Danish royals King Frederik and Aussie-born Queen Mary have touched down in Melbourne with a string of royal engagements set for their two days in the city.
Swapping historic ballrooms for green cricket grounds, their majesties were pictured late Tuesday afternoon on the playing field of the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Some lucky Auskick participants, Hawthorn players and two AFL club presidents joined the Aussie homegrown and the King for the afternoon.
The pair were seen smiling and laughing as they posed up for pictures on the field.
Showing off her skills, the Queen was loudly cheered on as she revealed just how well she could boot a football.
The ball sailed through the goalposts and earnt the Queen a two-handed goal signal from the umpire.
Royals tour trendy Melbourne suburb: “My hometown”
Earlier in the afternoon, the Danish King and Queen were seen with Victorian Housing Minister Harriet Shing walking around the trendy Melbourne suburb of Prahran on a sustainable development tour.
Queen Mary revealed in a speech on the royal couple’s personal experiences with sustainable transformation, that Prahan was “actually my old hometown — I lived here for three years”.
“It was a great way to start this event by walking around a little bit of Prahran to get an understanding of what’s changing and the ambition for the area,” Queen Mary said.
The walk showcased the inner south suburbs developing social housing precinct, with some sustainable buildings still currently under construction.
Representing a nation widely known for leading sustainability, Queen Mary spent some of the afternoon interacting with members of the public, speaking about construction, urban renewal and sustainable development.
“Every time waste becomes a resource and something new is built with something old, we extend the life of not only our buildings, but the life of our culture, our shared heritage and, ultimately, of our planet,” she said.
The Danish duo are also set to visit the Port of Melbourne later in the afternoon, exploring sustainable solutions in the maritime sector and a tour that will present Denmark’s own solutions in renewable energy and green transition.
Earlier on Tuesday morning, the pair were spotted meeting and greeting Victoria’s Governor Margaret Gardner at historic Government House.
Adding their names to the official visitors book, their majesties posed up with Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan, Professor Gardner, her partner Professor Glyn Davis in the coffee capital.
Queen Mary stunned in a striking red dress beside King Frederik, who wore a sharp charcoal suit.
After posing for the pictures, the four attended a business reception in Government House’s historically significant ballroom.
Professor Gardner presented a speech on the long links the Danish monarchy and Australia shared from the federation days of 1901.
“(Now) 125 years later and our nations are among the oldest continuous democracies in the world,” she said.
“And though our lands are separated by many miles and many great oceans, we find in each other suitable partners and continue to grow ever closer.”
King Frederik announced to diplomats, ambassadors and business leader in attendance that “partnering for a green, secure and sustainable future” would be the theme of the reception.
“Queen Mary and I hope that many new, possibly historical outcomes will materialise between Denmark and Australia as an outcome of our visit here in Melbourne,” he said.
“Turning sustainability into good business is a powerful driver.”
Over the weekend, the Danish royals kick started their six day tour of Australia by swapping the red carpets for the red sands of Central Australia’s Uluru, visiting the Uluru Kata Tjuṯa Cultural Centre.
From Central Australia, they travelled straight to Canberra on Sunday and were received at Government House with a ceremonial welcome, dining that evening at a state dinner across from the Prime Minister, Governor-General and Opposition Leader.
Their majesties then honoured the fallen with a visit to the Australian War Memorial on Monday where they laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and observed a minute of silence in the Hall of Memory.
It’s the first state visit from Danish royalty in 40 years, but the couple’s fourth official visit together since 2013.
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