Born in Hobart, Tasmania, Mary worked as an advertising executive in Australia.
Copenhagen:
Denmark’s popular Australian-born Crown Princess Mary will become queen on Sunday, capping off a real-life fairy tale after her husband, Crown Prince Frederik, ascended the throne.
The attractive 51-year-old has long been credited with helping modernize the Danish monarchy and is one of its most popular members.
Queen Margrethe II shocked Danes by announcing her plans to abdicate after 52 years in her annual New Year’s Eve speech, citing her age of 83 and health problems.
The future queen, born Mary Donaldson, breathed new life into the monarchy and surprised the Danes when she married into the royal family.
“I’m in the spotlight and have a lot of engagements, so some people think my husband is a little bit of a shadow of me,” she wrote in Prince Frederick’s authorized biography published in 2017. I mentioned it in the.
“But he’ll never be in my shadow, and I’ll never be in his shadow, because he reflects the light back to me,” she said. .
Born on February 5, 1972 in Hobart, Tasmania, Mary was out with friends at the Slip In Bar in Sydney during the 2000 Summer Olympics when she met Frederick, then 34. , worked as an advertising executive in Australia.
Only later did she learn that he was Crown Prince of Denmark and that his group of friends consisted of other European royalty – including his brother Prince Joachim and his cousin Also included were Prince Nikolaos of Greece and Denmark.
“The first time we met, we shook hands,” she said in an interview several years ago.
“I didn’t know he was the Prince of Denmark. Half an hour later, someone came up to me and said, ‘Do you know who these people are?'”
Meanwhile, Frederic told the daily Kristelig Dagblad that meeting Mary was “not only an overflow of love, but also a feeling like I had met my soulmate.”
After a cautious long-distance relationship and many discreet visits, the couple became officially engaged in October 2003 and married on May 14, 2004 at Copenhagen Cathedral.
The couple are now parents to four children. Prince Christian (18), who will one day succeed her father as king, Princess Isabella (16), and twins Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine (13).
modern and trendsetter
Mary attracted attention in Denmark from the beginning, impressing the Danes with her ability to quickly learn the Danish language.
She also quickly convinced her mother-in-law.
Queen Margrethe recalled in a 2015 interview: “I have to say that when[Frederik]let us meet for the first time, I was hoping that it would last.”
A poll released by Danish television TV2 in December found Mary Denmark to be the third most popular royal, behind the hugely popular Queen and Frederick.
The daily newspaper Berlingske recently said: “During her nearly 20 years as a member of the royal family, the Crown Princess has broadened and perfected her role as spokesperson and spokesperson for the royal family, Denmark and her chosen causes.” “I did,” he wrote.
She is often compared to Britain’s Duchess Kate for her sense of style and long, dark hair, and regularly graces the fashion pages of Danish and international magazines.
She is also known for her work fighting bullying, domestic violence and social isolation, and promoting mental health and women’s rights.
According to historian Sebastian Olden-Jorgensen, Mary and Frederick are considered a modern couple who loved pop music, modern art, and sports.
They try to give their four children as normal an education as possible, sending them primarily to state schools.
The couple’s eldest son, Prince Christian, 18, became the first Danish royal to attend nursery school.
Olden-Jorgensen said they “do not represent as much revolutionary potential as the Queen”, but they are a prudent transition in keeping with the times.
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