Britain’s Prince Harry Visits Copenhagen

Special Request
Back in September of this year Kensington Palace announced Prince Harry‘s official visit to Denmark.
The Prince is in Copenhagen today (Wednesday 25th) and tomorrow, and Matthew has been placed in a special press pool to gain access and provide exclusive photographic coverage. The visit has been somewhat shrouded with no official press releases from the official website of The Royal Family. However, we have learned that the visit came from a special request from the British Foreign Office, yet, the visit is more cultural than diplomatic.
KPH– a creative hub
According to a statement from the Kensington Palace press office the trip is very much focused on social development where Prince Harry will meet young community leaders and up-and-coming entrepreneurs, especially because Prince Harry takes a special interest in initiatives that are environmental, cultural, and social. KPH works with small growing businesses and innovative startups to form a creative hub for these kind of projects.
Because the objectives are environmental, cultural, and social, KPH is the hub for associations, organizations, and businesses that aim to improve society which is a focus of the purpose of Prince Harry’s visit.
To see why the royal is so interested in visiting KPH take a look at this promotional video.
Royal Duties Incumbent
The startups that KPH supports are focused on aspects such as development, community, and inclusion, as well as change, opportunity, and social innovation, and growth, businesses orientation, and culture. With such a social outlook it is easy to see why a public figure with royal duties incumbent upon him would be so interested to get an inside look into the inner-workings of the organization.
Reasons Why
Anne Katrine Heje Larsen, co-founder and CEO of KPH projects, had this to say about the reasons for the KPH hub’s existence and social relevance:
“We have great respect towards the people who choose to start a company, an organization or a project that contributes to society in one or several ways. We therefore wish to ensure that the program we have put together has a high level of quality and ambition. Our vision is to create a program which can contribute to creating economic sustainable entrepreneurs, no matter the business model and business format. Furthermore, we believe that diversity and interdisciplinary cooperation is necessary when it comes to thinking of innovative solutions, which is why the program targets social, cultural and environmental entrepreneurs.”

Meet n’ Greet
Prince Harry met with KPH Residents who are part of the social hub and work together to make up the social initiatives. KPH also includes Volume– a 700m2 hall that was once a tram depot but has now become Copenhagen’s most authentic music and event venue.
The photographer’s perspective
Battling the wind in Denmark is no-one’s idea of fun. Sadly, there are rare occasions where you find yourself peddling in to what feels like a brick wall that’s sliding along in front of you. Add to that the rain, and two heavy cameras around your neck, and you’ve got a recipe for a jolly afternoon.
Thankfully I arrived in good time and found a spot – wait, was told where to stand – along with all the other photographers. The majority were Danes, of course, but I did identify BBC Royal Correspondent Nicholas Witchell (quietly sitting with his phone) in a trendy jacket and hat combo. The mood amongst the snappers was positive, especially when a police officer’s black Labrador decided to take a dump right where the Prince was due to alight from his vehicle. We all gingerly raised our long lenses and took a few cheeky pics whilst giggling like school boys (the women didn’t find it so amusing).
When Prince Harry arrived he was quick to shake hands with those waiting to greet him, before politely making his excuses and heading over to say hi to a small group of fans who presented him with flowers.
Around me, camera shutters fired like crazy, but the sound of the click-click-click increased to machine gun levels when Harry turned slightly in our direction. Gotta get that picture!
And in the blink of an eye he was making his way indoors to a part of the show we weren’t invited to see. We were told we’d see him again in an hour. I decided to go back to the office and crack on with the editing and writing.
This blog post originally appeared on www.photographybymatthewjames.com