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COPENHAGEN, Denmark - Denmark's future king and his bride - herself a foreigner - spent Wednesday visiting an immigrant neighborhood in Hans Christian Andersen's hometown where kebabs and falafel are more common than fairy tales and pastries.
The stop on the newlyweds' first tour through Denmark as a married couple highlighted the changing face of this Scandinavian nation.
Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary were welcomed by about 2,000 people waving Danish flags in Vollsmose, one of the country's best known immigrant neighborhoods.
Vollsmose is a suburb west of Odense, Denmark's third-largest city and the home of fairy tale writer Andersen. More than 60 percent of Vollsmose's 10,000 residents are foreign born.
For Frederik and the Australian-born Mary, the visit was part of a royal tradition of making a summer trek around the country to keep the monarchy in contact with Danes. The four-day tour, like Denmark, has changed, reflecting a more modern monarchy.
In Vollsmose, a group of immigrant women offered refreshments and falafel and kebab to the couple before they met with children and visited a local soccer club.
"It was important for the immigrants and refugees out here that they visited us. It makes us feel more of a part of the Danish population," said Tahir Canbek, a 35-year-old social worker. "Mary's now Danish and she's one of us."
During the tour, Frederik, 35, and Mary, 32, have shown off Denmark's dynamic monarchy. As a sign of the couple's down-to-earth attitude, many Danes greeted them informally with a "hello" instead of "Your Highnesses."