Grand Duke Visits and Donates

The second day of Grand Duke Henri's state visit didn't go entirely as planned. More on that later as the morning activities in Hanoi went as they should.

The day started with a wreath-laying ceremony at the National Hero and Martyrs Monument in the Vietnamese capital. Later on the Grand Duke also visited the monument for and the tomb of the revolutionary leader and president Ho Chi Minh to lay down another wreath. Afterwards Grand Duke Henri paid a visit to the Confucian Temple of Literature. He then made his way to the airport to fly to Hue; and there the problems started...

...Hue is currently affected by torrential rain and thus it wasn't entirely clear in the morning whether the Grand Duke and the accompanying delegation would actually be able to fly to Hue. In the end they were, but the program had to be changed.

The Grand Duke had intended to visit the Citadel, the Forbidden City of the Nguyen emperors, but due to the heavy rain it was impossible. Instead, he visited the tomb of the fourth emperor of the Nguyen dynasty Tu Duc, who reigned from 1847 till 1883. If the weather allows it, Henri will catch up on the Forbidden City tomorrow morning.

Shocked by the flood in Hue, the Grand Duke spontaneously decided to donate €100.000 (around $140.000) for the flood victims. Hats off, Monseigneur!

Galleries of pictures can be found at Wort, Tageblatt, RTL and Le Quotidien.


Sources: Tageblatt, Wort