Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel have visited the National Museum of Australia in Canberra, accepting a bunch of native flowers from a local youngster and touring the new Great Southern Land gallery to learn more about First Nations culture and history.
The visit is part of the royal couple's three-day tour of Australia. It is the first visit to Canberra for Crown Princess Victoria, who is the heir to the Swedish throne.
Princess Victoria, 45, accepted flowers from Bonnie Heap, two, of Ngunnawal, amidst the scrum of local media as well as three photographers and three journalists from Sweden.
"We couldn't resist coming to see a real princess," Bonnie's mum Elyse said.
The visit included a smoking ceremony and welcome to country conducted by Paul House and a tour of the museum's Great Southern Land environmental gallery, which explores First Nations connection to the continent over more than 65,000 years.
The royal couple met the Museum's Indigenous Reference Group including chair and council member Fiona Jose (CEO of the Cape York Partnership), and other Indigenous leaders including Professor Peter Yu, the inaugural vice-president, First Nations Portfolio at the Australian National University.
Princess Victoria chatted with interest about the artefacts and displays, but also showed a more laidback style, joking as the smoke from the smoking ceremony drifted away from her ("Yeah, yeah that's a good direction") and, when confronted with a model of a large crocodile, zipped quickly across the room ("I think I'll go over here").
The royals head out to Tidbinbilla this afternoon to discuss the impact of bushfires on the nature reserve, meet emergency services personnel and visit the koala sanctuary.
Johan Forssell, the Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, is accompanying the royal couple.
The purpose of the visits is to "promote and deepen Sweden's bilateral relations with Australia and New Zealand".
"The visit confirms the excellent political and diplomatic ties between our countries and highlights our shared values and interests," the Swedish Embassy in Canberra said.
"The visit promotes two-way trade and investment including in the areas of electrification, mining, healthcare, and innovation. Sustainability is an important overarching theme."
The couple will attend a seminar about electrification at the Australian National University on Tuesday.
