Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel charmed everyone in Turku

Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel received a warm welcome as they began their visit to Turku. Despite the rainy weather an estimated crowd of 2,600 people had gathered to greet the guests arriving on the Tre Kronor.

The guests were received by the Chair of the Board of the City of Turku, Minna Arve, and 5-year-old Doris Kulmala, who handed a bouquet of flowers to the Crown Princess.

The visit’s central theme, The Baltic Sea, arose immediately during the welcome ceremony in front of Forum Marinum when the Crown Princess couple received a gift from the City of Turku – one of Turku’s signature seal statues. The purpose of the seal statues is to remind us of the conservation of the Baltic.

It was donated on behalf of the Hej Hylje! campaign by campaign designer Camilla Hackman; her daughter, Nellie; the seal’s designer Stefan Lindfors; and Turku’s Mayor, Aleksi Randell.

The Director of Forum Marinum, Jaakko Tikka, then presented the plaque park in front of the marine centre to the royal couple. The idea of the park is that individuals can buy a name plaque and the proceeds from it go to supporting the conservation of the Finnish archipelago. Now the park has been expanded so that VIPs and guests of honour visiting Turku receive their own name plaque. The honour of having the VIP park’s first plaques went to Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel.

- The Baltic Sea is one of the themes of the Capital of Culture year. In recent years, the pollution of the sea has become a common matter of concern. We have a duty to take care of the Baltic Sea together, so that future generations can enjoy it, stated Aleksi Randell.

During the Baltic Sea Living Room seminar organised by the Baltic Sea Action Group The royal couple were shown examples of practical action on how to make a healthier Baltic Sea. Different actors, institutions and businesses demonstrated how they are committed to improving the state of the Baltic and to solving the challenges it faces in the future. The royal couple were also presented with Guardian of the Baltic Sea jewellery.

After the seminar the guests enjoyed lunch on Suomen Joutsen and Minna Arve took the opportunity to tell the Crown Princess couple about the history of the ship, the maritime cluster industries around Turku and their significance to the Turku region. Arve also thanked Crown Princess Victoria for her personal work on behalf of the Baltic Sea.

After lunch, the royal couple visited the Turku Art Museum to see an exhibition by Carl Larsson.

A Banquet at Turku Castle

The visit continued on Monday with a banquet at Turku Castle, which was hosted by the Chairman of Turku City Council, Seppo Lehtinen. The issue of the conservation of the Baltic Sea was also presented during the banquet – in a speech given by the Chairman of the Board of the Baltic Sea Action Group, Ilkka Herlin.

On Tuesday, the royal couple visited the cultural centre Logomo, the Main Library of Turku and the Arken building of Åbo Akademi University, where they heard a debate on the significance of the creative industries and culture to Finland and Sweden's success. Forty experts in their own particular field of industry, primarily from the Turku area, participated.