Prince Albert of Monaco visits royal castle in Krakow

Professor Jan Ostrowski (L), Princess Charlene (C), Prince Albert II of Monaco (R): photo - PAP/ Jacek Bednarczyk

Professor Jan Ostrowski, director of the Wawel Royal Castle Museum, treated the royal couple to a private viewing of Leonardo da Vinci's Lady with an Ermine (currently on loan from the Foundation of the Czartoryski Princes).

Monaco's royals were then shown around Wawel Cathedral by Prelate Zdzislaw Sochacki.

“The prince asked a lot of questions,” Father Socacki revealed in an interview with the Polish Press Agency (PAP).

“One can see that he is interested in Polish history,” he added.

While visiting the crypts beneath the cathedral, the royal couple paid their respects at the tomb of late President Lech Kaczynski and First Lady Maria Kaczynska, who were among the victims of the April 2010 Smolensk air disaster.

The couple also met with Krakow's mayor, Jacek Majchrowski, who raised the subject of Krakow's potential hosting of the Winter Olympics.

Prince Albert is a long-standing member of the International Olympic Committee, and Krakow hopes to make a bid for the 2022 games in partnership with Zakopane, Poland's winter capital, as well as the Slovakian resort of Poprad.

“I raised this theme in a rather gentle way,” Majchrowski revealed.

“The aim was not to get support, but just to make him aware of the case. However, he said that he already knows that Poland wants to organize the Winter Olympics, and that he is very happy that Krakow [is involved],” the mayor noted.

The royal couple will end their three-day visit to Poland on Friday with a visit to the former death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau. (nh)