Born in Hobart, Tasmania, Mary was working as an promoting govt in Australia.
Copenhagen:
Denmark’s common Australian-born Crown Princess Mary will cap a real-life fairytale Sunday when she turns into queen after her husband Crown Prince Frederik accedes to the throne.
The glamorous 51-year-old is credited with serving to modernise the Danish monarchy over time, and is certainly one of its hottest members.
Queen Margrethe II shocked Danes when she introduced her plans to abdicate after 52 years on the throne in her annual New Yr’s Eve speech, citing her age — 83 — and well being points.
The long run queen, born Mary Donaldson, introduced a breath of recent air to the monarchy and dazzled Danes when she married into the royal household.
“Some individuals assume my husband is a bit in my shadow as a result of I am very a lot within the highlight and I’ve a number of engagements,” she stated in a 2017 authorised biography of Prince Frederik.
“However he’ll by no means be in my shadow, and I will by no means be in his shadow, as a result of he displays mild on me,” she stated.
Born in Hobart, Tasmania on February 5, 1972, Mary was working as an promoting govt in Australia when she met the then 34-year-old Frederik whereas out with buddies at Sydney’s Slip Inn bar throughout the summer time Olympics in 2000.
She solely found later that he was the crown prince of Denmark and his group of buddies was made up of different European royals — together with his youthful brother Prince Joachim and cousin Prince Nikolaos of Greece and Denmark.
“The primary time we met, we shook arms,” she stated in an interview a number of years in the past.
“I did not know he was the prince of Denmark. Half an hour later, somebody got here as much as me and stated, ‘Have you learnt who these persons are?'”
Frederik in the meantime instructed day by day Kristeligt Dagblad that assembly Mary was “not solely a rush of affection, but in addition the sensation of getting met my soulmate.”
After a discreet long-distance relationship and quite a few under-the-radar visits, the couple grew to become formally engaged in October 2003 and married on Might 14, 2004 in Copenhagen Cathedral.
They’re now mother and father to 4 kids: Prince Christian, 18, who will at some point succeed his father as king, Princess Isabella, 16, and twins Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine, 13.
Trendy and trendsetter
Mary made a splash in Denmark from the beginning, impressing Danes along with her potential to be taught the Danish language shortly.
She additionally gained over her mother-in-law instantly.
“I’ve to say that the primary time (Frederik) allowed me to satisfy her, I hoped it might final,” Queen Margrethe recalled in a 2015 interview.
A ballot printed by Danish tv TV2 in December declared Mary Denmark’s third-most common royal, behind the immensely common queen and Frederik.
“For the virtually 20 years that she has been a member of the royal household, the crown princess has widened and perfected her function as spokesperson and PR official for the royal household, Denmark, and her chosen causes,” the day by day Berlingske wrote just lately.
She is usually in comparison with Britain’s Princess Catherine for her sense of fashion and lengthy darkish locks, commonly making the style pages of Danish and worldwide magazines.
She can also be recognized for her work to battle bullying, home violence and social isolation, in addition to selling psychological well being and girls’s rights.
Mary and Frederik are thought-about a contemporary couple, who love pop music, trendy artwork and sports activities, based on historian Sebastian Olden-Jorgensen.
They’ve tried to offer their 4 kids as regular an upbringing as attainable, sending them primarily to state colleges.
Their first-born, 18-year-old Prince Christian, was the primary Danish royal to attend daycare.
They “don’t characterize a possible revolution in comparison with the queen”, however a cautious transition adapting to the instances, Olden-Jorgensen stated.
(Apart from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is printed from a syndicated feed.)
