Queen Mary and King Frederik are preparing to welcome important international guests, and the occasion has a personal connection to the Danish royal family.
© Martin Sylvest AndersenThe royal household announced on October 1 that Vietnam’s President Tô Lâm and his wife, Ngô Phương Ly, will make a state visit to Denmark from October 19 to 21, at the invitation of the King and Queen.
Frederik and Mary will host a state banquet at Christiansborg Palace on October 19 in their guests’ honor.
© HOANG DINH NAMAlongside the diplomatic significance, the palace highlighted the family’s ties to Vietnam, where Frederik’s late father, Prince Henrik, spent part of his childhood in Hanoi.
According to Henrik’s official royal biography, he spent his first five years in what is now Vietnam, then part of French Indochina, before his family returned to France in 1939.
© MAGALI COHENHe later returned to Hanoi in 1950 and graduated from the city’s French upper secondary school in 1952.
Henrik also studied Vietnamese and spoke the language, making his connection to the country one that extended beyond his earliest years.
© Julian ParkerFrederik has previously spoken publicly about that family history. During a November 2022 speech in Hanoi, the then-crown prince said Vietnam “holds a special place in the history of my family,” referring to the years his father spent there as a child and teenager.
That 2022 trip was Frederik and Mary’s most recent official visit to Vietnam, according to the palace. This October, they will welcome the Vietnamese couple in their roles as King and Queen.
© LUONG THAI LINHThe upcoming visit marks 55 years of diplomatic relations between Denmark and Vietnam. The royal household highlighted green solutions, health and food among their shared interests.
Ministers, senior officials and a business delegation will accompany the presidential couple.
© Martin Sylvest AndersenThe palace says the full program will be published later. For now, the confirmed Christiansborg banquet sets the stage for an occasion that combines royal hospitality with a family connection stretching back generations.
