Denmark's Crown Prince Frederik apologised on Monday after facing a
storm of criticism for driving across a bridge that was closed because
of hurricane-strength winds.
The prince made a return trip across Denmark's 1.6km Great Belt Bridge on Saturday and early Sunday to attend an award show for athletes, even though the crossing was closed to other traffic at the time due a major storm.
Danish Crown Princess Mary and Crown Prince Frederik. Photo / AP
"The Crown Prince is sorry for what happened and can understand that the situation added to frustrations and anger among the people who had waited for many hours to cross the bridge," a spokeswoman for the Danish Royal Court, Lene Balleby, told public broadcaster DR.
The Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET) admitted it had been wrong to grant the prince permission to cross the bridge.
"It is the PET's responsibility to ensure security in such situations and this crossing should obviously not have taken place," the agency said in a statement.
While royal immunity prevents the prince from being punished,
any one of the hundreds of drivers who were waiting to cross would have
been slapped with a fine of 2000 to 2500 kroner (NZ$410-$512) if they
had done the same thing as the monarch-in-waiting.
"We don't close the bridge for fun. There is a very high risk of losing control of the car when there are storm and hurricane-strength winds," Leo Larsen, the head of the state-owned group that operates the bridge, Sund og Baelt, told regional daily Fyens Stiftstidende.
The prince made a return trip across Denmark's 1.6km Great Belt Bridge on Saturday and early Sunday to attend an award show for athletes, even though the crossing was closed to other traffic at the time due a major storm.
"The Crown Prince is sorry for what happened and can understand that the situation added to frustrations and anger among the people who had waited for many hours to cross the bridge," a spokeswoman for the Danish Royal Court, Lene Balleby, told public broadcaster DR.
The Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET) admitted it had been wrong to grant the prince permission to cross the bridge.
"It is the PET's responsibility to ensure security in such situations and this crossing should obviously not have taken place," the agency said in a statement.
"We don't close the bridge for fun. There is a very high risk of losing control of the car when there are storm and hurricane-strength winds," Leo Larsen, the head of the state-owned group that operates the bridge, Sund og Baelt, told regional daily Fyens Stiftstidende.
