Mary on day two in London

Crown Princess Mary had another busy day in London today visiting BFI Southbank to launch a film-making attraction for children. The royal visit marked the launch of a summer long chance to experience Film-X On The Road at Southbank, which is a mobile interactive film studio for children and teenagers based on the Danish Film Institute's popular Film-X in Copenhagen. Later Mary walked to the Danish Embassy in London for lunch and for the Sust-DANE-able Architecture Exhibition. In the evening Mary and Princess Benedikte were at the opening of an exhibition of the Danish painter Wilhelm Hammershoi, at the Royal Academy of Arts in central London. Princess Benedikte is also in London for a presentation ceremony for the Baden-Powell Society.



From London SE1 website Danish princess visits the South Bank (Tuesday 24 June 2008)
Princess Mary of Denmark has visited BFI Southbank to launch a film-making attraction for children. The Australian-born Crown Princess was greeted by the BFI Southbank artistic director Eddie Berg who in his speech welcomed the princess to "the most extraordinary cultural quarter in Europe". The royal visit marked the launch of a summer long opportunity at BFI Southbank to experience Film-X On The Road, a mobile, interactive film studio for children and teenagers modelled on the Danish Film Institute's very popular Film-X in Copenhagen. The installation in the BFI Southbank foyer consists of a green Morris Minor equipped with microphones and two editing stations. The set is designed for around ten children who can choose between various pre-set background films, such as a car chase, serving as frames for their own scripts. Working in crews, the children direct, act, shoot, edit and design the sound for their films. The studio is at BFI Southbank until Wednesday 20 August when it will travel to Filmbyen in Aarhus, Denmark, as part of its journey in both Denmark and around the world to strengthen international cultural exchange in the area of film. Also present at the opening was head of the DFI Film Workshop Prami Larsen and Danish culture minister Brian Mikkelsen. Accompanying the Princess as lady-in-waiting on the hour long visit was Tanja Doky, wife of the well known jazz musician Chris Minh Doky.



Photos © London SE1 website, AP/GDP, PhotosHopper/sulakha.com, Nordjyske.dk/Jytte Nielsen/Scanpix

Berlingske Tidende 'En indadvendt dansker indtager London' - A withdrawn Dane conquers London
The Silent Poetry is the name of the next Hammershøi exhibition, which is opened today by Crown Princess Mary in London.
The withdrawn Danish painter work in the British capital has already created a new fascination for his works of art.
Crown Princess Mary tonight officially opened a special exhibition at the Royal Academy in London with 60 of Vilhelm Hammershøi's works of art...
Vilhelm Hammershøi made his name when he made his début as a 21-year-old and spent his entire life fascinated by grey and all the colour and shades of Scandinavian light.
Thus his huge passion for simple and pure style was such that he made a virtue of furnishing his apartments in Copenhagen's Strandgade using the same principles: grey and white walls, dark floors and few, well loved pieces of furniture...
Age has not diminished the style nor is Hammershøi's large works of art less impressive.
While Gaugin and Matisse exploded in colourful experiments in Paris and elsewhere, where Vilhelm Hammershøi went honeymooning, he maintained his artistic endeavour more or less within the grey-toned scale and at home in the living room where he painted dancing dust, streaks of light and figures which nearly always stand with their back to the viewer.
One of the Danish painter's more well-known British admirers, former member of Monty Python and globetrotter Michael Palin, says that it is just the quiet choice of subjects in which the fascination of Hammershøi's works of art lie.
Of the portrait paintings they are not just art, but small riddles.
"They raise questions, which drill themselves into the soul and that don't want to let go," Michael Palin said about his agelong fascination with the Dane's works of art, and he himself owns one or two of them.
Michael Palin's big attraction for Hammershøi has existed since he put together a documentary in 2005 for the BBC about the Danish painter, whose private life was so private that it's still a kind of mystery what moved inside the man who became one of Denmark's most well known artists.
The programme is re-broadcast on Sunday this week on the occasion of the exhibition at the Royal Academy...
"His art is deep and when one understands it at long last, it always causes questions about what is important and essential in art," Rilke wrote in admiration of the Dane...
Hammershøi reached fame in his lifetime, but shortly after his death from cancer at 61 his works of art started to be overshadowed by more colourful artists, and Hammershøi was almost forgotten. But it disn't disappear. With a new wave of symbolism, the Dane again became interesting and on the international stage is in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris and Guggenheim in New York which have had special exhibitions of the Dane's works of art.

Business.dk 'Dansk brugskunst på London-messe' - Danish applied art at London fair (by Annette Suhr)
Crown Prinsess Mary has visited Håndværksrådet's export drives at the home and the interior fair Summer Fair in London...
The Crown Pncess was there in to greet 11 Danish exhibitors, who represent many of the more down-to-earth goods which are sold at interiors and applied art shops all overry, and in several cases by the companies which operate world wide.
Six displays were established in especially for the fairand to make themselves more visible in the British market.
The companies are Fabric Copenhagen, YES/Bags,Husets Møller, Ørskov & Co, Lydia Wienberg and CIMI Beauty Bags, who respectively sell silk blankets/pillows, bags, baskets, furnishing fabrics and toy, artist cards..."Many small companies do not have the resources to search for new markets, and here Håndværksrådet can help, both financially and practically," reports Susanne Baden Jørgensen, who is a project leader for the small export drive. She has been extra busy on the weekend with among other things having to take care of the bouquet of flowers for the Cown Princess and all in all to coordinate the course of the visit. The drive, which is celebrated for the third time, takes place in London's large fair centre, ExCel, which lies in the enormous Dockland area.
Three other Danish interior and applied art companies are represented, and one of them is Green Gate, which is there for the third time.
"The time for the British fair is good. Here we can show the new autumn products for the first time, and that has great importance for us," says manager Jesper B. Christensen from Green Gate says.
"By showing the collection for our agents and customers so early in the season, we have a chance to alter some of the products a little, before we have to display at the great interior fairs in Germany and Paris in August and September. The London Fair has been a great success for us."
"Great Britain makes up about 15 pct. of our turnover and the Green Gate products are sold in over 300 shops in the country.
Each shop buys 75,000 DKK on average twice a year, so that's many units," Jesper B. Christensen emphasizes.
Green Gates is known for itsflowered and striped Home collection, which consists of everything om kettle holders, pillows, table cloths, china and lights to a linen and pyjamas, the last for both children and the adults.
The whole concept has a very Scandinavian look, an style that is a great success with conscious consumers the world over.

Hello! magazine 'Charismatic Princess Mary the star guest at London trade fair'

The Mercury reports:
IT'S official -- Princess Mary will bring her baby daughter to Tasmania for the first time.
Mary yesterday confirmed she would return home this year with daughter Isabella, 14-months, son Christian, 2, and husband Frederik.
"We do have our plans this year to come to Australia," she told News Ltd while visiting London.
"I can't wait. It's been quite some time since we've been back in Australia."
The family is expected to travel to Tasmania shortly after the Beijing Olympics in August, eight years after Mary and Frederik met during Sydney's games.Christian has been to Australia before, but it will be Isabella's first visit Down Under.
"A lot of cousins and nephews are looking forward to meeting her for the first time," she said.Mary was in London to promote Danish business initiatives and cultural events.
Danish press were paying close attention to her choice of drinks, with pregnancy rumours swirling around her as always.
At a British Film Institute event she declined an offer of wine and instead sipped on water, only fuelling the speculation.
Mary was alone for a series of official functions in London, as husband Frederick embarked on an Arctic adventure with two other royals.
Frederick joined Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and Crown Prince Haakon of Norway on an ice-breaker bound for the North Pole this week.
The trio are patrons of the International Polar Year...
...Mary arrived for the opening of an art exhibition wearing a stylish knee-length, metallic-silver cocktail dress.
An earlier event was to launch a Danish interactive film studio for children. Mary said her son was more into the outdoors than watching television, though he was fond of the Teletubbies. Danish officials said they were unaware if Mary had brought her children to London.
The princess declined to say whether the trip to Australia would include public engagements: "That's something I can't make any comment on right now," she said.
She admitted to missing home despite her extraordinary jet-setting lifestyle.
"You're always homesick for family and friends," she said.
The royals last visited Tasmania in November 2006. Mary was three months pregnant with Isabella, while Christian was 13 months old. (the English News Ltd journalist mispells Frederik's name throughout the story - I corrected it for this post)

Vilhelm Hammershøi (1864-1916)
Vilhelm Hammershøi: The Poetry of Silence at the Royal Academy of Arts

TV2 news clip (00:59)
TV2 video clip (01:11) - Michael Pallin says he will be returning 3 or 4 times