Crown Princess Mary of Denmark has taken her two eldest children to visit their grandfather Prince Henrik in hospital. Henrik, 83, has been seriously ill for the past two weeks and on Friday the Danish royal palace announced that his condition has "unfortunately greatly worsened". According to local publication BT, Mary visited her father-in-law early on Friday morning for half an hour, accompanied by her son Prince Christian, 12, and her daughter Princess Isabella, ten.
Mary's husband Crown Prince Frederik is on his way back from South Korea, where he was attending the Winter Olympics as an International Olympic Committee member. Frederik cut short his visit in order to fly back to see his ailing father. He is expected to be at the hospital later on Friday.
Princess Mary, Prince Christian and Princess Isabella have visited Prince Henrik in hospital
Henrik's wife Queen Margrethe II has also been spotted arriving at the Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen. The couple's son Prince Joachim, the younger brother of Crown Prince Frederik, has also paid his dad a visit at hospital. Joachim was accompanied by his two sons from his first marriage to Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg – Prince Nikolai, 18, and Prince Felix, 15.
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Last month, Prince Henrik was forced to fly back to Denmark from Egypt after falling ill; doctors found a benign tumour in his lung. He was treated at the Rigshospitalet and last week was transferred from the lung surgery department to the infectious department for further treatment. Henrik was expected to return to Fredensborg Palace, where his wife Queen Margrethe II is in residence. Sadly, the palace has since announced that the father-of-two's condition has deteriorated.
Prince Henrik has been in and out of hospital for the past year
Henrik has been in and out of hospital for the past year. Last September, it was revealed that the prince suffers from dementia. A palace statement read: "It is with deep regret that Her Majesty the Queen has asked the Lord Chamberlain to announce: following a longer course of investigation, and most recently, a series of examinations conducted during late summer, a team of specialists at Rigshospitalet has now concluded that His Royal Highness Prince Henrik suffers from dementia.
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"The diagnosis implies a decline in the prince's cognitive functional level. The extent of the cognitive failure is… greater than expected considering the age of the prince, and can be accompanied by changes in behaviour, reaction patterns, judgement and emotional life and may therefore also affect the interaction with the outside world."