Source: EkstraBladet (Danish daily), in my own translation.

Stig

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EkstraBladet

Sunday, January 24, 1999.

Freja Ludvigsen

The Queen Attends Pyramid Meeting

Queen Margrethe has been briefed, being one of the first, on a new, sensational grave find in the area between two of the pyramids of Egypt.

It happened when, as a private individual, she appeared in Dansk Industri's pyramid-shaped glass hall, at a lecture held by Dr. Zahi Hawass, the world's leading egyptologist and head of the Giza excavations.

Zahi Hawass is on a Scandinavian tour and was so inspired by Margrethe's presence that he revealed a sensational archaeological find which will be published in the Egyptian press no sooner than in a couple of months.

Between the Sphinx and the Khefren pyramid Hawass and his staff have discovered a hitherto unknown subterranean shaft, reaching a depth of 29 meters [96 feet, approximately]. In the bottom of the shaft they found a stone sarcophagus surrounded by water. If Hawass's theory holds, he has found the grave of Osiris, the god of death.

Amateur Archaeologist

The Queen was listening enthusiastically from the first row. Since 1962, when she was a young crown princess and tried her hand in Egypt as an amateur archaeologist, she has had an ardent interest in the pyramids of Egypt.

"The finds he was describing were so great that his voice was almost tearful," one listener said.

Inviting the Queen

Zahi Hawass ended his lecture by discreetly inviting the Queen to visit his excavations in Giza, as Prince Henrik did last year.

"I hope he'll bring his wife next time," he said.

Søren Haslund-Christensen, the Lord Chamberlain, tells EkstraBladet, that the Queen is not on her way to Egypt, though.

"Not for the time being. The Queen has a lot of other things to do. His invitation was an instance of courtesy," the Queen's spokesman said.