Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, Ends Visit to Denmark on a High Note
Meeting Crown Princess Mary and Queen Margrethe After Spending Morning at Kindergarten
Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, has finished her brief tour of Denmark, where she focused on early childhood development and met with Crown Princess Mary and Queen Margrethe. By every estimate, this tour was a roaring success and showed how Catherine has found her passion and embraced royal life.
To begin her day, Catherine spent her time at a kindergarten in a wooded area and learned to chop some wood, with the assistance of some of the children in attendance.
As part of the Duchess’ child development fact-finding tour of the Scandinavia country, Catherine observed their “mindfulness sessions” and she learned from one of the teachers how they help the children manage potentially dangerous activities, like chopping wood, while keeping themselves safe.
Teaching assistant Carla Bro shared, “She was very good, she had the right stance. She asked how we deal with risky play and how we keep things safe. We have safety rules and we teach the children they should not be afraid of tasks but treat them with respect.”
After spending the morning hanging out with Danish children in the woods, Catherine moved on to her first official royal engagement with her hosts, Crown Princess Mary and Queen Margrethe II.
The future Queen of the U.K. had an official audience with the Queen and future Queen of Denmark at Christian IX’s Palace. This is likely the first meeting between Catherine and Margrethe, who is celebrating 50 years on the throne or her Golden Jubilee. Catherine previously met Mary in 2011 during a brief tour of Denmark with her husband, Prince William. The ladies also met at Royal Ascot in 2016.
After meeting with Queen Margrethe, the royal ladies, who are often called doppelgängers due to their similar looks and styles, walked through Amalienborg Courtyard in their matching stilettos to Frederik VIII’s Palace for lunch at Mary’s home, which she shares with her husband, Crown Prince Frederik, and their children.
For her final event in Denmark, Catherine and Mary did a joint engagement at the Danner Crisis Centre, which is a shelter that helps women and children who are trying to escape domestic violence situation and is supported by the Mary Foundation.
Danner Crisis Centre, which can house 18 mothers and 18 children fleeing domestic violence situations. The children are provided with a backpack filled with items like water bottles, cuddle toys, pencil cases and notebooks.
Located near Amalienborg Square, the centre was found in 1875 by the Countess Danner, who was married to Frederik VII, and supported working class women. In the 1970s, it was remade as a home for women in crisis.
On the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s Instagram stories, Catherine’s team shared: “We’ve seen both in the U.K. as well as here, how early childhood trauma can impact later life outcomes.
“And how the importance of supportive relationships, environments and experiences are vital to helping create positive outcomes for those experiencing trauma.
“Organisations like the Danner Crisis Centre showcase the benefits of community support once more in building nurturing relationships.”
With that, the Duchess officially ended her incredibly successful tour of Denmark. No doubt, as she takes over the mantle of the Princess of Wales in the future, Catherine will continue to partake in similar fact-finding tours to help grown her Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood.