Everything we know about Queen Mary of Denmark

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Following Queen Margrethe II’s abdication, her son, Crown Prince Frederick, ascended the throne as Denmark’s new monarch. His wife, Crown Princess Mary, officially became Denmark’s newest queen, making her the first Australian-born queen of a European monarchy.

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark shockingly announced her abdication earlier this month in her traditional New Year’s Eve speech. In her televised address, she explained that she made the decision after surgery on her lower back, which she underwent in February 2023. Her eldest son succeeded to the throne on January 14th. She will be in her 52nd year as queen until the death of her father Frederick IX in 1996. 1972.

The Danish king, whose full name is Frederick Andre Henrik Christian, married his wife in 2004. The couple have four children: Prince Christian, 18, Princess Isabella, 16, and twins Prince Vincent, 13, and twins Prince Vincent, 13. Princess Josephine.

Prior to their relationship, Queen Mary had a successful career outside the monarchy. Since her chance encounter with Frederick King in a pub, she has become vocal about several social issues, including participating in anti-bullying campaigns, defending immigrants, and expressing support for LGBTQ+ rights. I did.

The new queen not only works with many charities and organizations, but has also been recognized many times as one of the most fashionable people in the world.

Here’s everything you need to know about Crown Prince Mary of Denmark

Mary, Queen of Denmark was born Mary Elizabeth Donaldson on February 5, 1972 at Queen Alexandra Hospital, Battery Point, Hobart, Tasmania’s capital. She is the youngest of four children of Scottish parents Henrietta (née Horne) and John Dalgliesh Donaldson. Her mother was an administrative assistant to the vice-chancellor at the University of Tasmania, and her father was a professor of mathematics. Henrietta passed away in November 1997 due to complications from heart surgery. In 2001, her father married British author and novelist Susan Elizabeth Donaldson (née Horwood).

At the age of two, Mary’s family moved from Australia to Texas when her father began working as a professor of applied mathematics at NASA’s Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston. She then returned to Tasmania where she continued her primary and secondary education. From 1990 until 1994, Mary was a student at the University of Tasmania, where she graduated with a combined Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Laws. She then enrolled in a graduate program and she obtained a certificate in advertising from the Australian Advertising Federation and a certificate in direct marketing from the Australian Direct Marketing Association.

After completing her education, Mary began a career in advertising, working for several Australian and international advertising agencies. In Melbourne, she is a global marketing communications network and she was promoted from her trainee to her account executive at DDB Needham. After the death of her mother, she moved to Edinburgh, Scotland, and she began working as her manager on the rap account Collins Worldwide. However, she soon returned to Australia where she held multiple jobs as an account director.

The King and Queen of Denmark met for the first time in 2000. The two met at a slip-in in Sydney. Frederick was visiting during the 2000 Summer Olympics with his brother Prince Joachim and other European aristocrats. At the time, Mary was working as a sales director for real estate company Bell Properties.

The two were reportedly introduced through mutual friends. Prince Felipe of Spain, who was traveling with then-Crown Prince Frederick, knew the sister of Mary’s flatmate. Frederick and Mary felt an instant connection and began a long-distance relationship soon after they first met, with Frederick discreetly visiting Australia.The two were able to keep their relationship out of the spotlight until a Danish weekly reported that billed blade He named Mary as Frederick’s girlfriend.

By 2002, Mary was teaching English at a business school in Paris. When the time came for her to permanently reside in Denmark, she began working as a consultant for her on projects in business development, marketing and communications at Microsoft Business Solutions.

On September 24, 2003, a Danish court announced that Queen Margrethe II intended to consent to their marriage at a meeting of the Council of State the following month. In October of the same year, Frederick and Mary were officially engaged. He reportedly proposed with an engagement ring featuring a 1.5-carat emerald-cut diamond and two emerald-cut rubies, reminiscent of the colors of the Danish flag.

Their wedding took place on May 14, 2004 in Copenhagen’s Frauenkirche, the city’s cathedral. Prior to her wedding, Mary acquired Danish citizenship and she converted from Presbyterianism to the Danish Lutheran Church. Mary’s two sisters, Jane and Patricia, served as her bridesmaids, and Frederick’s younger brother, Prince Joachim, served as her maid of honor.

The future Crown Princess wore a wedding dress made by Danish fashion designer Uffe Frank, but her veil was previously worn by Crown Princess Margareta of Sweden in 1905 and by her daughter Ingrid in 1935. That’s what I was doing. She also wore a veil made of Irish lace. Her mother-in-law at her wedding to French diplomat Henri de Laborde de Montpezat in 1967. Mary was the first non-royal to wear a veil, and her tiara was a gift from Queen Margrethe II.

On her wedding day, Mary was given the title Her Royal Highness, Crown Prince of Denmark. The event was celebrated by the public as a “fairy tale” union between members of the royal family and ordinary people.

Their first child, Crown Prince Christian Valdemar Henry John, was born in Copenhagen on October 15, 2005, followed by Princess Isabella Henrietta Ingrid Margrethe on April 21, 2007. Mary then gave birth to twins Prince Vincent Frederic Minik Alexander and Princess Josephine Sofia Ivalo Matilda. January 8, 2011.

In September 2007, she established her own charity, the Mary Foundation. The organization focuses on initiatives such as anti-bullying, advocacy for domestic violence survivors, and combating loneliness.

To commemorate the 2016 International Day Against Homosexuality and Transphobia, Mary gave a speech on LGBTQ+ rights in Copenhagen. In her speech, she called for an end to discrimination, oppression and violence against people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. Two years later, she spoke again on LGBTQ+ rights in the Parliament of the Council of Europe.

In the same year, she became the first member of the royal family to attend the Danish Rainbow Awards, an annual awards ceremony organized by Rainbow Business Denmark to honor individuals and organizations creating better living conditions for the LGBTQ+ community. did. She attended subsequent awards ceremonies in 2019 and 2020. She served as a patron of WorldPride Copenhagen in 2021, working on a number of initiatives related to the event, including delivering the closing speech for the week-long celebration in August.

Mary’s sense of fashion and style is vanity fair In 2010 she was named to the International Best Dressed List. She has been featured in several fashion magazines. vogue australia and german vogue.

At the Council of State in October 2019, her mother-in-law requested that Mary be appointed Rigsforstander (a person who acts as regent when the king is unable to carry out royal duties). After she took an oath to respect Denmark’s constitution, Mary became the first non-royal person to hold the position of Rigsfostander since Queen Ingrid of Sweden in 1972.

Following Frederick’s accession to the throne on January 14, her husband will assume the new title of King of Denmark, and Mary will now be known as Queen of Denmark. The Danish royal family has announced that their eldest son, Prince Christian, will also be given the title of Crown Prince Christian.