Princess Mary of Denmark is visiting her family in Australia after pictures of Prince Frederik and a Mexican socialite rocked the monarchy (but he will fly out to join her next week)
- Mary, 51, touched down with her twins Vincent and Josephine, 12, yesterday
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Crown Princess Mary of Denmark has returned to her native Australia for a private holiday with her family in the run-up to Christmas.
Mary, 51, travelled Down Under with her 12-year-old twins, Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine, yesterday.
The Danish Palace confirmed they will be joined by Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark next week – as the family continue to deal with the fallout from pictures of his night out with reality star Genoveva Casanova, 47, in Madrid last month.
The Prince, 55, is currently attending the climate conference, COP 28, in Dubai, and will participate in the Council of State with his mother, Queen Margrethe, on 12 December.
The royal family are visiting Mary’s relatives in Australia and it is not yet known whether they will undertake any formal engagements.
Crown Princess Mary enjoyed shopping in Sydney’s Palm Beach during her Christmas holiday in 2022
Mary and Frederik’s daughter, Princess Isabella, 16, is set to travel to Australia later in December when her school studies have finished. However, Prince Christian, 18, is unable to join them as he has important exams to study for.
Mary’s father, Professor John Dalgleish Donaldson, and three siblings, Jane, Patricia and John, reside in Australia, so it is likely she will spend the majority of her time with them.
Following royal tradition, it is thought the family will head back to Aarhus in Denmark to celebrate Christmas Eve at Marselisborg Palace with Queen Margrethe.
Mary last visited her homeland in April, when she took part in a bike ride through Sydney and led a Danish delegation for discussions about Australia’s transition to renewable energy.
The royal – formerly known as Mary Donaldson – grew up in Tasmania and spent 28 years of her life in Australia before she moved to the Scandinavian nation and married Frederik at Copenhagen Cathedral in 2004.
She famously met her husband, Crown Prince Frederik, at a Sydney bar, called The Slip Inn, during the 2000 Olympic Games.
Their 23-year romance has been dubbed a ‘real-life fairytale’ – yet Princess Mary and Prince Frederik’s relationship has made headlines over recent weeks for less glowing reasons.
Frederik, the heir to the Danish throne, was photographed with reality star Genoveva Casanova, 47, in Madrid where they attended an exhibition of the works of Pablo Picasso, without his wife of 19 years.
The Danish royal family shared a snapshot from Tasmania in 2022, wishing followers a Merry Christmas
Mary was seen preparing for a bike ride through Sydney in April 2023 on her first official visit in 10 years
Publication of the pictures in Spanish magazine Lecturas led the divorcee Mexican socialite to issue a statement ‘categorically’ denying any suggestion the pair are romantically involved, branding it ‘malicious’ and untrue, according to Hola!.
The news broke amid a packed schedule of events for the royal couple during the state visit King Felipe of Spain and his wife Queen Letizia, and will no doubt have been viewed as an unwelcome distraction by Mary, who has scarcely put a foot wrong in her almost two decades as a working royal.
Mary Donaldson, was a 28-year-old advertising executive when she first met Frederik in a packed city pub, the Slip Inn, in Sydney 23 years ago.
She had no idea the handsome European tourist she had been chatting to for hours was actually Crown Prince Frederik, future king of Denmark.
Frederik and Mary made their first official appearance together at the Tasmania Yacht Club ahead of the Dragon Boat World Championship on 19 January 2003
Now, married for 19 years and proud parents to four children, Mary is poised to become the world’s first Australian-born queen and has won her adopted country over by her dedication to royal duty and her fluency in the language.
After the pub encounter, then 32-year-old Fred – who was in Australia to support Denmark’s sailing team at the 2000 Olympics – asked Mary for her phone number and a romance blossomed.
‘The first time we met we shook hands. I didn’t know he was the prince of Denmark. Half an hour later someone came up to me and said, “Do you know who these people are”?’ Mary revealed in an interview about meeting the heir to the Danish throne.
They maintained a long-distance relationship for a year, with Frederik making secret trips Down Under before Mary moved to Denmark to study Danish language at Copenhagen’s Studieskolen in 2001.
In early 2003, Frederik’s mother Queen Margrethe publicly acknowledged the relationship and the couple announced their engagement at Amalienborg Castle later that year on October 8.
Frederik and Mary married on May 14, 2004 at Copenhagen Cathedral, with the newly minted Crown Princess opting for a beautiful gown by Danish designer Uffer Frank and a veil first used by Crown Princess Margaret of Sweden in 1905.
In a nod to her heritage, Mary carried a bouquet of Australian snow gum eucalyptus interspersed with blooms from the Palace garden.
At the altar, Frederik announced: ‘From today, Mary is mine and I am hers. I love her, and I will protect her with all my love.’
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