Australia’s Mary Donaldson will be crowned Queen of Denmark tomorrow with her coronation ceremony alongside her husband, Crown Prince Frederik, after her mother, Queen Margrethe of Denmark, abdicated the throne after 52 years in office. to be crowned.
But how did the Australian-born girl end up marrying a prince?
According to Vogue Australia, Donaldson was enjoying a drink at a slip-in during the 2000 Sydney Olympics when he met and shook hands with a Danish man who was traveling with the Danish sailing team. That’s what it means.
Donaldson said she didn’t know who the man was at the time, but learned an hour later that she had met Frederick, the Crown Prince of Denmark.
The two hit it off and began a long-distance relationship, with Donaldson in Australia and Prince Frederick in his home country. Their relationship became public in 2001, and Donaldson moved to Denmark in 2002.
On October 8, 2003, Prince Frederick and Donaldson announced their engagement. Donaldson will become the first Australian-born woman in history to become a member of a European royal family and be in line for the throne.
On May 14, 2004, the couple married in the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen Cathedral, and Mary became Crown Princess of Denmark. Her bride included Australian native eucalyptus in her wedding bouquet as a nod to her home country.
The royal family has four children: Prince Christian, Count of Montpezat in 2005, Princess Isabella in 2007, and twins Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine in 2011.
After tomorrow’s coronation ceremony, 18-year-old Prince Christian will become heir to his father’s throne.
The couple celebrated their 19th wedding anniversary in May 2023, and the prince wrote a loving tribute to the Australian-born prince on the Danish royal family’s official Instagram page, translated from Danish to English.
“Today is my wife and I’s wedding anniversary. It’s a very special day for both of us. If possible, we would like to celebrate it with our four children. This year, the day coincides with Mother’s Day. So, I would like to send you a special and loving greeting, Mary, to you as a spouse and as a mother. ”
Queen Margrethe announced in her traditional New Year’s speech that she would abdicate the throne, becoming the first Danish monarch in hundreds of years to voluntarily abdicate.
The Queen said: “I have decided that now is the right time. On January 14, 2024, 52 years after I succeeded my beloved father, I will step down as Queen of Denmark. I will hand it over to the prince.”