday” to the 40-year-old Australian icon.

The couple are patrons of the birthday celebrations, representing the perfect contemporary union of Denmark and Australia, a symbol for our union decades ago with Danish architect Jorn Utzon.

In the crowds is Jan Utzon, Jorn’s architect son, proud to be here to see his father’s work gleaming so brightly in the sunshine.

A throng of school children greet the Crown Princess who is the picture of elegance in a silver dress with blue floral designs and impressively towering Jimmy Choo heels.

The children are from class 5A of Redlands School. Ten-year-old Stephanie tells me she is incredibly excited to be here and has been practising her curtsey.

Her fellow classmate Carl Hansen is Danish and has been here in Sydney for four years. He’s the son of Danish Consul Michael Hansen and has met Crown Princess Mary before.

Carl is a huge fan of the Australian-born Crown Princess and thrilled to be able to share his special connection with his school friends.

Also in the crowd are retirees Shirley and Terry Perrott from Canberra. They’re in Sydney to see Lisa McCune and Teddy Tahu Rhodes South Pacific tonight but couldn’t resist the opportunity to see Crown Princess Mary face to face. And they weren’t disappointed.

As Mary walked along greeting the crowd she spied Shirley and shook her hand.

“She’s very beautiful” a thrilled Shirley tells me afterwards. “I won’t forget this day.”

As the couple left the throng of well-wishers many waving Danish fans, the crowd clapped and cheered.

This is the first stop on a four day tour which will see the Crown Prince Couple visiting a school, Randwick Children’s hospital, a wind farm, Danish designer shops, a clutch of events at the Sydney Opera House and later today meeting NSW Governor Marie Bashir at Government House.

Images - Taken by Prudence Upton

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Princess Mary Charms Sydney Crowds

Denmark's Crown Prince Frederik and Princess Mary have toured Sydney, viewing clifftop sculptures, eating barbecued prawns, and taking a boat trip on the harbour as adoring crowds waved Danish flags.

The royal couple's trip is geared around strengthening trade and business ties between Australia and Denmark, with a focus on green energy and sustainability.

They kicked off their Sydney visit with a tour of the Sculpture by the Sea exhibition at Bondi.

The couple examined some of the sculptures, including a work by Danish sculptor Keld Moseholm and a work titled Who Left The Tap Running by Simon McGrath.

The exhibition holds a special significance for the pair, who visited it when they were first dating after Mary met the prince at a Sydney nightclub during the 2000 Olympics.

Mary was also living in Bondi when she met her future husband.

The couple's ten-month-old twins, Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine, arrived in Sydney with their mother on a Saturday morning flight, while Prince Frederik arrived on a separate flight later that day.

The older royal children, Prince Christian, 6, and Princess Isabella, 4, did not accompany them, the Danish consulate confirmed.

Crowd-pleasers

The royal couple waved and smiled as they were welcomed by NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell and his wife Rosemary before visiting the Sculpture by the Sea exhibition.

Mr O'Farrell said he was delighted to have the royal couple back to Sydney.

"Like many Australians, we share in the royal romance and relationship that some have described as a fairytale," Mr O'Farrell said.

They shook hands with several people in the crowd, some of whom cried "welcome to Australia".

Later, Mary and Frederik jumped onto energy-generating bikes to make themselves smoothies after opening an urban sustainability conference at Customs House.

The venue at Circular Quay was just over one kilometre from the Slip Inn, the bar where the couple famously met during the 2000 Olympics.

Later, they mingled with 400 guests, mainly from the Danish business community, at a barbecue at the Garden Island naval base on Sydney Harbour.

The barbecue menu included Tasmanian scallops, lamb and mint sausages, king prawns, Sydney rock oysters, barramundi, marinated Atlantic salmon, King Island beef eye fillet and pavlova with King Island cream.

The couple were spattered with a burst of heavy rainfall as they later boarded a boat to go to Admiralty House.

The couple's six-day visit to Australia includes stops at Canberra, Melbourne, western Victoria and Broken Hill in NSW, and will be followed by a private family visit.

Crown Princess Mary was born Mary Donaldson in Hobart and the couple married in Copenhagen in 2004.

It is the royal family's first visit to Australia since August 2008, although Princess Mary came for a private visit last year.

Queen Elizabeth San Fran to Sydney 2012 - Royals Visit Australia

If you missed out on joining the Queen Elizabeth whilst she was in Sydney this February then don’t fret. Don't There are still spaces available on her 2012 voyage from San Francisco to Sydney with discounted cabins now available from if you book by March 31.

The 26-night cruise package begins with two nights to explore historic San Francisco before embarking on the grand ship on February 4, 2012 and sailing south with port visits in Hawaii, American Samoa, Fiji, New Zealand and Australia - disembarking in Sydney.

This luxury ship has many attractions and facilities to keep you occupied whilst at sea including a large variety of bars, lounges and restaurants, a three-storey theatre, sports centre, two outdoor pools, casino, library, on board lessons from dancing to computers and many more.

The itinerary is priced from $7389 for past passengers per person twin share and includes a one-way economy airfare from Sydney, two nights' accommodation at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square, the San Francisco Fisherman's Wharf pass, 24-nights cruise accommodation with all meals and entertainment and transfers in San Francisco.

Metro Hotels have Accommodation Available

Cunard confirms royal timetable - Rendezvous in Sydney Harbour

Cunard has confirmed that Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth will rendezvous in Sydney Harbour at around 7am on February 22 as the cruise industry prepares for another publicity extravaganza.

The ships will initially meet off Sydney Heads shortly before 5.30am before making their way into the harbour. Both will spend the night in Sydney with Queen Mary 2 berthing at Garden Island and Queen Elizabeth at Circular Quay.

Queen Elizabeth will then depart for Melbourne at noon the following day followed at 5.30pm by its larger sister which will head to Christchurch. It will be the first time two Cunard ships have arrived in Sydney simultaneously.

Next month’s visit will be the first for Queen Elizabeth in Australia which is making its maiden round the world voyage after being launched in October.

(Source: Travel Weekly – 20^th January 2011)