“She’s a dream come true,” one of the Danish journalists whispers to me as Crown Princess Mary bends down to greet the day-old baby son of Madam Lee, a Malaysian mother with gestational diabetes on day one of Mary’s three-day visit to Malaysia.
In Denmark, the Princess is the most popular female public figure and if today is anything to go by, she’s certainly making seemingly easy work of the royal daily toll of meeting, greeting and looking poised and serene. She also seems to be relishing the role.
It has been an afternoon of perfect photo opportunities with Crown Princess Mary heading out of central Kuala Lumpur to visit Putrajaya Hospital, a large public hospital where she toured a maternity ward and caused a small commotion when she held up the schedule to shake hands with the nurses and doctors.
Princess Mary talking to Madam Lee and her baby.
The visit gave royal support to a world-first initiative, a partnership between Danish drug company Novo Nordisk — who manufacture insulin for much of the world — and the Malaysian government’s Health Ministry, to implement a project to fight obesity and potential diabetes in newlywed young women.
The Princess is in Malaysia to take part in the global Women Deliver conference, but she’s also fitting in some field work to inform her work in the areas of maternal, sexual and reproductive health and supporting Danish business.
“The Crown Princess’s support is huge for us” says Charlotte Ersboll, Novo Nordisk’s Corporate Vice President.
En route to a ceremonial signing of the diabetes project agreement, Mary meets an adorable flower girl, three-year-old Amelie in her best party dress, who has a posy of roses to give the Princess and who I’m sure has been practising her curtsey, but with the photographers’ shutters clattering forgets herself, a tiny child dazzled by a real life fairy tale princess.
It’s a gem of a moment as Amelie holds her skirt, points her toe, but doesn’t bob. Another great photo op in the bag.
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