Frederik flies home to be with sick dad
DENMARK’S royal palace says Crown Prince Frederik has left the Winter Olympics in South Korea to rush home because the condition of his father — Queen Margrethe’s French-born husband Prince Henrik — has “seriously worsened”.
Henrik was hospitalised last month with a lung infection.
Crown Prince Frederik, an IOC member whose wife Princess Mary is a former Tasmanian, was at the Games that opened yesterday.
Henrik has often voiced his dissatisfaction with not being the queen’s equal after she acceded to the throne in 1972.
In August, Henrik, who retired from public life in 2016, said he didn’t want to be laid to rest next to Margrethe in the couple’s sarcophagus.
A month later, the palace announced the 83-year-old prince was suffering from dementia.
THE opening ceremony for the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang began late last night with a round of sparkling fireworks exploding just above a seemingly delighted North Korean cheering delegation.
With taekwondo demonstrations from both Koreas, South Korea was putting on a show for the world that was meant to display a new-found desire to co-operate with the North along with Seoul’s stunning rise from poverty and war to Asian powerhouse.
A huge crowd had gathered in the freezing Olympics Stadium in this isolated, mountainous corner of South Korea.
There was set to be plenty of sporting drama for diehard snow and ice junkies and the Olympic enthusiast. But the athletic aspect of these Games has been overshadowed by the stunning co-operation of the rival Korea, which was flirting with war just weeks ago.
The program for the opening ceremony was broken into 14 different sections, including the parade of athletes and the lighting of the Olympic flame.
As the ceremony started, the lights dimmed and the crowd cheered as fireworks exploded overhead.
The ceremony’s program followed the journey of five children as they travelled through time from the past to the future and “discover peace envisioned by Koreans”. Part of the ceremony paid tribute to the South Korean flag, which is known as Taegeukgi, and is an illustration of balance and law in the universe. The interlocking semicircles represent yin (blue) and yang (red).
As expected, it was very cold and breezy at the venue.
PyeongChang is situated in the mountains in the northeastern part of South Korea, about 80km from the border with North Korea.
It’s known for brutal cold and harsh winds during the winter. Fans and athletes were left largely exposed to the elements, though organisers gave the 35,000 fans heated seat cushions and hand warmers.