Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark married Mary Donaldson on 14 May 2004 in Copenhagen Cathedral. The couple has four children, Prince Christian, Princess Isabella, Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine. We have collected a series of private photos to accompany a modern “fairytale” romance between a prince and a commoner. Se the private photos of the Danish royal couple.
Prince Frederik of Denmark was visiting Australia during the 2000 Summer Olympics there and met Donaldson at the Slip Inn Pub in Sydney. They conducted a long-distance relationship and Frederik made a number of discreet visits to Australia. On 15 November 2001 the Danish weekly magazine Billed-Bladet named her as Frederik’s girlfriend, and Mary Donaldson moved from Australia to Denmark in December same year.
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A Fairytale romance
The couple announced their engagement in 2003 after Frederik had presented her with an engagement ring featuring an emerald-cut diamond and two emerald-cut ruby baguettes, which are similar to the colors of Denmark’s flag and Donaldson started to study Danish as a foreign language in Copenhagen. The couple’s marriage in 2004 was extensively portrayed by Australian and European media as a modern “fairytale” romance between a prince and a commoner. “I am so happy that you swept me off my feet,” she said to her husband.
Donaldson wore a wedding gown designed by Danish designer Uffe Frank and had a small bridal party which included her two sisters and her friend Amber Petty, a radio announcer on commercial radio in Australia. The couple reportedly spent their honeymoon in Africa.
Photo: Keld Navntoft 2019/Kongehuset
Crown Princess Mary of Denmark
The Danish Folketing (parliament) passed a special law (Mary’s Law) giving Donaldson Danish citizenship upon her marriage, a standard procedure for new foreign members of the royal family.
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Following the wedding the couple embarked upon a summer working-tour of mainland Denmark aboard the royal yacht Dannebrog, then travelled to Greenland and later to the 2004 Athens Olympics.
Hans Christian Andersen Ambassador
In 2005, during the celebrations for the 200th anniversary of Hans Christian Andersen, the royal family was involved in related events throughout the year. Frederik and Mary marked the anniversary in London, New York and in Australia, where she was made Honorary Hans Christian Andersen Ambassador to Australia in the Utzon Room of the Sydney Opera House. In 2005 the royal family visited the Faroe Islands.
In September 2007, she formally established the Mary Foundation, with capital from public and private donations, to advance cultural diversity and encourage a sense of the right to belong and contribute to society for those who are socially isolated or excluded.
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Woman of the Year
Mary was voted Woman of the Year 2008 by a Danish magazine, Alt for damerne, donating her cash reward to charity. Mary is an active patron of Denmark’s third-highest-earning export industry, the fashion industry, and is Patron of the Copenhagen Fashion Summit. She has been named one of the world’s most fashionable people in Vanity Fair’s annual International Best-Dressed List and has posed and given interviews for several international fashion magazines.
Since becoming Crown Princess of Denmark, H. H. Mary has made a number of international visits. In November 2009 Mary made a surprise visit to Danish soldiers in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.
World Pride Patron
In 2016, on the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, the Crown Princess gave a speech on LGBT rights at a forum in Copenhagen hosted by the Danish government. She called for an end to discrimination, oppression, and violence against people because of their sexual orientation and gender identity. She thus became the first ever member of the royal family to attend the Danish Rainbow Awards (2018). She also attended the awards ceremony in 2019, where it was announced that Crown Princess Mary will serve as the patron of World Pride Copenhagen 2021, making her the first ever royal to serve as patron for a major LGBT event.
During a Council of State on 2 October 2019, the Queen’s request to appoint Mary a rigsforstander, a functioning regent when the monarch or the heir is out of the country, was approved by the government. After having sworn to respect the Danish constitution, she became the first person not born into the royal family to assume the position of rigsforstander since Queen Ingrid in 1972.
Adorable kids – private photos of the royal Danish couple
Crown Princess Mary of Denmark recently shared four previously unseen photos of twins Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine to mark their ninth birthday. The adorable snaps were taken by the proud mother, 47, over the past few months, presumably in Denmark.
The Crown Princess and her family currently reside at Frederik VIII’s Palace, one of the four palaces that make up the Amalienborg Palace complex. From May 2004, they have also resided at the Chancellery House, a building in the park at Fredensborg Palace, during the summer months.
A Crown-Princess’ Life in Denmark
In December last year, in a candid interview with Australian Women’s Weekly, the Crown Princess revealed that moving to the other side of the world was difficult.
‘I did experience a feeling of loneliness – short-term – when I first moved to Denmark. Moving to Denmark was a huge change in my life – a new culture, new language, new friends, and another way of life. So, I see it as quite natural that at times I felt quite alone or a little bit like I was on the outside looking in,’ she told the magazine.
Private Photos of Danish Royal Couple, compiled by Tor Kjolberg