Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II, currently Europe’s longest-reigning monarch, shocked her country and the world with her sudden announcement that she would abdicate the throne after more than half a century. The 83-year-old royal will be the first Danish king to step down from the throne in more than 500 years.
Prime Minister Margrethe announced in her New Year’s Eve speech that her eldest son, Crown Prince Frederik, would become her successor on January 14. Unlike the British royal family, the Danes do not intend to hold lavish coronation ceremonies for their new king and queen (their constitution in the 1800s prohibited such ceremonies). Instead, power will be transferred to Frederik and Crown Princess Mary through the country’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen. As Europe waits for a new royal couple, here’s what you need to know about the future King of Denmark and his queen.
Mary is a former advertising executive.
Before becoming a member of Europe’s most prominent royal family, Mary had a career as a sales executive in her native Australia. She Royal was born in 1972 to a Scottish father and an English mother and began her education in Houston, Texas before returning to Hobart, Australia to complete her degree. She has dual Australian and British citizenship and was granted Danish citizenship upon her marriage.
Mary would later draw comparisons to another future queen, Princess Kate Middleton. Aside from their striking resemblance (they were even informally dubbed “royal sisters” by Karl Lagerfeld), both men overcame the disadvantage of being “commoners” when they married their respective heirs. I got married without.
Frederick was known as the “party prince”
Although Frederick was always destined for the throne, he had a rebellious reputation throughout the 1990s. He developed a passion for “fast cars and fast living” as he was “very uncomfortable with the media attention and his knowledge that he would be king”.
Things then changed when the Crown Prince graduated from Aarhus University in 1995, becoming the first Danish royal to receive a university education. The Crown Prince also studied at Harvard University and later served in the Danish Navy.
they met in 2000
While visiting Sydney, Australia for the 2000 Olympics, Frederick met his future wife (then Mary Elizabeth Donaldson) at a local pub, the Slip Inn. The two soon began a secret long-distance relationship, and their relationship became public in 2001. “When we first met, we shook hands, but I didn’t know he was the Crown Prince of Denmark,” Mary told 60 Minutes. Australia in 2003. “About an hour later, someone came up to me and said, ‘Do you know who these people are?’
they married in 2004
The couple became engaged in 2003 and married a year later in a ceremony held at Copenhagen Cathedral and Fredensborg Palace. The celebrations attracted widespread international attention, with onlookers waving Danish and Australian flags and the press calling the marriage of an Australian to the Crown Prince of Denmark a “fairy tale romance”.
Mary wore a gown by Danish designer Uffe Frank, a veil first used by Crown Princess Margaret of Sweden, and a crown given to her by Queen Margaret and the late Prince Henrik. Mary’s marriage to Frederick meant that she would become the first Australian-born person to become queen of a European monarchy.
they share four children
Frederick and Mary have four children. The couple’s eldest son, Prince Christian, 18, is currently second in line to the throne and will become heir apparent upon his father’s accession to the throne. The couple also have 16-year-old Princess Isabella and 12-year-old twins Josephine and Vincent.
