State Visit to México begins today

No more crutches so all the better to climb all those Mayan temple stairs! Prince Henrik has recently returned from Italy where he went to a fitness and wellbeing centre, so is also hopefully fit.

Today Queen Margrethe and the Prince Consort begin a five day state visit to Mexico. It will be followed by an unofficial private visit by the Regent Couple to Chiapas, the southern-most state of the United States of Mexico, on February 23 and 24. The visit to México is quite anticipated and somewhat overdue since it was postponed in October 2005. The Queen was having back and knee problems at the time, which led to knee replacement sugery in the summer of 2006. Last year the Queen was required to be in Denmark for the general election. Mexican President Felipe Calderón has visited Denmark officially in the summer of 2006 for G8 and G5 meetings in Copenhagen and visited many Danish enterprises at that time. In July 2006 President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa succeeded President Vicente Fox in a very close election and will be in office until 2012. Chiapas is particularly known for its Mayan ruins of Palenque, Yaxchilan, Bonampak, Chinkultic, and Tonina. Let's just say the Queen needed a good set of knees to really enjoy these ruins!

The United States of Mexico