Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria made quite an impression on the locals when she paid a visit to the city of Shanghai this week. The future queen is due to start a course in diplomacy in a few days time, but if the smiles on the faces of her Chinese hosts were anything to go by she doesn't need too much help when it comes to charming foreign dignitaries.
The 27-year-old was accompanied by her younger brother Prince Carl Philip when she jetted into town to launch a new exhibition at the CY Tung Maritime Museum. Both the first-in-line and her sibling seemed to be thoroughly enjoying themselves as they cut a giant red ribbon to open the show. And there were also moments of exuberant laughter when she was presented with a model of a traditional Chinese boat as a souvenir of her trip.
It was a fitting memento as Victoria and Carl Philip have travelled to the populous nation to welcome the Swedish vessel Goetheborg, which is an exact replica of a Swedish merchant ship that travelled from the European country to the Orient 250 years ago. Their parents, King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia, were in Guangzhou to hail the ship when it dropped anchor there six weeks ago, leaving the royal household's younger generation were on hand to greet its intrepid sailors when they arrived in Shanghai.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
