Princess Mary and her kids dress up in traditional costume for royal visit
The royal family of Denmark were looking thrilled as they touched down on the Faroe Islands for the start of their four-day tour on Thursday.
At the front of the crowd was Crown Princess Mary, who was dressed in a traditional Faroe outfit much like the rest of her family.
Her daughters, Princess Josephine and Isabella joined her as they wore the female dress which consisted of an open sweater laced together with silver buttons and topped off with a cape.
Her husband, Crown Prince Frederick and their two sons Princes Christian and Vincent wore similar styles of clothing with a waistcoat, blue stockings and the signature floppy hat.
The family travelled from their home in Copenhagen by boat and were greeted by Islanders as they approached the shore.
Like many young children, Princess Josephine, 7, felt cheeky after the long boat ride and was spotted squeezing her older sister Isabella’s cheeks.
The Islanders presented Princess Mary with an elegant posy as a token of appreciation and to welcome them on their four-day visit to the island.
The couple will also be visiting the Island’s capital of Torshavn on Thursday where the Crown prince will take part in an official greeting ceremony on the quay. There, they will be welcomed by the Prime Minister before taking a trip to the rowing club of Knorrur.
This will be followed by multiple events around the island as they take part in various activities.
The visit comes only days after the slaughter of pilot whales and white-sided dolphins as part of the islands annual hunting season. With around 800 pilot and beaked whales, as well as dolphins being killed every year for their meat, the tradition dates back to the 16th century and has become a yearly tradition for the Islanders.
While the hunts have been criticised to be inhumane and cruel, the local government believes it’s a form of sustainability and allows the 18 islands to stay self-sufficient as resources for farming are scarce.
Each whale provides several hundreds of kilos of meat and blubber, which if imported from abroad, will cost Islanders money out of their own pockets.
The Faroese hunt on average 800 pilot whales yearly, with around 100,000 whales surrounding the island.